The only cement our building system uses, aside from foundations, is the minimal content of the cement board sheathing (skins) of our panels (less than 0.65% by volume of the whole panel). The core polymer is made from a hydrocarbon base and we believe such insulating materials are the most environmentally responsible usage of hydrocarbon based products simply because they don’t have to be destroyed to do their work, unlike fuels – the longer you use them, the more energy they save.
The cores of our product constitute 90% by volume of each panel, and 98% of this is air. This makes the Mantle Panel an uniquely resource-efficient building material with a very small carbon footprint. Thousands of tonnes of EPS are recycled every year in the UK, alone. As a single polymer, EPS is straightforward to recycle into items such as replacement hardwood decking, garden furniture, coat hangers, disposable cameras, and of course, more Mantle components. Our cores are HFC, CFC and HCFC free and Pentane* is used as its blowing agent.
Pentane has a Global Warming Potential* (GWP) of zero. (The EU does not register pentane as a substance hazardous to human health or the environment.) In combustion the amount of carbon monoxide and particulates given off by EPS are a small fraction of that emitted by wood or cardboard.
EPS is inert and innocuous and provides stability in landfill because it does not biodegrade and leach chemicals into the water system or gases into air that could contribute to global warming. Further, the manufacture of EPS is an extremely low pollution process. Steam is the key ingredient and the water is re-used many times. There is no waste in the process as all cut off or rejects can be re-used.
Things may look bleak for our planet at the moment, but by working together this soon will all be in the past, leaving the world a better place for those to come.
