Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Germany: Germany's BASF has switched its entire polystyrene-based insulation product portfolio for the European market to the new polymeric flame retardant (PolyFR). The change comes nine months ahead of the deadline laid out in the REACH regulation, which forbids the use of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) as a flame retardant as of 21 August 2015. This means BASF's 'Styropor' and 'Neopor' Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) and its 'Styrodur' extruded polystyrene (XPS) are only available with PolyFR from now on.

"By switching to PolyFR we can guarantee the supply of eco-efficient thermal insulation products for sustainable building projects in the future," said Giorgio Greening of the group's Styrenic Foams business unit. Using PolyFR allows producers to manufacture insulation materials that meet Class E under European standards.

To meet rising global demand for PolyFR, which has a better environmental profile than HBCD, a number of producers have set up new production plants, including the recent announcement by Albemarle and Israel Chemicals (ICL) to set up a PolyFR joint venture.

Denmark: Danish insulations materials producer Rockwool International has agreed to acquire BASF Wall Systems, which is owned by the BASF Group. The group's German subsidiary Deutsche Rockwool will acquire all of the German external façade insulation producer including a factory in Marktredwitz and the HECK MultiTherm and Rajasil brands.

"This is a major leap forward for the Rockwool Group's strategy of offering customers more complete solutions consisting not only of insulation but also all the other necessary elements of a total facade system such as paint, render, etc. The BASF Wall Systems business is in this respect a great asset," said division managing director of the Rockwool Group's Europe division, Henrik Frank Nielsen. He added that purchase enhances the group's façade strategy and gives it a 'significant' foothold in the German External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS) market.

Rockwool declined to comment on the value of the deal, saying that the deal was too small to have any impact on the buyer's valuation. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2013. BASF Wall Systems had a turnover of Euro68m in 2012 and it had 190 employees.

Germany: BASF, the multinational chemical company, has announced plans to divest its subsidiary BASF Wall Systems GmbH & Co. KG, together with its factory in Marktredwitz. Currently, BASF Wall Systems employees 190 workers.

BASF Wall Systems is a supplier of insulation and finishing systems in the German market. The company's main field of business is systems for the exterior and interior thermal insulation of buildings. In addition, the company offers renovation and restoration systems for historical buildings.

"Our Wall Systems business in Germany posted significant growth over the last few years. Nevertheless, there are only limited synergies with other BASF fields of activity that we can make use of. A new owner will be better able to drive the business," said Dr Tilman Krauch, president of BASF's Construction Chemicals division.

China: Asia can improve its energy-efficiency and cut carbon emissions by adopting proven energy-saving technologies, but this has to be supplemented with regulations and market-driven energy pricing to be effective, according to the vice-chairman of the German chemical giant BASF. Beijing's practice of setting energy prices below those in the free market mean some opportunities had been lost due to poor economic fundamentals, said Dr Martin Brudermueller.

"If you look at the low energy cost in China, and you take the top one million households in Chongqing and you say you will reduce the air-conditioning cost by 50%, you end up with only US$280 of savings per year per household. You could hardly invest this in building insulation because it simply doesn't pay off," he said.

BASF is working on several projects to provide insulation materials for Chinese buildings that help cut heating and air-conditioning demand. Brudermueller says up to 60% of energy consumption can be cut with retrofitting. In addition to insulation, energy can be saved by treating floors to make them reflect heat and pigments can be added to building materials to reflect infrared lights - even if the materials are black. He added that China's energy consumption per square metre of floor space is two to three times higher on average than that seen in the EU.