Global Insulation Conference and Exhibition 2007
15-16 October, Berlin, Germany

Reviewed by Dr Nino Mancino, conference co-convenor

Image gallery for the Global Insulation Conference 2007

Berlin – once divided, but now united – was given the honour of hosting the Global Insulation Conference and Exhibition 2007. Over 80 delegates from 23 countries met at the Crowne Plaza hotel – a truly multinational gathering of insulation experts. A total of 11 papers were presented on a variety of topics, ranging from Asian insulation markets, a focus on expanded polystyrene (EPS), and innovations in insulation materials chemistry and technology.

Day One

On the opening morning there was a tangible sense of interest and eager anticipation in the air. What followed did not disappoint…

The conference began officially with a warm welcome to all the delegates from the co-convenor, Dr Robert McCaffrey. In his introduction Dr McCaffrey commented on the recent rise in crude oil prices, with a barrel of crude oil now approaching a high of US$90. The inevitable increase in domestic fuel costs will provoke a move toward more energy savings. The insulation industry is thus in a prime position to take advantage of this and help home owners and industry use their energy more efficiently. This thought-provoking speech was followed by the keynote presentation, delivered by fellow conference co-convenor Dr Nino Mancino on the subject of ‘Global Insulation – Materials, Trends and Markets’. As the title suggests, the presentation touched on a broad range of themes, and included an overview of popular insulation materials, company profiles of selected insulation producers, in addition to a summary of the forecasted trends in the insulation market. By 2011 the market for insulation products (both residential and industrial) is expected to grow by 3.4%. This increase equates to US$33bn of potential business. If it wasn’t the case already, the delegate’s curiosity had been undoubtedly piqued!

The second talk was presented by Wang Lihe of construction firm CNBM International, on the state of the rockwool and fibreglass markets in China, both past and present. Insulation usage, and the establishment of insulation plants has grown spectacularly over the last 50 years. Most of the main manufacturers have facilities strategically placed throughout the country (and by our reckoning China has at least 200 plants in total, and probably more). As a result, the expected boom in Chinese construction projects will mean good times for insulation producers in the years ahead. That’s not to say China doesn’t face problems in this area – for example, the country has too many small plants that are plagued by inefficiency, pollution and outdated technology. But the potential is enormous, especially considering the hundreds of millions of rural homes that lack proper insulation.

The Asian theme was continued by Dr Narasimhamurti Srinivas of Mumbai-based Lloyd Insulations Ltd. His talk focussed on the technical problems of providing adequate insulation in a hot, sunny and tropical country such as India. According to Dr Srinivas, too many hurried and ill-thought-out insulation projects have been implemented in India. This has resulted in poorly-protected buildings and homes that adversely affect the thermal comfort of residents and office workers, the latter being a key workforce that has underpinned the rapid development of India’s economy. Only by putting in place carefully designed insulation projects – the criteria of which were described by Dr. Srinivas – will India emerge as a well-insulated nation.

It is well known among conference veterans that sessions immediately after lunch are often subdued, owing to the effects of a well-fed audience. However, the events post-lunch on the first day certainly knocked that assumption on its head.

Paper number three was presented by Stephen Long of the European Manufacturers of Expanded Polystyrene (EUMEPS). The fire retardant properties of EPS were described in an attempt to dispel some commonly held misconceptions about the material. After an assessment of fire damage data, Mr Long concluded that there is no statistical evidence that the insulation type influences the fire performance in standardised test methods or actual fires. The subsequent question and answer session turned out to be a rather animated affair, with one particular member of the audience debating the veracity of the data and the conclusions derived from it. Nevertheless Mr. Long conducted a robust defence of his paper, and it was left to the session chairman to invite the delegates to continue their discussion during the coffee break.

The fourth presentation, delivered by Hans Tepper of Dutch firm Stybenex, related to the work done by the EU to introduce harmonised standards for the use of EPS in civil engineering applications. Mr. Tepper explained the long and sometimes arduous work involved in producing standards that must accommodate national and regional building regulations. However, that work is now complete in the form of standard EN 14933, which will make the uptake of EPS in civil engineering projects much more widespread and easier to audit.

Dr. Govind Rauniyar of newly-created company Ineos Nova then gave a very interesting presentation on the subject of EPS loose-fill cavity wall insulation. He began by giving a thorough analysis of insulation science, including an analysis of the all-important R-value, and the vitally important issue of leveraging insulation technology to enable savings in energy consumption with regard to combating global warming. The main technical thrust of his talk was saved for the subject of EPS Silver™ Polymer, a new cavity-wall insulation material developed by Ineos Nova. These charcoal-grey synthetic beads offer improved performance and energy savings compared to traditional white EPS.

Gala Dinner

After the excitement of the first day, the delegates boarded a bus for the trip to the gala dinner venue, the Opernpalais in the eastern part of the city. Situated along the famous Unter den Linden boulevard, the Opernpalais was once the residence of King Friedrich III's three daughters. It is now home to a delightful café and two restaurants decorated in 19th century style opulence. The delegates were treated to a delicious meal and first-class entertainment in the form of a jazz quartet, complete with a very talented female solo singer.

