13 July Larch bark insulation and larch façade
In the course of building our new house, we looked for the most innovative building materials possible and found what we were looking for at Günther Kain in Bad Goisern. Insulation materials made from larch bark had previously been tested in the laboratory, but had not yet been used to insulate houses. The start-up Barkinsulation from Hallein, which is run by graduates of Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, produced the larch bark insulation panels for us. We wanted to try out this new type of insulation material and test it in practice.
The design of the thermal insulation solution focuses on tree bark. This renewable natural raw material source is refined into a recyclable and ecologically innovative material in biophysical-thermal high-tech processes by the regional start-up Barkinsulation GmbH/Hallein. The ecological bark board thermal insulation creates an optimal building biology climate through the unique combination of performance with experienced sustainability and natural aesthetics.
Tree bark from the regional timber industry is currently mostly recycled thermally. In natural high-tech processes, this valuable raw material is turned into materials that can be used in a variety of ways ("up-cycling"). A naturally perfected raw material is fed into a new cycle. Short transportation routes based on regional production and unlimited recyclability promise an excellent building material. CO2 binding: 1 m3 of bark binds around 1 ton of CO2.
The sustainable positioning of the Balthasar Volcano/St. Wolfgang project, in particular with the innovative highlight of the recyclable, ecological high-tech thermal insulation from Barkinsulation GmbH/Hallein, aims to provide impetus, encourage new ways of thinking and show alternative paths. We inspire our guests with a unique and sustainable feel-good atmosphere. It is also exciting to see how inspired the media and the construction industry are by our ecological approach.
The larch bark panels were installed by Appesbacher Holzbau. As this was a prototype, there was of course no experience of processing the material, but in the end the larch bark façade made a good impression. Initial empirical values could be gathered and Günther Kain was able to verify the data measured in the laboratory with regard to the insulation values.