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ou can take your pick of any of these top five materials to clothe your home in. It’s not just a matter of aesthetics, you need to think about cost, performance, the impact on the environment and how much maintenance each option needs.
The cladding of a building is just as important as the space and fittings inside it. In some areas of the world, it’s vastly more important. In areas prone to forest fires, you’d opt for metal cladding over timber or vinyl, for example. We’re looking at how durable these materials are and how they affect our environment. Let’s start our countdown…
Number Five
Bricks and stone used to be the last word in building tech, but now they’re in last place. Of course these options are very long-lasting – granite in particular will still be here when the last remaining humans jet off to whichever exoplanet we start calling home. However, bricks are very energy-expensive to fire, and stone is very expensive to extract and transport.
Number Four
Stucco cladding has been used successfully (and very beautifully) for centuries. It’s still relevant today, as it’s highly resistant to fire, durable and helps buildings to maintain internal temperatures. Sadly, modern-day stucco uses a lot of concrete, which has a big environmental impact. It’s also not as durable as the other options, and needs a lot of maintenance.
Number Three
Vinyl cladding is an incredibly versatile option. It comes in a multitude of colours and shapes, but isn’t good for the planet. Making plastics is bad news – they use oil, which is a real problem. They are also flammable, and release toxic gases when burning. On the up-side, vinyls are cheap (economically, at least), durable and provide excellent insulation.
Number Two
Wood has been dethroned by metal and is now in second place. It’s not languishing there, though, as it’s still an excellent choice for cladding. In terms of environmental impact and sustainability, wood is pretty much as good as it gets. You chop down a tree to build a house – you plant another. It’s been good enough for generations of people, and will continue to protect, insulate and weatherproof many a home for the foreseeable future. However, timber does need a lot of love and attention. It needs to be caulked regularly, as well as inspected and replaced if need be. Once it starts drying out and splitting, your dream home can look tatty very rapidly.
Number One
Metal cladding is our number one for several reasons;
It’s brilliant at keeping the weather out, it needs hardly any maintenance or inspections and it is a good insulator – it can keep heat out or heat in just as easily thanks to its light and heat reflectivity.
It’s not great for the environment in the short term, as extracting metals from ore is never a clean business, but once it’s out, it’s highly recyclable. In fact, many companies used recycled metals for their cladding panels, so we can forgive that initial cost to the environment.