Toward the end of the dinner the inaugural prizes for Global Insulation Manufacturer of the Year and Global Insulation Equipment Provider for 2007 were awarded to Russian company TechnoNICOL and Danish firm Simflow Systems respectively. Igor Rybakov, owner of TechnoNICOL, was extremely pleased and proud to receive the honour in recognition of the emergence and success of this relatively young, but highly ambitious mineral wool producer.

The award to Simflow Systems was received by managing director Bent Hansen, in acknowledgment of the success his company has enjoyed in developing innovative simulation software for the insulation industry. This move has led to significant improvements in terms of the output and efficiency of insulation manufacture for those factories that have adopted the software in their day-to-day work.

Day Two

The second day was kicked-off by Josef Milz of Thermo Fisher Scientific when he showcased his company’s online gauging system for ensuring insulation quality control. One of the main themes of Mr Milz’s talk was the advantage offered by X-ray sensors over and above nuclear sensors for product quality analysis. Overall, users of the online gauging protocols have enjoyed superior batt quality, reduced waste and significant costs savings.

Next to present was Axel ManØe Jepsen of Seelen. Interestingly titled ‘shaping more efficiency out of your cold end;’ Mr ManØe Jepsen explained Seelen’s palletising and wrapping technology that is used by insulation manufacturers worldwide with great satisfaction. Highlights of this include Multipack, EasyOn system and the latest in its range of packing solutions – the Video Monitoring System. The latter allows for easy and real-time monitoring of operations, providing valuable information and remote problem solving by virtue of a modem-based link up.

The penultimate presentation was given by Sergey Kanashov, a materials scientist for award-winning Russian firm TechnoNICOL. Mr Kanashov described how his company has led the way in Russia to developing mineral-wool based insulation. His talk included some very interesting materials science, including the chemistry of binder solutions to enhance adhesion between mineral fibres.

The final presentation of the conference was conducted by Bent Hansen of Simflow Systems, Denmark. The winner of the Global Insulation Equipment Provider Award gave a real-time run through of his company’s esteemed Virtual Data Center simulation programme, designed to replicate all functions of an insulation plant, complete with operators walking to and from equipment! The value of this software is that it allows plant managers to simulate a whole host of possible scenarios, and importantly to forecast production volume during any set of circumstances.

The last formal part of the conference was a discussion panel, chaired by Dr Robert McCaffrey. The panel touched on a number of themes, including the importance of insulation firms promoting the value of insulation to a largely uninformed public. Also discussed was the issue of insulation producers being too close-minded to the benefits of rival insulation materials. This subject attracted some passionately held opinions on both sides. However, this eagerness for both sides to present their point was always done in a way that was never less than stimulating and thought provoking.

Global Insulation Awards and Farewell

After another excellent lunch the final prizes were awarded and the venue for the Global Insulation Conference 2008 was announced. Premier Tech Systems won the prize for Best Exhibition Stand for 2007, with the award received by Patrice Maltais and Phil Lewis on behalf of their company. The prize for best presentation was awarded to Alexandre Taquet of Aspen Aerogels after his excellent talk on the subject of flexible aerogel blankets, followed by Axel ManØe Jepsen in second place and Bent Hansen in third. The overall quality of presentations was high, but Mr Taquet was a deserving winner, and the large margin of winning votes certainly attested to that.

Last but not least, following a delegate vote, the venue for next years Global Insulation Conference was announced – Barcelona (with 60% of votes cast ahead of London, Toronto and Shanghai). We hope that all of the delegates present at this years’ event will make the trip to Spain in 2008, in addition to a healthy contingent of Spanish insulation experts.

Our last afternoon in Berlin was spent on a walking tour through the city, sampling the very best that Berlin architecture and hospitality has to offer. Like the host city, we hope all the delegates left with a newly-found sense of purpose, and united by a need to spread the vital message that insulation is important to all of us. Auf wiedersehen, and see you in Barcelona!

Global Insulation Conference and Exhibition 2012
18-19 September, Riga, Latvia

Image gallery for the 7th Global Insulation Conference and Exhibition 2012

The seventh Global Insulation Conference and Exhibition took place in Riga, Latvia, on 18-19 September, with around 100 participants from 19 different countries, as well as including an exhibition of 10 international equipment and insulation service providers, making it the largest and most international Global Insulation Conference so far staged. The eighth Global Insulation Conference and Exhibition will take place in September 2013, in Aachen, Germany.

Tim Swales, head of R&D for Johns Manville, gave the first keynote presentation at the conference and spoke about the future of insulation systems. Tim pointed out that innovation is going on in insulation products but that developments in systems can bring even greater benefits. Building envelope systems are designed to deliver comfort, health and safety, durability and sustainability, through the control of heat and moisture. Tim mentioned the IBACOS lab home, a showcase for insulation best practice, which had R40 walls and an R60 attic with staggered framing, and which used XPS, foam and sprayed fibres. The house was very air tight, with only 0.54 air changes per hour, and also boasted a high performance air conditioning system. Tim suggested that around 37,000 passivhaus building are now in existence, enjoying low or zero energy heating and cooling. As director for sustainability at Johns Manville, a company that manufactures both organic and inorganic insulation and other insulation types besides, Tim mentioned that insulation systems will be required to be recyclable and possibly reusable in the future.

