Natural Stone Features and the Benefits they Bring

Natural stone is a great choice for your home, whether you are making upgrades inside or out. Natural stone can made a gorgeous façade for your home, or it can build a strong retaining wall for your garden. Inside your home, natural stone can be used for upscale flooring, backsplashes, and accent walls, among other things. You really are only limited by your own creativity and your budget.

Besides these benefits, natural stone is also economically and environmentally friendly. It offers exceptional value when you consider the true cost over the many years that it will offer dependable performance. Here’s a look at some of the environmental benefits it offers, as well:

Requires Less Energy to Produce

Some building materials require a lot of energy and materials to produce, such as laminate or carpeting. However, the Federal Construction Materials Association of Germany released a study showing that natural stone requires low energy consumption. In fact, the cost of energy for processing the stone is just 3.3 percent of the total production value of the stone. Overall, the stone has a much lower environmental impact than other popular flooring choices, including parquet, ceramic tile, laminate, and carpet.

Lower CO2 Emissions

Many building materials off-gas carbon dioxide, which contributions to global warming. Because stone is a natural material, it contains very little carbon dioxide. It doesn’t have manufactured material that includes toxic elements. Therefore, the CO2 emissions of natural stone is about 74 percent lower than that of large ceramics and about 27 percent lower than that of terrazzo. You can feel good when you choose natural stone for your home, knowing that you are not making a global problem worse.

Fewer Greenhouse Gasses

Every time you order something and have it shipped to your home, you are adding more greenhouse gasses into the environment. Trucks and planes that are used to ship materials consume a great deal of gas and oil. The farther away the materials are when you order them, the greater the impact you are having with your order. When you order natural stone from a local supplier, you are lowering your environmental impact because you are not contributing to the release of more greenhouse gasses into the environment.

Shorter Life Cycle

It doesn’t take natural stone as long to break down as it does other materials. For example, anything made with plastic, such as laminate, can take 1,000 years or more to decompose. That means that plastic is just piling up while we keep manufacturing it but are unable to dispose of it. However, natural stone has a relatively short life cycle. The FCMA reports that its life cycle is about 84 percent lower than large ceramic tiles, for example. The exact life span depends on the type of stone, but you can trust that any stone you use will be a better environmental choice than a manufactured material.

There is so much information right now about the environmental disaster that is impending, and it can feel overwhelming and like there is nothing you can do as an individual to improve the situation. But the truth is that you make an impact with every choice you make. What you choose for your home can have the biggest impact since these materials are larger and are often made with the most toxic ingredients. By choosing natural stone, you can make a positive impact for the environment. You can reduce the carbon dioxide emissions being released, reduce the amount of energy consumed in production, and reduce the amount of waste created. If you choose stone from a local supplier, you can further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make an even greater impact.

Centurion Stone of Arizona is a local stone supplier with one of the largest stone yards in the state. We have 10,000 square feet of space full of different stones of different colors and textures, so you can find exactly the right material for your project, whether it’s a new floor, retaining wall, façade, patio, or something else. You can order the stone and have it within 24 hours, or you can order it and have us install it for you. Call us today to talk about your needs and find the right stone.