Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Hemp Inc.’s Hempcrete insulation panels have received approval for residential construction use in an appendix to the US Residential Building Code. Hempcrete insulation consists of hemp stalk hurd and lime. It is fire-resistant, moisture regulating and sequesters CO₂ naturally due to its hemp content.

Hemp Inc. operates a multi-purpose hemp processing plant in Spring Hope, North Carolina.

Kazakhstan: KazFeltec and Italy-based Cormatex plan to build a Euro10m natural wool insulation plant in Aktobe Region. Kazakhstan General Newsline has reported that the plant will use local coarse sheep’s wool, a waste product of which 3500t/yr is generated currently in Aktobe. The plant is scheduled for commissioning in mid-late 2023.

US: The National Insulation Association (NIA) has joined the US Department of Energy’s Better Climate Challenge initiative as an ally. Allies play a lead role in raising awareness of the initiative, which aims to reduce CO₂ emissions across US industrial plants and buildings.

US: Owens Corning’s 16th Sustainability Report has detailed the producer’s progress towards achieving its 2030 sustainability goals. The report covers indicators under 16 topics to demonstrate its environnmental footprint reduction. These included lowering greenhouse gas emissions, increasing recycled content and circularity, improving energy and process efficiency, increasing renewable energy use and fuel switching from on-site fossil fuel use to lower or zero-carbon alternatives. Between 2007 and 2021, Owens Corning reduced its CO₂ emissions by 60%. In 2021, it recycled 635,000t of glass in its glass wool insulation production.

CEO Brian Chambers and senior vice president and chief sustainability officer (CSO) Frank O'Brien-Bernini said "We have established roadmaps to help our teams understand what’s needed to meet our environmental footprint reduction goals. These roadmaps guide our short, mid and long-term strategies, and help ensure that sustainability remains our priority as we innovate to serve our customers, while addressing both the challenges and the opportunities within the relevant secular trends." They continued "Beyond environmental footprint reduction 'within' our plants, we are working to refine our understanding and set measurable goals for our impact on biodiversity and the circular economy, as well as continually seeking better ways to measure our progress on social impact priorities like inclusion and diversity.”

Slovenia: Knauf Insulation Slovenija has commissioned its new 1MW solar power plant. The installation is situated atop the roof of the company’s Škofja Loka glass wool insulation plant in Upper Carniola.

Digital and brand manager and green solutions advocacy lead Jure Šumi said that the latest milestone demonstrates the company’s commitment to reduing carbon emissions, creating better built environments, driving the circular economy and developing its people, all for a better world.

US: CertainTeed plans to invest US$32m in a capacity-expanding upgrade to its Chowchilla, California, glass wool insulation plant. The producer will install a new furnace, kiln and oxygen generation unit at the facility. It says that the upgrade will increase the plant’s capacity by 13% and reduce its carbon footprint by 4000t/yr.

Belgium: Etex has donated five sustainable modular housing units to families dispossessed by flooding in the summer of 2021. The company built the houses at Rochefort and Pepinster in two weeks and their assembly took 48 hours. Etex said that it plans to develop the construction method in future in order to meet needs and new trends in the housing sector.

Bernard Delvaux, chief executive officer of Etex said “It was important for us to donate our expertise through these five houses built in a circular way with a very low carbon footprint. Our modular construction technologies meet multiple housing needs around the world with the fast construction of affordable, well-insulated, high-quality and attractive living spaces.”

Germany: CertainTeed plans to build a 312kW solar power plant at its Berlin insulation centre. Construction is set to begin in 2022. Along with a similar project in its US plastic operations in Wayne, New Jersey, US, the plant’s construction aligns with the aims of parent company Saint-Gobain’s newly announced Grow and Impact sustainable expansion strategy.

CertainTeed CEO Mark Rayfield said “The new solar projects at our sites in Berlin and Wayne will reduce our company’s energy costs at these locations and support the broader transition to renewable, zero-carbon sources of power.”

Austria: Austrotherm has announced its construction of a 226kW solar power installation on the roofs of storage halls 6 and 7 of its Purbach extruded polystyrene insulation plant in Burgenland. The EU’s Regional Development Fund provided funding towards the project.

US: Saint-Gobain plans to invest a total of US$400m in expansions to its operations including insulation operations at four US sites. The group says that the sites are located in California and the Southeastern US. It said that the new capacities will apply the most advanced available technologies for industrial performance, safety and sustainability. This will reduce waste by 50% and CO2 emissions by 20% from current levels, according to the company.

Saint-Gobain said it hopes that the investments will strengthen its leadership in North America and accelerate its growth in the region by enriching its comprehensive range of solutions for light and sustainable construction.