Professor Young Cheol Kwon of Halla University, South Korea next introduced the use of insulation in Korean buildings in the second keynote presentation. Professor Kwon pointed out that in the 1950s, South Korea was one of the poorer countries in the world, but now is an aid donor and one of the world's most developed nations. Buildings now consume about 24% of the energy in South Korea, compared to around 40% in other developed nations. Korean regulations from 2001 stipulated greater energy efficiency, so that insulation use was boosted. 97% of consumed energy in South Korea is imported, at a cost of over US$100bn per year. Organic insulation dominates the market, with 68% market share, with glass wool at 25% and mineral wool at 8%. Professor Kwon pointed out that vacuum insulated panels and aerogel blankets are starting to be used even in residential buildings in South Korea. Low-E insulation has been developed in South Korea, consisting of a foam lattice, faced by low emissivity aluminium foil on both sides. Enervac VIPs can provide the same insulation at 30mm thickness, as 240mm of EPS.  Only 0.01-0.1% of the cost of an apartment building is insulation, compared to 1-3% for a house: in either case, insulation provides fast payback and continuing cost efficiency.

Sun Uk Kim of RIST, also from South Korea,  next spoke on two products: styrofoam-like inorganic silica foam and anisotropic vermiculite board. Commercial silica gel is used as a starting material for silica foam, and the gel should have a particular moisture content, otherwise there will be either no foaming ( too dry) or severe cracking (too wet). Over- or under-foaming can be a problem during the manufacturing process, depending on the temperature of production. Even temperatures can be achieved using a rotary furnace: a preheating process takes the silica to around 400deg c, while the foaming process takes the material to over 1000deg c. The product has a density of 0.2g/cm3, with a cell size of 80-150 microns. Bricks made with silica foam, ceramic filler and binder have low thermal conductivity and have potential applications as fire doors, thermal or sound insulation or as an insulating filler for concrete. Kim also spoke about an insulating anisotropic vermiculite board, which uses aligned vermiculite  particles to optimise the insulation properties of the board, to achieve thermal conductivity of 0.03-0.05 W/mK. A chemical rather than thermal exfoliation is used to achieve the orientation of the vermiculite particles.

Francesco Barzagli of STM Technologies then spoke on mineral wool production and the capture of CO₂ to produce useful chemicals. Francesco pointed out that one third of the power of a fossil-fuel powered station would be used in a capture and sequestration process, effectively making the power station much less efficient. A number of processes have been used to capture CO₂, with each process creating a variety of more or less useful and saleable by-products. CO₂ can be transformed into a solid compound through absorption by ammonia in organic solvents, to produce ammonium carbamate, which can be used for NO_x abatement, for soil remediation or in forward osmosis. It is also the intermediate product in the industrial production of urea. During questioning, Francesco suggested that around 1t of CO₂ is produced during the production of one tonne of rockwool, an amount comparable to that created during the production of a tonne of cement. Technological solutions are emerging, but the economic stars also have to be aligned for the uptake of the technology.

Stephen Long of Ineos Styrenics next spoke about the legislative agenda that is coming down the road for the insulation industry in the EU, but which might eventually be applied worldwide. Stephen pointed out that the most crucial issue for all markets is the current depressed economic environment, followed by environmental pressures, energy supply issues and the maintenance of public safety and standards of living. The EU's 20/20/20 policy has been formulated to cut greenhouse gases, to increase the proportion of renewable energy used and to cut energy overall usage. Heating and cooling of buildings counts for around 25% of EU energy needs, so that insulation can have a huge impact. The Construction Products Regulations have been used to drive the freedom of internal markets, as well as the performance of materials and will become fully applicable in July 2013. Future developments will include the more widespread use of life cycle analysis for building materials including insulation. The Eco Design Directive is currently impacting and promoting the use of insulation in Europe, while the labelling regime is still in a state of flux but is moving towards EU-wide rationalisation. The EU's Energy Efficiency Action Plan is designed to ensure safe, secure, sustainable and affordable energy for all, partly through the reduction of energy consumption. However, the directive has been somewhat watered down during its passage onto the statue books. The Energy Efficiency in Buildings Directive will push all new-builds towards passive standards by 2018: Brussels has set the guidelines, and now member states are tasked with enacting the plans. The Waste Framework Directive mandates that prevention (of waste) is best, with disposal as the worst option. Stephen suggested that much more insulation will be required to be either reused or recycled in the future: the WBCSD has suggested that by 2050 society should produce no waste at all! Stephen concluded that the increased use of insulation will provide strong support for the EU's various energy and sustainability policies, as well as demonstrating good economics for states and users: for every euro invested in insulation, seven euros of value are created. The insulation industry should increase in size by about 30% over the next eight years in the EU, due to the drive towards energy efficiency in new-builds. However, this is the tip of the iceberg: by far the larger demand for insulation will come from renovation of existing buildings. If three percent of buildings are renovated and reinsulated each year, the insulation market would actually increase by 300% over a 30 year period. The actuality depends on legislation and on economic forces, including on energy prices.

