Search for Green Wiring Gets a LifeGuard

The LifeGuard low-smoke nonhalogenated electrical cables from Houston Wire & Cable Company release water vapor on combustion, shown at right, rather than toxic gases that can form during combustion of halogenated cables, shown at left.

Green building advocates (among them the editors of EBN and the GreenSpec Directory, both published by BuildingGreen) have long sought an electrical cable product that meets their standards. According to GreenSpec, the product should be free of heavy metals and halogens (including chlorinated, brominated, or fluorinated substances), and compliant with RoHS, the European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment regulation. The product should also perform up to relevant flame retardancy standards.

A product meeting this description has been absent from the building wire market, leaving PVC-sheathed cable as the main option. Meanwhile, since 2003, Houston Wire & Cable Company (HWC) has sold the LifeGuard line of nonhalogenated cable meeting all of those ideals and more. There are two catches: HWC hasn’t yet sold building wire for commercial or residential projects, and LifeGuard sells for a 30% premium over conventional wire in a cost-competitive product category with low visibility.

HWC sells LifeGuard primarily for applications where it is valued for its resistance to corrosion and its low smoke emissions, and where reliability is at a premium, driving buyers to higher-end products. In these specialized applications, which include power plants, wastewater treatment facilities, marine vessels, and populated, confined areas such as transit corridors, LifeGuard is cost-competitive. At high temperatures PVC cable releases hydrogen chloride gas. The gas deprives a fire of oxygen, but it combines with moisture to form corrosive hydrochloric acid, which is damaging to people and equipment in buildings. In contrast, LifeGuard has a nonhalogenated polyolefin sheathing that uses aluminum- or magnesium-based metal hydrides as flame retardants, according to Jim Pokluda, vice-president for marketing at HWC. At high temperatures, the plastic releases steam, which inhibits flames.

HWC offers several products in the LifeGuard line, including armored cable and power transmission cable for up to 15,000 volts. The HW010 and HW020 lines of 600V power cable could be used in non-plenum wiring for lighting, outlets, and appliances. While suitable for commercial and residential buildings, Pokluda said that HWC has not sold wiring for those purposes. HWC has instead sold this building wire to utilities such as operating plants using only high-reliability, nonhalogenated wiring. While those facilities need to power lights and electrical services just as any conventional building does, they use the higher-end LifeGuard for those applications to match the LifeGuard wiring they use for high-voltage applications.

Pokluda said that there isn’t a lack of interest in LifeGuard from green builders. “I get calls from green organizations where they may be building a prototypical green home,” but, he said, “we haven’t sold any. People like to think about it, but it’s just not price competitive for them.” Gail Vittori, co-director of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, said that she hasn’t yet been able to get LifeGuard into green projects despite “valiant effort,” but not because of cost. “What stopped it was reticence by the engineers to use a product that in their minds posed uncertainty in terms of performance,” she told EBN. “They’re reluctant to make a change.” Although recognizing its higher cost, Vittori noted that early adopters of LifeGuard or other similar products could be rewarded by preferential pricing by manufacturers looking to advertise successful case studies.

Nonhalogenated wiring like LifeGuard is flourishing as a niche product where engineers have sought it out for its reduced risk to people and property. It may not outgrow that niche, however, without stronger interest from building professionals and consumers, pursuit of the market by manufacturers, and perhaps regulatory help.

– Tristan Roberts

For more information:

Jim Pokluda, Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising
Houston Wire & Cable Company
Houston, Texas
713-609-2116
www.houwire.com

September 1, 2007

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