Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Uzbekistan: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has issued a US$5m loan to Ecoclimat Group for the launch of a new subsidiary, Angren Insulation. The company will use the loan to build a 32,000t/yr glasswool plant in Tashkent. The plant will use recycled glass as an input and reduce the group’s CO₂ emissions by 85,000t/yr. The insulation producer said that it will help it to meet the growing local demand for mineral-based insulation.

Europe: The EU energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger has said that European Union (EU) member states should install insulation in their public buildings, going as far as saying that the 27 nations should be forced to do so. Oettinger thinks that insulation should be improved by 3% in public buildings and that that this improvement should occur year-on-year starting in 2014.

The EU is ultimately aiming to cut energy consumption in buildings by 20% by 2020. It would also like to create new public procurement rules aimed at awarding contracts to products and services that are energy-efficient.