Michel Cassart of Total spoke about his comapny's activities and pointed out that Total  is not just an oil company, but is a substantial energy company, with significant shares in solar and alternative energy sources, including biomass, hydrogen, methanol and ethanol. He pointed out that construction habits and history define local insulation consumption and suggested that the global consumption of styrenes is growing, either as EPS (expanded) or XPS (extruded) polystyrenes. Raw polystyrene beads are supplied to the market, including the blowing agent and additives and then EPS producers apply steam to expand the beads. For XPS, solid pellets of crystal polystyrene are supplied to the market and producers then use a single step extrusion and milling process, allowing the use of propriety formulations. The choice of gas is dictated by blowing performance, insulation performance and ecological constraints and might be pentane, or other HFC or HCFCs, or even CO₂ or other new newly-applied gases. Michel noted that as insulation becomes less and less dense, radiation can increasingly pass through the material: additives might then be used to block radiation transmittance through the insulation. In this way, less material can be used for a given level of insulation, or a higher level of insulation can be achieved for a given board thickness. Grey EPS, for example, has a lambda value 20% lower than equivalent white EPS. Michel announced the launch of Excell-R, a new grey EPS board with optimized R value.

Vadim Novikov of TechnoNicol then spoke on the impact of Russian legislation on the stone wool market in Russia. The market is expected to double from 2009 to 2016, to around 1.5Mt. TechnoNicol has six stonewool plants and six XPS plants in Russia and has around 39% of the stonewool market in Russia. A presidential decree of 2008 stipulated that the energy intensity of GDP should be 40% more efficient by 2020, compared to 2007. Apartment buildings with low energy efficiency will be penalised, under legislation copied from the EU. Technical regulations now limit the amount of flammable materials allowed during renovation works for different types of buildings. Vadim showed a chart outlining the legislation pertinent to the use of insulation in buildings: it was a complex diagram. A plethora of organisations are also involved in regulating the industry and the application of its products, including government, ministries, scientific institutions and NGOs. Vadim suggested that Russia's membership of the WTO might lead to increased competition with overseas insulation producers due to an increase in imports. Additionally, he suggested that there are already too many plants, with concomitant oversupply and low prices. Seasonal logistical problems continue to dog the insulation industry in Russia, both in terms of truck and rail transport. He suggested thta in both a positive and negative market development scenario, potential supply will still far exceed demand, by at least 0.300Mt in 2013 and increasing thereafter.

Domenico Disimino of Sulzer Chemtech introduced the Sulzer EPS melt impregnation process. He suggested that the logistic chain for EPS beads makes it difficult to customise the beads to specific customer requirements. A complex batch process is used in one type of suspension impregnation. On the other hand, the continuous melt impregnation process uses a polystyrene melt from commercial polystyrene, injects the pentane blowing agent directly into the melt, and ensures homogenisation until the melt is pelletised and dried to form pellets. The pellets are then sieved into separate size fractions and sold separately. Responding to increased requests from customers to produce their own resin, Sulzer developed the continuous melt impregnation process with static mixers, including the introduction of pigmented and flame-retardant EPS for building insulation. Static mixers have no moving parts, no maintenance, good laminar dispersal and mixing and low energy consumption. The Sulzer process is continuous and results in homogenous quality with narrow EPS micropellet size distribution and negligible water consumption. Graphite, carbon, mica or aluminium particles can be used to improve EPS R value, by increasing radiation absorption. Sulzer's improved pigment dispersion leads to lower additive consumption and higher R values. Domenico pointed out that the insulation industry needs to find a substitute for the commonly used hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) fire retardant, due to its toxicity. Several alternatives have now been successfully tested on the pilot scale and the melt impregnation process allows high potential for HBCD substitution. Sulzer has additionally developed a new generation of EPS process suited to small scale production, from 0.5-3.0t/hour, jointly developed with the German extruder manufacturer Coperion. The company is currently developing a simplified one-step direct, same-recycle process for post-commercial and post-consumer waste. The resultant foam is found to have the same properties as materials produced with virgin raw materials. Future developments may include alternative polymers (PLA, HIPS etc), the reduction of pellet size to cup grade sizes and the development of new solutions for packaging and insulation.

Per Nissen of Qubica and Ayhan Gokbag of ODE Yalitim next spoke about factory automation possibilities. ODE was founded in 1985 and manufactures glass wool, XPS and other insulation materials. Qubica was formed as result of the consolidation of three Danish companies, Seelen, Univeyor and Nordplan. ODE wanted to automate part of its packaging system, to eliminate the use of a film layer, to reduce labour costs, to increase the visual quality of the product and to increase capacity. Qubica suggested a solution and after a process of negotiation, preliminary tests and iteration, final concept approval, manufacturing and factory acceptance tests, the machine became reality. Such was the innovation incorporated in the machine that it has now been patented.

