Rockin' on with Rockwool!
by Jenna Watson, Barcelona on 07. 6.07
Rockwool Ltd. is a Copenhagen-based insulation company that has been involved in life cycle assessment since 1990. They also make horticultural substrates for germinating plants and hydroponics. This company is doing what we Treehuggers wish all companies would do: they provide LCA data for their plethora of products on both their website and at purchase points. They have 35 operating companies throughout Europe and North America with social responsibility, sustainability, ethical and environmental policies. Their insulation products rely on “trapped air to provide thermal properties, which has neither ozone depleting nor global warming potential.” On the Danish lca-center website the Rockwell LCA-expert, Anders Ulf Clausen says,
[LCA] is considered as a product declaration just like when you buy a litre of milk and can see how much fat, how much water and how much calcium the product contains. We have a similar declaration of the building material. We would like to show the costs for energy, impact on the greenhouse effect, acidification, overmanuring and other effects on the environment so the customer himself has the possibility to assess it.
Now if only we could get all companies to follow suit. Check out their website for more information and LCA data. Image credit: Baulinks
That rockwoll is great stuff. We've been using it in basement hydroponic operations for years up here in BC. I've yielded over a pound a light with simple flood and drain systems.
My recommendation is starting your *cough* 'tomato' plants in 4" rockwoll cubes, then dump them into bigger slabs, or just put them onto a flood table full of hydroton expanded clay pellets, then shield all the roots from light. Apply your favorite food via a pump on a timer.
Works great for starting cuttings off. It's the only successful method i've found to date.
Sorry hippies, my gardens weren't very energy efficient. HID lights eat power. If anyone were to run them in an actual greenhouse however.....