Norwegian façade-panel manufacturer Steni announced the availability in the North American building envelope industry of Steni Nature, a range of ventilated aggregate stone façade panels, according to Steni Export Director Adrian Pye.

“Steni Nature can provide a particularly vibrant yet monolithic look for architects and building envelope consultants who want a natural stone aesthetic,” Pye said. “But they also complement other types of façade materials, like wood, steel and glass.”

The façade panels are highly durable and offer a wide range of surfaces based on crushed stone, all of which protect the façade against wind and weather and will keep the building looking great for decades to come; the company backs them with a 60-warranty.

Steni Nature is available in 13 different natural stone colors, many of them with up to four different grades of coarseness: fine micro, fine, medium, and coarse. The panels are installed as ventilated cladding and can be installed at any time of year, regardless of temperature or weather conditions. Steni façade panels are diffusion-resistant, which means that they can remain submerged in water.

The panels require minimal maintenance, can be cleaned with most conventional hard-surface cleansers. Steni panel advantages include:

• Easy installation
• Pre-cut formats
• Low-cost durability
• 60-year warranty
• Reduced carbon footprint
• Easy cleaning
• Impact resistance
• Frost and water impermeability

Steni products have a small carbon footprint, typically producing 14 to 17 kg CO2/m2. A life-cycle analysis has been conducted for Steni façade panels, which has determined that all have an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) in accordance with ISO 14025/ISO 21930/EN15804/. The calculation has been performed and verified by a third party, SINTEF. EPD documents have been approved by EPD Norway and Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V. (IBU).