Authors from Bila and AMV gave the final presentation of the day, speaking about high performance automation. Bila offers cold end solutions based on the latest technology. It is critically important to have a single project manager, and a single point of contact with the customer, to ensure clear communication. AMV has been developing glass wool machinery since the 1970s and is now owned fully by Glava. The company suggests that its equipment has an availability of 99.8%.

Gala Awards Dinner

A Gala Awards Dinner took place at the end of the first day of the conference, at the historic Latvian Society House in the centre of Riga, where guests were treated to Latvian food, drink, music and dancing.

The Global Insulation Awards 2012 were presented during the evening. Insulation company of the year was awarded to Paroc Oy of Finland, technical innovation of the year went to French company Fimec Technologies for its insulation insertion machines, insulation plant of the year was jointly awarded to Saint Gobain Isover's Orange plant and Glava's Norwegian plants, product of the year was awarded to Ineos Styrenics' EPS Silver insulation and Global Insulation personality of the year was awarded to Tim Swales for his tireless efforts to promote all kinds of insulation over the years.

Second day

On the second day of the conference, Govind Rauniyar of Ineos Styrenics Technology spoke about EPS Silver Insujet technology for enhanced loose fill cavity wall insulation. Govind started out by quoting BP's 2012 energy report, saying that global energy consumption will increase by 37% from 2012 to 2030. Reducing energy demand is an effective way to achieve resource efficiency and obviously, insulation is one of the most  cost efficient ways of reducing energy demand. Loose fill cavity wall insulation can be used on both new-build and on renovation and retrofit projects. Ineos Styrenics has the best lambda white EPS grade, but today the insulation market calls for even better thermal insulation materials. EPS Silver has been developed and has a 20% better insulation performance than white EPS. Insujet is a proprietary technology, whereby EPS Silver polymer is used in combination with a specially-developed inorganic bonding agent and injected into a wall cavity using a modified filler gun to atomise the glue. This gives a higher performance and higher R value and cost efficiency than comparable systems. The company has made stringent efforts to ensure Insujet installation quality and traceability.

Mario Medina of the University of Kansas then spoke about phase change materials (PCMs) in combination with existing insulation materials. PCMs work by storing large amounts of heat when melting, which is later released when the PCMs solidify: the process must be cyclical. Many compounds have been used, including paraffins, hydrated salts and various mixtures. Structural insulation panel walls consist of two panels with an EPS board in the centre. Mario described his department's experimental set-up, whereby small houses are built of the materials under test, and are then heavily investigated with many sensors and instruments. To initially test PCM wall configurations, phase change materials were loaded into copper pipes and embedded into the wall systems. One configuration was a mixture of PCM mixed with rock wool, but this was not a huge success, since not all of the PCM then solidified during the cooling phase. What worked better was a reflective-foil-encapsulated PCM 'shield', whereby the PCM is sandwiched between reflective foils to form a thin (2mm) layer. The position of the shield matters, and depends on the climate that it is installed in. Mario showed that there was a substantial insulation effect, of between 20-62% difference in peak 'house' temperature using paraffin, but lower effects with hydrated salts (which have their own advantages and disadvantages). He concluded that PCMs reduce heat transfer rates, both in total heat transfer and peak heat transfer and produce more stable wall temperatures. Reflective shield encapsulation is the most effective means of installation of the technology. The technology will be installed on a large scale in a new building at the University of Kansas in 2013. 

Nicolas Doare of Satimo next spoke about wet spot detection on continuous insulation production lines. Wet spots can occur after the curing oven and can migrate from the centre of the insulation to the surface after manufacture, causing a number of different problems. A non-destructive test for internal wet spots was developed by the company, using a microwave scanner operating at 9.4GHz. A transmitting antenna emits microwaves through the tested product and the response - dependent on the permissivity of the materials the microwaves pass through - is detected on a receiving array beneath the conveyor belt. Water has a high permissivity and the resultant phase shift in the signal received can be translated into a graphic or alarm signal, or the output can be used to trigger marking guns or the cutting saw. The system can be used on a wide variety of insulation materials, but has so far mostly been used on mineral wools.

The penultimate paper at the conference was given by Eerik Lundmark of Paroc, on fire safety in renovation. He suggested that fire hazards have tended to increase during renovation, due to the drive to renovate quickly and cheaply, due to inadequate quality of the work and due to insufficient safety measures. He also suggested that the introduction of new materials to construction has meant that flash-overs happen more quickly than previously. Combustible materials can also be exposed during renovation, whereas building regulations typically define sealed constructions and combustible materials can be stored  in hazardous places during renovation. The presence of inhabitants can also increase fire risks during renovation, while in addition, safety systems are often switched off during renovation work, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Eerik suggested that the safety of renovation sites needs to be improved, that legislation and standards need to be developed, that fire safety audits should be mandatory after renovation and that cross-industry fire safety initiatives should be enacted.

