Passive construction is active environmental management
The Aramis Housing Corporation in Roosendaal, The Netherlands, is spearheading a new approach to building design with its ‘passive houses’. Three show houses have been developed by Aramis and all are finished with cutting edge façades using Rockpanel boards. What makes a passive house different from other forms of housing is its combination of optimum interior temperature and very low energy consumption. It provides home owners with an ideal environment of comfortable interior temperatures whilst at the same time reducing energy costs. |  |
Rockwool and Rockpanel offer sustainable product solutions which fit seamlessly with the passive house concept. Rockpanel’s sustainable and cutting edge products allow the designer to give a passive house the right look and feel to meet the design vision.
 | Rockpanel: design for a sustainable futureThe Rockwool group has invested in its environmentally-responsible production process for many years. Rockwool Rockpanel is certified to ISO 14001 environmental standards. The group is also actively involved in maximising the re-use of waste, and has, through this work, received the support of the official European environment fund, the LIFE programme. |
The raw material used to make Rockpanel boards is basalt, a naturally occurring and readily available, sustainable rock form. Nevertheless, Rockwool uses all raw materials sparingly, and its efficient production process produces more than 400 m² of Rockpanel boards from 1 m³ of basalt. Rockwool is continuously searching for new methods to allow it to reach even higher levels of efficiency in the use of raw materials. Furthermore, Rockpanel is also 100% recyclable and at least 30% of the final product is made from recycled material, without any loss of quality.
The architect’s vision
Architectural firm Han Van Zwieten on the choice of Rockpanel: “Monotony is something we want to avoid at all times. Passive living is a way of living, or rather a standard of living, with a future. That should also be apparent in the architecture and the decoration. For our project in the De Kroeven redevelopment district we decisively chose Rockpanel. Three corner houses have been equipped with bright red Rockpanel panels using the Easy Fix principle. The colour can be custom-supplied. But the durable nature of Rockpanel also appealed to us. It is 100% recyclable. That too is the future...” |  |
