NATURAL STONE FLOOR COVERINGS AND SUSTAINABILITY?
18-03-2022
Sustainable building with ecological, economic and social aspects has gained in importance in the past years in planning and construction processes. With the aim of supporting the efforts to reduce the energy demand and CO2 emissions, construction products should have the lowest possible environmental impact in the manufacture, use and disposal processes.
A study published by the German Natural Stone Association (DNV) compares the ecological and economic impacts of different floor coverings typically used in public and commercial applications.
Based on the results of the study, natural stone coverings cause a significantly lower environmental impact during porduction, installation and use than large-format ceramics, carpets, PVC, laminates and parquet. In the category of global warming potential (GWP) impact, natural stone coverings show the lowest emission (= 10,9 kg CO2 equivalant). At the other end of the scale, carpet coverings have a value of 223 kg CO2 equivalent.
Regarding the use of natural stone, transportaion is an important aspect. While the use of natural stones transported from local quarries (ca. 100 km distance) has an impact of only 0,16 kg CO2 equivalents per square metre of flooring, transportation within Europe (1000-2000 km) produces already 1.6-3.2 kg CO2 equivalents. Natural stone coverings come from quarries in China reach the level of 7.9 kg CO2 equivalents.
According to this study, it can be stated that if we want to apply the aspect of sustainability when choosing the material of the floor coverings installed in our buildings, then natural stone is the best choice compared to the other commonly used coverings.
To see the full report, visit the website of DNV: www.natursteinverband.de
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