Andrey Berestennikov of MetaDynea spoke about the resins market of Russia and Europe. The company has two plants in Russia with a total production capacity of 435,000t/year, of which 50,000t is insulation resin. Andrey suggested that competition between resin producers in Russia has been fierce and has been increasing over the years, despite the developing insulation market. MetaDynea's market share is around 45% for stone- and glass wool producers. Three types of resin have been produced: first generation resins based on phenol-alcohols; second generation resins based on organic and inorganic catalysts and now third generation resins with low free monomer levels and low formaldehyde. Use of the third generation resins is required for insulation producers to achieve the most recent environmental regulations. The technology of ultra-low emission resin production has been developed , based on KOH catalysts and the company will be ready to supply these resins to the market as soon as the market is ready for them!

At the end of the conference, which additionally featured plentiful networking sessions, awards were presented for the best presentations, based on delegate votes. Michel Cassart of Total was in third place with his presentation on foam innovation and in second place was Vadim Novikov of TechnoNicol for his paper on the Russian stone wool market. However, in first place, winning the award for the best presentation at the Global Insulation Conference in 2012, was Mario Medina from the University of Kansas, for his paper on innovative insulating phase change materials.

Delegates rated the conference highly both in terms of technical content and for its usefulness in making contacts in the insulation industry, and all promised to meet up again at the world's largest annual international meeting of insulation professionals, at the eighth Global Insulation Conference and Exhibition in Aachen, Germany, in September 2013. See you there!

Delegate comments:

• Very well organised conference: Participants from different types of businesses, which was good - something for everyone.

• Thank you for a nice experience!

• Nice conference, good chance to meet people, to discuss & to network - thanks.

• Good balance of participants from different industry sectors (manufacturers, machinery, academia, etc).

• Good conference - thank you!

• The speed-dating was a very good idea and should be used at future conferences

• The organisation, location and general guiding of the conference was all well done!

Global Insulation Conference and Exhibition 2011
26-27 September, Toronto, Canada

Image gallery for the 6th Global Insulation Conference and Exhibition 2011

The 6th Global Insulation Conference and Exhibition took place in Toronto, Canada, on 26 and 27 September 2011. The event included 13 presentations over two days and welcomed delegates from 16 different countries. Participants included delegates from all branches of the global insulation industry, as well as many of the leading companies. After taking place in Berlin, Brussels, Barcelona, Prague and London, the event moved outside of Europe for the first time, to take place at the Hyatt Hotel in Toronto. Despite the depressed situation in the North American insulation industry, the conference achieved a critical mass and networking opportunities - over a total of 12 hours within the conference programme - were excellent.

James Garry opened the conference with a presentation on the accuracy of thermal measurement in the insulation industry. He looked at three types of thermocouples, including platinum diodes and silicon carbide thermocouples, but pointed out that most thermocouples used are relatively inaccurate. He pointed out that measuring the thickness of a sample is not always so easy -  particularly at extremes of temperature. Density also varies from location to location due to differences in local gravity and with variation of atmospheric pressure. His conclusion was that the measurement of the insulation characteristics of a material are difficult to achieve, and that reporting uncertainty is as crucial as reporting data.

Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya of the National Research Council of Canada next spoke on the possibility of bio-based insulation. Canada has introduced a new building code for buildings, which will lead to an increased use of insulation, between 15-20% more than previously. Phalguni pointed out that bio-based insulation materials are not new, but suggested that bio-based materials need to have higher performance. Natural materials such as fungi and fruits have a bio-based foam structure and high insulation value. He outlined the possibility of using lignin with isocyanate and alcohol to create a polyurethane bio-based foam. The maximum amount of bio-based component that can be added without decreasing performance has not yet been determined. The long-term performance of the bio-based foams have also not yet been examined. Phalguni pointed out that since the research was at an early stage, it was a good time to join the research effort as a sponsor.

Doug Ostrander from Calucem Inc next spoke about the use of calcium aluminate cement (CAC) as a binder in the board and insulation industries. CAC has additional corrosion resistance and better high temperature performance compared to OPC. Setting times can be modified from a few hours to a few minutes and CAC has very rapid strength development. CAC can be used to briquette the raw materials for rock wool manufacture. The high heat of hydration means that briquettes will harden even in cool conditions, and since CAC is sulphur-free, there are no permitting issues associated with using CAC. There are opportunities to blend CAC with OPC to optimise both cost and performance.

At the start of a suite of presentations on reflective insulation technology, Bobby Byrd of Roy-o-Martin gave an introduction to the Reflective Insulation Manufacturers Association International (RIMA-I), a global grouping of producers of reflective and radiant barrier materials.

David Yarbrough of R&D Services next gave details about the use of reflective insulation around the world. Reflective insulation uses low emittance surfaces to reduce or nearly eliminate radiation across adjacent air spaces. The air spaces are enclosed to limit convection: spaces less than 10-15mm in the direction of heat flow exhibit little or no convection. The performance of reflective insulation is often evaluated in the context of systems or even of buildings as a whole, and a number of different methods have also been formulated to calculate the performance of assemblies or systems. Due to temperature stratification, reflective insulation can be particularly effective to prevent ingress of heat from outside a building, for example in hot climates, by lining roof spaces. Reflective insulation has its highest performance when it is positioned next to a low-emittance surface and when incorporating a small air gap.

