Apr 28 2009
Rockwool's Rockfloor mineral wool insulation helped Wolseley, a leading supplier of construction products and materials, secure the Edie Award for Best Sustainable Construction Project.
The insulation was used extensively in Wolseley's Sustainable Building Center ('SBC'), which was crowned 'Best Sustainable Construction Project 2008' at the prestigious Edie Environmental Awards, organised by Edie (Environmental Data Interactive Exchange), Europe's biggest environmental website and online environmental community.
The £3.2 million SBC is a 6,800 square foot centre that features Rockwool's Rockfloor insulation product. The facility features 1000 square metres of Rockfloor insulation, which is a tissue faced high compressive strength slab, designed to meet both the new Part E and Part L Building Regulations. The centre acts as a showcase for sustainable building products and construction methods and represents a living, interactive centre for key decision-makers throughout the construction industry.
The building features 170 sustainable, energy-efficient and recycled building products, including Rockwool's stone wool insulation. Rockwool insulation products are manufactured from naturally occurring and sustainable igneous volcanic rock, providing the SBC with the highest levels of thermal and acoustic performance, while delivering excellent passive fire protection.
Tim Pollard, Wolseley's head of sustainability, said: "We conducted extensive research to identify the most environmentally friendly and sustainable insulation on the market. Rockwool's product met our stringent criteria for its thermal and acoustic properties and offers A1 rated passive fire prevention. It was vital that the production and manufacturing process for the product was sustainable. In addition, as the SBC addresses the whole product lifecycle it was vital the insulation could be recycled in the future, without creating extra demand for landfill."
Hans Schreuder, Managing Director of Rockwool, said: "We are committed to ensuring a sustainable future and our involvement in this project is just one of our many commitments to promoting ecological development and construction. Environmental sustainability lies at the very heart of Rockwool's strategy and we are proud to have been involved in such an innovative project. We hope the Sustainable Building Center inspires architects, specifiers and building contractors to utilise materials that can be manufactured and recycled to mitigate the impact on the environment."
The SBC officially opened in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire in June 2008 and has already attracted more than 4,300 visitors, including leading property companies and developers. Harnessing many of the latest technologies and showcasing some of the most innovative materials, the SBC sets the standard for sustainable building projects.