Your choice of building materials matters a lot – here’s why

Climate change, sustainability, circularity, health and wellbeing: all are hot topics as the transition to a greener, healthier, and more sustainable world rightly takes on greater urgency. Playing a central role in this transition, the built environment is both part of the solution – and the problem.???

Buildings are the world’s most valuable financial asset, worth over €150 trillion, and the biggest source of emissions. They account for 28 percent of energy-related emissions globally; 36 percent in Europe; and 40 percent in the United States. What’s more, construction and demolition waste accounts for more than one-third of the total waste generated in the EU.??

To succeed on climate action, we must succeed on making our buildings more energy efficient and construction overall less wasteful.

The good news is that we already know how to do so. But in terms of their climate, sustainability, and health and wellbeing impact, not all construction materials or practices are created equal. That is why the materials we choose to construct new and renovate existing homes and buildings make such a big difference.??

And in this context, that’s also why petroleum-based building materials such as plastic foam insulation and plastic cladding are coming under increasing scrutiny relative to other materials, such as stone wool.

One might ask, is it wise to use plastic foam products that are combustible and contain chemical flame retardants; that release large amounts of toxic smoke when they burn; that are difficult or impossible to recycle; and whose end-of-life emissions contribute to climate change rather than help reduce its impact???

Clearly, while plastics in general have an important role to play in some aspects of modern society – packaging material, medical products, among others – their use in insulation and cladding applications becomes less defensible where safer, non-petroleum-based materials are readily available. And the construction industry – particularly in terms of building insulation and cladding – is one such area.?

We’re not unbiased, but the choice seems obvious.??

To learn more about this and the other advantages of stone wool, visit us here: ? https://rockwool.link/wss29S?

#ROCKWOOL #sustainability #energyefficiency #firesafety?