Michael Joyce of R&D Services, Inc next spoke on the design and testing of duct insulation. He pointed out that the USA - like China and Australia - has a wide variety of climatic zones, which have different requirements from insulation systems. He pointed out some of the difficulties of measuring R-values in practice in a laboratory, including the fact that a system must be run for at least 12 hours for it to reach equilibrium, and that the results must be quoted for 75°F. In practice, performance at a variety of temperatures is measured and the results are then interpolated for the stipulated temperature. He pointed out that radiant barriers can vary in their insulation performance, depending on the way they are installed.

Mario Medina from the University of Kansas gave his conclusion at the start: radiant barriers reduce the heat transfer across building ceilings. He suggested that radiant barriers do not get the credit (in software packages modelling systems, for example, and in certain ‘green’ building standards) that their performance in the field warrants. Wood, masonry and other building materials commonly have relatively high emissivity. Radiant barriers may be installed in a variety of different ways in attic spaces, commonly depending on whether the insulation is installed during construction or as a retrofit. He reiterated the suggestion that radiant barriers can be of more utility in residential construction in the hot season, than in the cold or winter season. The efficacy of the radiant barrier installation will also vary depending on the climate. RBs reduce ceiling heat flows by 23-45%, in the summer, but to a lesser extent in the winter. In hot weather, by reducing radiation transfer to the roof space, the insulation may instead heat up the overlying roofing materials to a small degree.

David Yarbrough and Doug Kinninger of the Fi-Foil Company next spoke on different types of advanced concept reflective insulation. Vacuum panels eliminate gas phase conduction, nano-materials such as aerogels reduce gas phase conduction by reducing molecular collisions, but gas-filled foil-faced panels with low-k gas is Fi-Foil’s preferred solution. Argon, CO2 and krypton gases can be used to reduce conductance, although air also has low conductance. Interior low emission surfaces can be incorporated to increase insulation performance. Enclosed low-k gas with interior low-emissivity baffles to reduce radiative transport, as well as low emittance exterior surfaces have led to commercial products. Doug Kinninger spoke about these commercial products: the panels are expanded on site using an air pump (mechanical or manual), or can be used with a valve with more complicated gases. The corrugated panel leads to a structural strength, such that it will retain a cavity even if it is punctured. The interior of the panel is also covered in foil, so that it will retain its performance even if partially deflated. Gas filled panels can be retrofitted, for example behind radiators and in the plenum sections above a suspended ceiling. The panels are flexible enough such that they can be installed easily in constricted spaces. 

Gala Dinner

The conference gala dinner (seen left) was at the revolving restaurant at the CN Tower, at a height of 351m. The venue of the 2012 Global Insulation Conference was announced during the dinner: delegates will meet again in Riga, the famously-beautiful capital of Latvia.

Second day

Roberto Massini of STM Technologies, Italy, started off the programme on the second day of the conference, by speaking about the use of wet electro filters for the pollution control of mineral fibre production. Carl Bender of Turbosonic gave some details of how the equipment works to scrub dust generated from the process, whether from fibres or from condensed or sublimated fume. A wet scrubber will only remove large particles but does absorb gaseous water-soluble contaminants. The scrubber generates water particles of the right size to maximise droplet impaction. Particles are absorbed into the water droplets and these can be more easily removed. A wet electrostatic precipitator can remove sub-micron particles and can meet the most stringent regulations. Particles are given a strong negative charge by an ionising corona:  charged particles are attracted to the grounded walls of the collecting tubes and the falling water film on the tubes removes the collected particles to a drain. Collecting tubes are arranged in a honeycomb pattern to maximise efficiency. Carl mentioned a case study at El Volcan in Chile, which installed a wet electrostatic precipitator on a fibre production line, which reduced particulate emissions to consistently below 10mg/Nm3.

Jim Young of ITW Insulation Systems next spoke about the causes and prevention of corrosion on the interior surface of metal insulation jacketing. Metal jacketing is the outer containment of insulation around a hot or cold pipe, and usually includes a vapour barrier which ought to prevent problems but which can trap vapour once it has entered the system. The key problem is the entry of water into the insulation system: galvanic (or dissimilar metal) corrosion is caused by the contact of two metals, often in the presence of an electrolyte or salt; crevice or pitting corrosion occurs when a single type of metal is in contact with a stagnant liquid, especially when chlorides are present. Jim suggested that the use of a polysurlyn moisture barrier (PSMB) on the interior of the metal jacketing can almost completely eliminate corrosion. He underlined the fact that moisture barriers must be installed correctly and carefully to avoid the presence of pinholes that can lead to moisture ingress and subsequent corrosion. Once interior jacket corrosion becomes a problem, it is very expensive to fix: use of PSMB is a cheap insurance policy.

