Wall insulation suggestions - avoiding rockwool

Hello everybody, I am new here. Really nice forum!!! I will be building a studio in my new house next year so a nice plan how to do it will be needed soon. I noticed that everyone is using rockwool when insulating the inner walls. This is all OK if you are not a heath concerned freak as I am. Is there any other more natural material I can use instead? For example this wood fibres Or industrial cannabis wool or even sheep wool which I can find for a bit more money.

In My Opinion (perhaps a grain of salt for you..) I think you're over stating the health risks and although there are figures for prolonged exposure to glass fiber or mineral wool, if you work safely with it, everything is fine. Not everyone is doing their place in rockwool. I've used the pink stuff (over stuffed) in my walls. Cram's room I think brad used glass fiber too - here I recall that Rod's book states that the difference in product benefit (meaning performance of one vs the other - not the price comparison) is not significant. For safer products, there are things like denim insulation. here If you want to go the route of those insulation materials, make sure you find a chart that deals with STC ratings and specific frequency measurements. Meaning - if you're concerned with lower frequencies being absorbed. Find the difference of the material you feel safe with and pair that with the performance of the standard materials we find used in the builds in this forum (for the most part). Good luck.

Cram is on the money. I do like the industrial cannabis wool, but then, a lot of my best ideas have gone up in smoke ;)

So rockwool is not so unhealthy as I though? BTW, I am located in Europe. I don't think it would make sense to import such materials from USA :lol: Anyone knows about the healthy alternative materials in Europe?

Purusha - In the building materials section of the site, there may have been a person from your area in europe that has wondered the same thing. Execute a search with keywords relating to bordering countries for the insulation product terms you're interested. Rokwool/Fiberglass - These products do not pass easily through or get expelled from our systems well or at all, so one answer to your question is - yes, these products if inhaled in large quantity can hurt your resp. system. In the sticky section for reference links, there is a study mentioned to support all of this. The detail is not my expertise. I only know my experience and the general concept of how it can hurt. That being said - A good resporator/mask that forms a nice seal around your face to cover the mouth and nose will stop anything from getting into your lungs. Long sleeves, pants & a simple hat or hood will stop irritation from affecting you too much. Eyes may be a concern so you could get tight conforming safety glasses. The breathing is the most important part. Which is why we wouldn't want to line a conduit (muffler, insulation box for HVAC for example) with uncovered rock wool or fiber board. The fibers would become airborn. My experience with this stuff is about 3 house construction projects from start to finish. and many other rooms & additions for spotty work I used to do in order to help me through college. (And help my family out). I'm not a pro of 30 years or anything, but I don't worry too much about it because I feel confident in my interaction with the stuff. Take that for what it's worth. Check out the building materials section. Call a manufacturer like roxul or any other's you are interested in if you like, to see if they have distribution in your area. Be sure to post information if you find it. ;)

Thanks Cram, I find your post very helpful 8) Will take a lot of time to investigate all options but I'll post back if I find something good. Thanks again.

I have just heard from a friend in Germany who is finishing his studio. He confirmed that the wood fiber boards are even better than the standard rockwool. So here you go, if you don't mind paying 15€ for m2 of wood fiber boards(10 cm thick), this might be your new healthy insulation option. I will definitelly use this 8)