Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Belgium: Knauf Insulation has announced its new sustainability strategy, entitled ‘For A Better World.’ The company says, “The strategy is defined by clear concrete targets for 2025, focussing on four key sustainable goals: Putting People First, Achieving Zero Carbon, Delivering A Circular Economy and Creating Better Buildings.” Its targets include reducing total recordable incident rate from 9.2 to 5.0, reducing the embodied carbon dioxide (CO₂) of products by 15%, investing 10% of general capital expenditure (CAPEX) in new projects to reduce emissions or landfill waste, cutting the carbon footprint of business travel by 25%, reducing virgin plastic packaging by 25%, using more than 25% of external recycled material in mineral wool and more than 65% recycled material in glass wool and sending zero production waste to landfill. Chief executive officer (CEO) Jean-Claude Carlin said, “These clear, concrete short-term targets for 2025 support our long-term commitments in ways that everyone can start achieving now.”

Director of sustainability Vincent Briard said, “Sustainability defines everything we do. Our products save energy, cut emissions and make buildings fit for the future. We have the experience and expertise to ensure all our customers achieve their sustainable ambitions. We are also here to help. We are supporting our customers as they navigate market forces and regulatory landscapes that are increasingly demanding more sustainable building solutions.”

Malaysia: Passive fire protection producer Promat and fibre cement boards producer Kalsi, both subsidiaries of Belgium-based Etex, have rebranded as Etex Malaysia. The company says that the name change “reflects Etex's broader commitment to inspire ways of living through innovation.” PR Newswire Asia has reported that by combining its Malaysian subsidiaries under the Etex Malaysia brand the group aims to strengthen its offerings to local and export Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) markets.

UK: Italy-based Hennecke-OMS says that it has received an order for a 45m/min lamination line for Ballytherm UK’s upcoming 1.2Mm²/yr Herefordshire polyisocyanurate (PIR) and polyurethane (PUR) insulation plant. The plant consists of a continuous foaming line including a 38m double belt conveyor and foaming, mixing and distribution units for the PUR foam inside the two flexible facings, a cross cutting unit, a panel cooling section and stacking and packing equipment. The company said, “The entire plant in a fully automatic cycle and is controlled by a series of electric control panels based on an industrial Siemens S7 PLC and with relevant interface operator panels.”

The supplier added, “The choice of Hennecke-OMS as the supplier for Ballytherm’s second plant confirms the excellent co-operation between supplier and customer, as well as Hennecke-OMS’ leading position in continuous plant technology.”

Installation will commence in October 2020 and Ballytherm plans to commission the line in early 2021. It has future potential for expansion to 70m/min lamination capacity, according to the supplier.

UK: A public inquiry has heard that Grenfell Tower cladding subcontractor Harley Facades and staff of Saint-Gobain subsidiary Celotex discussed the use of Celotex’s RS5000 polyisocyanurate foam (PIR) insulation as a “case study” to determine “the U-value achieved by the product.” The insulation product was also sold to the contractor at a 48% discount. Ben Bailey, project manager at Harley Facades, denied that the price had anything to do with the final choice of product for the project. However, other documents showed that Harley Facades staff also enquired about the price of a Kingspan K15 insulation product.

In January 2020 Stephanie Barwise Q.C. told the inquiry that Celotex treated the 67m tall building as a "flagship" project for its RS5000 insulation product.

The Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 killed 72 people. The inquiry continues.

Luxembourg: Armacell recorded sales worth Euro288.4m in the first half of 2020, down by 10% year-on-year from Euro320m in the first half of 2020. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 17% to Euro52.5m from Euro63.3m. The company said that the effects of lower sales volumes “were not entirely offset by immediate cost control measures.”

President and chief executive officer (CEO) Patrick Mathieu said, “Strategically, we are well on track. Armacell has shown a steady performance in the first half of 2020, and our immediate measures to mitigate the risks arising from the pandemic are proving beneficial. Our good performance over the past months underlines the resilience of our business, which we continue to grow.”