Sustainability in the acoustics industry requires going beyond what sounds good

The construction industry is among the worst offenders when it comes to CO₂ emissions, with construction materials like cement, steel, and aluminum accounting for over 10% of total global emissions. Acoustic products play a role in this: they are used in nearly all buildings, and they can be either a climate dead end or part of the solution.

With the strong focus on remaining within planetary boundaries at the upcoming Building Green in Copenhagen, this is a perfect opportunity to consider which acoustic solutions can truly support more sustainable and circular construction.

Going beyond appearances

Biogenic materials like wood that suggest a close connection to nature are often considered more sustainable – and sometimes they are. But it’s vital not to be seduced by appearances. The only way to be sure of a material’s value is to look at the documented impacts across the full life cycle, from raw material sourcing to manufacturing, use, and disposal.

Wood, for example, is often chemically-bound with emissions-intensive materials to make acoustic solutions. Customers might have the impression that the carbon that is captured and stored in wood, known as biogenic carbon, can compensate for the elements with a large climate impact. However, publicly-available Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) reveal that the biogenic carbon is released back into the atmosphere at the product’s end of life, meaning that it cannot negate the emissions of the other materials in the composite.

Circularity from start to finish

At Rockfon, we see a way forward through the inherent qualities of a building material used for millennia: stone. Stone wool made from abundant volcanic stone is not only extremely durable – it can also be recycled again and again without losing its properties, unlike many other materials that end up as waste or low-quality filler.

This kind of closed-loop recycling is not just possible in theory – it’s happening today. Through our pioneering Rockcycle scheme, we already take back hundreds of tons of stone wool each year from the market, remelting the wool in our own factories and creating new products. The ambition is much greater, but we have already proven that with the right material choices, a more circular economy is within our grasp.

The difficult, but necessary, electrification

The most decisive next step in sustainability, both for us and for the industry as a whole, is the electrification of production. Melting stone into stone wool requires significant amounts of energy. As long as this is done with coal or gas, the climate impact remains high. But it is possible to switch to electric melting powered by renewable energy, using proven technology that is available today.

We know – because we have already started. Our production line in France is fully electric and uses low-carbon electricity. In the Netherlands, we are going electric in 2026. Yes, it is very expensive. Yes, it is logistically challenging. But the question is no longer whether we should do it, it is only a matter of how quickly we dare.

End symbolic politics

Sustainability is not about how a material looks or the feelings it inspires, but what it truly means for the climate, from extraction to recycling. If we consciously seek out solutions that can document lower CO₂ emissions and high circularity potential, the acoustics industry can become a pioneer in the green transition of construction. But for that we have to confront an awkward truth: if we want sustainability in acoustics, we need to put in the work. We can’t just continue choosing whatever sounds good.

By Dominic Maes, Sustainability Manager, Rockfon