What is Rockpanel cladding made from?

Basalt is a volcanic stone. To be precise: it’s solidified lava, which originates from volcanic eruptions. Our planet provides us with enormous quantities every year. To get an idea of how much basalt is being created: every year, the earth produces 38,000 times more basalt through volcanic activity than the ROCKWOOL Group, of which we are part, uses for the production of stone wool. (*Source)

That means basalt is not only a natural material, but also non-depletable. This makes it a responsible choice, as we’re not exhausting the earth’s valuable resources.

Stone wool, made from basalt, is the core material for our facade boards. It’s made from a combination of basalt and recycled content from other industries – material that would otherwise end up as landfill.

But how do we turn these sustainable materials into solid, durable facade boards? The first step is to create the stone wool fibres. We bring together the basalt and recycled content and heat it to a temperature of 1,500°C, and then it’s melted and whipped around by a spinning machine. After the stone wool is done, we add a small amount of binder and press it into a high-density board. The base boards are then finished with a water-based decorative coating, and in some cases also the extra ProtectPlus coating.

What makes basalt so sustainable? Read more here.

Curious how this all works? Find out more about the production process of Rockpanel! 

Source

_{Calculation based on TW Dahl, et al. (2011), International Geology Review (Volume 53 Numbers 7–8, June–July 2011) ‘The human impact on natural rock reserves using basalt, anorthosite, and carbonates as raw materials in insulation products’.}