François Kirouac of Premier Tech next spoke about packaging technologies for the insulation industry. The company originally started out as a peat moss producer, but when its equipment supplier declined to improve his offering, the owner’s son went to engineering school and subsequently started to build better machinery for the company. Eventually the company became an equipment manufacture, rather than a peat moss producer! The company now produces a range of machines for packaging of insulation, a range that has expanded due to the company’s recent takeover of Forberg. 

The penultimate presentation was given by Janko Sink of Izoteh, from Slovenia. The company is located in Ljubljana, and can design, fabricate, and erect complete stone wool production lines, using CAD/CAM and CFD, particularly in the area of the curing oven and the spinning heads to optimise efficiency. Janko spoke about the construction of two stone wool factories in Russia. The Asbest plant has a capacity of 6t/hour of final product, while the Ufa plant, on the west side of the Ural mountains, has a capacity of 10t/hour of final product using a line width of 2.4m. Around 85% of the machinery for the factories was made in Slovenia, followed by a major logistical effort to transport the equipment 5000km to the plant site. The machinery has to be robust, due to the low temperatures at the plant sites, down to -40°C. The construction of the factories was delayed by the recent global financial crisis, but the factories are both now completed, commissioned and operating well. Both plants are equipped with modern laboratory equipment for quality control.

The exhibition area at the Global Insulation Conference was busy throughout the event (see right).

Walter Reiter of the EPS Molders Association gave the final presentation, an overview of trends in the world of EPS in the US. He pointed out that housing uses around 40% of energy in the US and that this proportion is actually increasing, partly because energy use by industry is decreasing as a proportion of the whole. He pointed out that all insulation manufacturers are going to have to become involved in product stewardship, ‘from cradle to grave.’ Walter also suggested that life cycle analysis for all insulation, EPS included, will become more important. Consumers, he suggested, are becoming better educated, or more cynical, about ‘green’ claims and that the industry is likely to become more aligned towards ‘sustainability’ instead. He pointed out that similar amounts of insulation are required for the same effect: different types of insulation have similar effectiveness but each is suited to different niches. ‘Watch the money’ was his suggestion, as energy becomes more precious, insulation demand will increase.

Following the final presentation, an awards luncheon was held at the Hyatt Hotel. Termica San Luis of Argentina was awarded the Global Insulation ‘plant of the year’ award, while Roxul Inc. of Canada was awarded the ‘insulation company of the year’ award for not only a robust performance in tough times, but also for its community outreach efforts. The Global Insulation ‘product of the year’ was awarded to Fi-Foil’s ‘Attic Armor’ gas-filled panel. Global Insulation’s ‘equipment company of the year’ was Izoteh, while the Global 
Insulation ‘personality of the year’ was awarded to Mary Edmondson of RIMA-I.The best presentation awards, as voted for by the delegates, were also presented at the lunch. In third place was James Garry of Red Core Consulting. In second place was Walter Reiter of the EPS Molders Association. However, the award for best presentation went to Jim Young (seen left) for his paper on corrosion of metal jacketing.

Delegates ranked the event highly for its technical content and for its networking opportunities. Without exception, all delegates fervently hope for an upturn in insulation markets worldwide.

We all hope that such a turnround in markets, with robust growth and enhanced profitability, will be in evidence by the time of the next Global Insulation Conference, in Riga in Latvia, on 17-18 September 2012.

Global Insulation Conference Presentations 2011

Global Insulation Overview 2011 - Robert McCaffrey

Paper 1: ‘Uncertainty in thermal analyses,’ James Garry, Red Core Consulting ltd 
Paper 2:  ‘Biofoam Insulation - Is it a real possibility?’ Dr Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya, National Research Council, Canada 
Paper 3:  ‘The advantages of calcium aluminate cements in industrial binders,’ Douglas Ostrander, Calucem, Inc.
Paper 4: ‘Reflective technology: Introduction and overview,’ Bobby Byrd, Roy-O-Martin
Paper 5: ‘Reflective insulations Internationally,’ David Yarbrough, R&D Services, Inc.
Paper 6: ‘Design and testing of reflective duct insulation,’ Michael Joyce, R&D Services, Inc.
Paper 7: ‘Radiant Barriers in North America,’ Mario Medina, University of Kansas
Paper 8: ‘Advanced concept-reflective insulation,’ Doug Kinninger, Fi-Foil Company
Paper 9: ‘Last improvement in the use of wet electrofilter as pollution control in mineral fiber production,’ Roberto Massini, STM Technologies S.r.l.
Paper 10: ‘Causes and prevention of corrosion on the interior surface of metal insulation jacketing,’ Jim Young, ITW Insulation Systems
Paper 11: ‘Packaging technologies for the insulation market,’ François Kirouac, Premier Tech Chronos
Paper 12: ‘Commissioning of two stone wool production lines located in Russian Federation,’ Janko Sink, Izoteh d.o.o.
Paper 13: ‘Thermal insulation building energy needs,’ Walter Reiter, EPS Molders Association