Sustainable and practical

New wood fibre insulation board for solid construction

Even “alternative” insulants still need to be high-performing, professionally workable, and built to last. The new M 039 wood fibre insulation board makes the long-established StoTherm Wood facade insulation system a real alternative for solid construction. Thanks to the improved thermal conductivity and optimised application properties, using a renewable resource as insulation is now a viable option from the perspective of both the planner and the tradesman and building owner.

Renewable resources are very highly valued as they can be produced in a particularly sustainable manner, provided that their land consumption does not come into conflict with environmental protection considerations or food production. In Germany, the forests that cover 32 per cent of the country represent a particularly promising opportunity in this regard. Wood is the most important renewable resource. It is used as a material for construction and furniture, it is turned into paper and paperboard, and it can also be used as an insulant. The benefits of wood fibre boards were first put to use in the insulation of roofs and facades in a timber frame construction. The new M 039 Sto-Weichfaserplatte now extends this range of application to include solid construction facades. The insulation board boasts low thermal conductivity (0.039 W/m2K), good handling properties, and an excellent Life Cycle Assessment.

The realisation that the resources of the world are finite has led to efforts to use these endangered essentials “sustainably”. Since then, sustainability has been the word on everyone’s lips. This concept was first used by Hans Carl von Carlowitz 300 years ago (Silvicultura oeconomica, 1713) to call for a kind of forestry which ensures the “continuous long-term use” of the forest and prohibits overexploitation. But sustainability in construction is about more than just that: economic arguments have to be considered alongside ecological ones. Good value for money is based on a successful mix of insulating performance, application, and service life. In addition, there are also social objectives and issues of well-being to consider. The latter refer not only to the building owner’s satisfaction with regard to comfort and energy savings, but also the acceptance of tradesmen and planners on the basis of application properties and the reliability of the results.

The new soft wood fibre board meets all of these requirements: consisting of around 95 per cent wood fibres and the rest binding agents, it contains significantly fewer petroleum-based components than comparable “green products”, taking into account the insulating performance. With thermal conductivity of 0.039 W/m2K, it provides the best possible value for EWIS insulation boards based on renewable resources. No agricultural land is used in its production. The board, which weighs just 110 kg/m3 and comes in a manageable format (1200 x 400 mm), is just as easy to handle as mineral fibre boards, for example, and – with regard to the insulating performance – is much more affordable than many other natural insulants.

The new soft wood fibre board makes it possible to apply the long-established advantages of the StoTherm Wood external wall insulation system to solid constructions. The system, which is specifically intended for eco-friendly, sustainable construction, combines excellent thermal insulation properties with outstanding thermal protection in summer. The boards are stapled or fixed with anchors in a timber frame construction, and bonded and anchor-fixed in solid constructions. The system, which is suitable for both new builds and refurbishments, demonstrates normal combustibility and promotes diversity in facade design with regard to render texture and colour schemes – using either mineral or organic renders and paints. StoTherm Wood provides permanent weather protection, it is crack-proof and mechanically resistant, and it demonstrates very high levels of water vapour diffusion permeability and high resistance to microorganisms.

In the case of detached and semi-detached homes in particular, building owners often wish to combine a solid construction with eco-friendly insulation made from renewable resources. The M 039 Sto-Weichfaserplatte makes it possible to satisfy this demand while taking into account both sustainability and cost-effectiveness. It enables tradesmen to offer an alternative insulant without compromising on application performance. It allows architects to create sustainable, fail-proof designs with good thermal conductivity. And it allows building owners to do the right thing without sacrificing sustainability, comfort, and cost-effectiveness.