1. What environmental impacts/benefits are there from using Rockwool?
The natural basic rock material for making Rockwool is an abundant
resource. Great care is taken during both the manufacturing process
and distribution of finished insulation products to minimise any
environmental impact. Rockwool's operation team monitors the production
processes
carefully to ensure any emissions are within specified limits. It
is Rockwool Group policy to adhere to environmental standards better
than national or local requirements. The embodied energy in Rockwool
is probably the lowest for any commercially produced insulation.
The environmental return on the manufacture of a square metre of
Rockwool will vary depending on its application, but will typically
be around 100-300 to 1 for wall insulation systems, and much higher
for insulation of hot industrial pipes and processes, typically over
10,000 to 1. Energy saving is directly proportionate to the thickness
of insulation applied. One square metre of 150mm loft insulation
is associated with a once only cost of around 65 Megajoules of energy,
but saves annually approximately 350 Megajoules. A bungalow with
a properly insulated loft area of 100m2, will, over 50 years, save
over 1.8 million Megajoules. In a similar way, one linear metre of
130mm Rockwool process pipe section on a 273mm diameter pipe, with
an operating temperature of 450°C typically
in service for one year, will save
around 460,000 Megajoules, against a one-off energy cost of 300 Megajoules
at installation. An Environmental Report for the Rockwool Group is
available.
Eco-friendly products and good environmental management have earned
Rockwool, high profile recognition as winner of the coveted Wales
Environment Award 2002.
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2. What are Life Cycle Assessments
and Life Cycle Inventories?
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive method of evaluating
the full environmental consequences of a product over its lifetime,
from ‘cradle to
grave’. It evaluates the environmental impacts of the products
and by-products of the manufacturing process - the use of resources,
raw materials and fuel and the emissions into air, water and soil.
A Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) is the identification and quantification
of these inputs and emissions.
The sum of the energy used to manufacture a product and its feedstock
is referred to as the embodied energy.
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