Global Insulation Conference & Exhibition 2017
25 - 26 September 2016, Krakow, Poland
The 12th Global Insulation Conference successfully took place in Krakow, Poland, in September 2017 with 150 delegates from 27 countries. The event also included an exhibition of 20 technology and service suppliers. The 13th Global Insulation Conference will take place in Vienna, Austria, in September 2018.
Image gallery for the 12th Global Insulation Conference and Exhibition 2017
View the Global Insulation Conference 2017 Video
View video of Paper 1 - Innovate like a startup in a mature industry, Diana Fisler, Johns Manville
Diana Fisler of Johns Manville started off by telling delegates that “Your business is one idea away from obsolescence.” She gave as an example a reflective foil that can potentially cool buildings by 10°C, putting out of business a range of insulation industries in the process. Looking back in history, Diana mentioned that Johns Manville started off with one of the founders experimenting with some cloth and some tar poured from a tea kettle, to develop a roofing material. Diana pointed out that even old companies must continue to innovate, otherwise other companies will come along and ‘eat their cake.’ Johns Manville now has dedicated innovation units that are insulated from the rest of the business, structured so that they are driven by customer needs. Winners, said Diana, are those companies that target big latent needs, that listen, observe and use data, that eliminate pain or solve problems and that deliver great experiences. Diana outlined a five stage process (idea: concept: business case: develop: commercialise) that shepherds ideas through to the market. There is no timeline to the process - it takes as long as it takes. However, there is plenty of research on why startups fail, the main reason being that there is no market need for the innovation. Finding the unmet needs in the market is crucial, and this is done through speaking to customers, and really ‘getting to the nub’ of what they need. Innovation to address customer needs is then undertaken in incubator groups. In a forthright video, two Johns Manville employees in successful product development groups pointed out that it can be difficult to get things done quickly in a big company, but that there are advantages in having deep technical knowledge available and also having significant financial resources that can be accessed by the startups. Continuing challenges include the impact of legacy systems and the timing of the decision on when to transfer the startup into a company business unit. Diana Fisler concluded that for startups to work they must ‘stay hungry.’
Per Nissen of Qubiqa next spoke about the state-of-the-art in automation in the insulation industry. The push towards automation is primarily driven by a focus on costs, but automation can also lead to more consistent and higher quality products. Ergonomics and the avoidance of repetitive work and heavy lifting, has led to more automated work stations and the introduction of more robots. Safety is becoming the most important factor, while another is that there is an increasing shortage of skilled diligent workers willing to work in factories. A high turnover of workers is leading to a constant ‘bleed’ of knowledge from the industry. At the end of the day though, the prime motivator for increased automation and increased use of robots is money. Per claimed that the increased level of automation and roboticisation in the industry would actually lead to an increase in the level of technical skill required, albeit in a smaller workforce. The knowledge that was previously in the minds of your shop floor workers should be accumulated in your controls and software systems through ‘data capture,’ in an example of ‘Industry 4.0.’
Grazyna Mitchener of Polychemtech Ltd next spoke about the lessons that could be learned from the Grenfell Tower tragedy of 14 June 2017, in which around 80 people died. Many instances were given by Grazyna of cladding catching fire and the fire spreading, with many casualties and deaths. “People before money: justice has to be done,” said Dr Mitchener, but what is the best way forward? Finding out the reasons for the disaster is the obvious first step. “Grenfell firstly ran out of luck,” said Grazyna, with many factors contributing to the disaster, leading to great loss of life in circumstances that in other buildings separately would have mitigated the effects of a fire. Grazyna gave 20 different factors why the disaster occurred and why it became so severe. However, she concluded that wrongly-specified cladding and the system that it was built into was the main factor. The insulation on the building did as it was supposed, and when exposed to fire it charred. However, the web of factors that led to the fire made it almost inevitable that it would eventually happen - if not here, then in similar circumstances somewhere else.
Pavel Zemene of the Czech EPS association next spoke on the fire safety of ETICS with EPS. Critically, ETICS systems do not include an air-gap. He pointed out that a correctly-specified and built system with EPS is no less safe than those using other types of insulation material.
David Yarbrough of R&D Services next spoke about the state-of-the-art in reflective insulation, starting off by stating that in this type of insulation at least one surface has a low-emittance surface, and that it includes an enclosed air-space. David pointed out that the effectiveness of reflective insulation can be maintained or even increased at lower temperatures, so that it is not just a ‘hot’ insulation material. Metallised films are now commonly used in place of aluminium foil in order to improve fire performance.
Stanislav Shcheglov of TechnoNicol, Russia, next spoke on the determination of lifetime performance of roofing insulation systems. He firstly pointed out that his company, which is 25 years old in 2017, now operates in 90 countries, manufacturing mainly mineral-based insulation products. Stanislav said that flat roofs can be characterised according to the loads that they are able to bear. In general, the more heavy-duty and load-bearing the roof, the longer will be its operational lifespan. However, Stanislav pointed out that after its 40-year design lifespan, an ‘expensive’ heavy-duty roofing system still may be the cheapest overall, due to lower maintenance requirements.
