Stone wool insulation has emerged as a game-changer for lightweight timber-frame and cross-laminated timber construction, delivering exceptional fire safety, thermal performance, and acoustic control. It comes after a series of CSIRO tests at the North Ryde facility showed that timber-framed walls and cross-laminated timber floor panels clad in stone wool \u2014 and not plasterboard \u2014 can successfully withstand fire for more than two and a half hours (for timber frame) and three hours (for cross-laminated timber), smashing the 45\u2011minute minimum set by the Australian National Construction Code\u2019s fire\u2011protection timber requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The findings \u2014 revealed to hundreds of architects, engineers and developers during the largest WoodSolutions webinar in years \u2014 represent a huge leap in building materials technology and could deliver substantial cost savings in timber construction. Wood Central understands that the results position stone wool as a high-performance alternative to conventional fire-grade plasterboard, with potential applications spanning mid-rise timber-framed buildings to residential properties in bushfire-prone zones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n