Nichiha USA, ClarkDietrich, and TRUFAST Walls have successfully completed NFPA 285-25 fire testing on a fully integrated exterior wall assembly, evaluating Nichiha’s premium fiber cement panels and the complete rainscreen system incorporating ClarkDietrich and TRUFAST components.
With a 30-minute burn period, data was recorded across multiple points of the wall assembly, which featured a 1 1/4-inch ventilated cavity over 4 inches of polyiso continuous insulation, to measure real-world fire performance under extreme heat and flame exposure.
“Passing the NFPA 285 test is a significant achievement in fire-safe wall design,” said Max Rietschier, Technical Services Manager at Nichiha USA. “By combining Nichiha’s Architectural Wall Panels (AWP) with ClarkDietrich’s ProChannel CI sub-framing and TRUFAST Walls’ TubeSeal™ insulation fasteners, this collaboration delivers a wall assembly with outstanding fire performance, ventilated rainscreen benefits, and energy-efficient design.”
This fully integrated commercial wall system combines:
- Nichiha: Durable, environmentally conscious premium fiber cement cladding offered in a wide range of colors, textures, and finishes.
- ClarkDietrich: The ProChannel CI system, providing a robust and adaptable sub-framing platform that ensures structural reliability and simplified installation over continuous insulation.
- TRUFAST Walls: TubeSeal insulation fasteners, engineered with an innovative sealing design that eliminates common water intrusion paths through penetrations.
Together, the system provides superior control of air and water infiltration, minimizes thermal bridging, and maintains continuous insulation integrity—all while meeting the requirements of NFPA 285, the Standard Fire Test Method for Evaluation of Fire Propagation Characteristics of Exterior Wall Assemblies Containing Combustible Components.
“Collaboration is at the core of innovation,” said Ryan Reed, Category Manager – Core Framing Products at ClarkDietrich. “Working alongside Nichiha and TRUFAST Walls to deliver a fully tested, NFPA 285-compliant system reflects our shared commitment to safer, smarter building envelopes.”
“Nichiha’s collaboration with ClarkDietrich and TRUFAST Walls demonstrates our continued commitment to developing fully code-compliant, high-performance façade systems,” added Rietschier. “With this achievement, architects and specifiers can confidently design with Nichiha wall systems—knowing they meet the highest standards of building safety, energy efficiency, and tested performance.”
For more information, please visit https://www.nichiha.com/products.