A co-authoured presentation from Oliver Meuter of S4 Automation GmbH and from Bernd Bergmann of Fagus-Grecon Greten GmbH next gave details on the automatic control of glasswool distribution. Instrument-maker Fagus-Grecon aims for zero-defect production, on the basis of ‘measure it before it costs!’ Automatic control of glasswool fibre distribution allows for the operation of a more stable process, faster job changes, and more accurate and efficient production of required products. An X-ray system, ‘Dieffensor,’ is used to scan the produced batt, while image and pattern recognition software is used to automatically detect defects and to feed back into the control of the distribution of the fibres in the production process.
At the end of the first day of the conference, delegates enjoyed a dinner at the Wieliczka salt mines.
Second day
On the second day of the conference, Ryan Cekander of ClimateRecovery.com spoke about a ‘Kodak moment’ for the insulation and HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioning) industries. In the 1980s, Kodak was one of the world’s top five most valuable brands. The company was an early pioneer in digital imaging, but failed to invest in continuing research and development. Kodak also misunderstood the future of photography, imagining that it was going to continue to emphasise the printing of photos (which was a major source of profits), rather to almost entirely transforming to a digital and non-printed form. Ryan suggested that participants in the insulation industry should recognise the opportunities that disruptive technologies bring to the sector and that they should embrace them to avoid being left behind. He pointed out that sheet metal ducts made from spiralised metal are inefficient in that the transport to the job site involves transporting air, while pre-insulated duct boards may be manufactured centrally and constructed locally. The offering from CR is pre-insulated and pre-fabricated air ducts, that can be transported flat and which spring into shape at the job site.
Andreas Guertler of the European Industrial Insulation Foundation (EiiF) next gave delegates an overview of potential energy savings in Europe using insulation. Andreas pointed out that EU Directives stipulate that major industries must undertake an energy audit at least once every four years. The insulation and energy-saving measures that can subsequently be undertaken typically have a payback period of two years or less. The Technical Insulation Performance Check (TIPCheck) audit can quickly identify opportunities for energy efficiency and the increased application of insulation. Andreas stated that there is potential for increased energy efficiency in every industry and in every country, for example on valves, storage tanks and flanges. He said that the annual cost-effective energy saving in Europe is 620PJ, equal to the energy consumption of 10 million households. 100 TIPChecks realise around 1PJ in energy savings, so around 62,000 TIPChecks will be required to audit and then to realise all of the potential cost-effective insulation installations.
Petri Jetsu of the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland next spoke on the potential of fibre-containing water/surfactant foam-forming technology for the production of building materials. The foam, ‘with the consistency of shaving foam,’ has an air-content of 40-70%. He said that the uniformity of the produced material is excellent, and that it is possible to produce both porous and dense products, using a wide variety of wood-based fibres from the nano-scale to those several centimetres long. It is also possible to produce layered products, while the technology is cost-competitive and resource-efficient. The sheets produced have moderate thermal conductivity, especially at a density of around 20-30kg/m3. Compressive strength, however, increased with increased density, so that a trade-off must be achieved.
Uwe Scheite of Lubritech pointed out that the higher the temperature of operation of lubricants in the insulation industry, the more often the lubricant may be required to be reapplied, depending on the temperature stability of the base grease. Fully synthetic greases offer stability at elevated temperature, giving longer grease lifetimes and reduced relubrication requirements. Correct lubrication not only extends equipment life, but also reduces energy consumption due to the lower power draw.
The penultimate presentation at the event was given by Mrs Fatma Baysu of ISIDEM Insulation, Turkey, on an indirect testing method for the water vapour diffusion resistance of flexible elastomeric insulating foam. It is, needless to say, critical to manage water vapour diffusion into and through insulation, in order to optimise insulation performance and to avoid condensation, and potential corrosion. Mineral wool has a water vapour diffusion resistance factor (µ) of 1-1.2, polyurethane foam (PUR) has a factor of 40-100, EPS has 20-100µ, XPS 100-400µ, while EPDM-based elastomeric rubber foam has µ of 3000, polyethylene foam (PEF) 3000-5000µ and NBR-based elastomeric rubber foam 5000-10,000µ. EN 12086 is widely used as a test standard for rolls, and EN 13469 for tubes. The new EN ISO 1516-3 test is based on an electrolytic test instrument and standard-thickness samples, but initial tests give somewhat different numbers compared to earlier tests. Work continues.
Alexander Frenzl of Netzsch, producer of analytical machines, gave the final presentation at the conference, on quality control of insulation materials, specifically their thermal conductivity (Lambda value) and thermal resistance (R-values). Netzsch manufactures compact instruments that can measure these values on an automatic or semi-automatic basis, although care must be taken to avoid condensation effects during the test, through the use of an air-conditioned ‘Lambda room’ or through flushing the instrument with dried air.
At the farewell party, Grazyna Mitchener was awarded third prize in the best presentation awards, with Ryan Cekander in second place and Andreas Guertler in first place for his paper on the potential for industrial insulation in Europe. The 13th Global Insulation Conference will take place in Vienna in September 2018.
