Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UK: Leeson Polyurethanes’ adhesive and coatings plant in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire caught fire following a series of explosions on the morning of 27 August 2021. Worcester News has reported that one person known to have been working in the plant at the time remains unaccounted for on 31 August 2021. Emergency services extinguished the blaze but have been unable to enter the site so far. The smoke cloud from the fire was visible over 60km away. It resulted in an evacuation of neighbouring residential streets.

UK/Ireland: Kingspan UK head of insulation boards Peter Wilson will retire from the company at the end of 2020. Wilson will also step down from his position on the producer’s board of directors.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Gene Murtagh has also apologised for ‘process shortcomings’ that have been highlighted by the ongoing Grenfell Tower Inquiry. The Irish Times newspaper reports that the company used flawed safety tests to market its Kooltherm K15 insulation product, some of which was used on the building. Murtagh used his Christmas 2020 address to staff to pledge trust-rebuilding action. He said that the company will treat the issues raised in the inquiry with the ‘utmost seriousness.’

In other personnel changes, Alan Lawlor has been appointed Divisional Managing Director of Kingspan's Insulation Boards Division with responsibility for its global activities. He is currently chief financial officer of Kingspan's Insulation Boards Division and managing director of Kingspan Insulation, Southern Europe.

Jim Carolan has been appointed as Group Head of Compliance & Certification with immediate effect, reporting to the Group chief executive officer (CEO). The group said that in this newly created role he will be responsible for ensuring a rigorous approach to certification, testing and product compliance across all Group divisions. Carolan's prior role was as Operations Director in Kingspan's Insulated Panel's Division.

UK: Jonathan Roper, a former assistant product manager at Celotex, has described the company as ‘dishonest’ by ‘overengineering’ a cladding fire safety test to achieve a pass for its RS5000 insulation product. After a first test failure in January 2014, a second system passed in May 2014, which the firm used to erroneously market the combustible rigid foam boards as being safe for use on high-rise buildings, the inquiry has heard, according to the Press Association. Covert changes were allegedly made to the set-up of the second test to make the outcome more favourable. Roper added that the motivation for getting the RS5000 product to market was to compete with rival firm Kingspan and its K15 insulation.

Celotex, part of the French multinational Saint-Gobain group, has maintained it promoted RS5000's use on buildings taller than 18m only on a "rainscreen cladding system with the specific components", used when it passed the fire safety test. The inquiry has previously heard Celotex saw Grenfell as a "flagship" for its product and exploited the "smoke of confusion" which surrounded building regulations at the time.

The current stage in the inquiry is examining the production, testing and sale of the materials used in the tower's refurbishment which resulted in the June 2017 fire, killing 72 people. The proceedings continue.

Ireland: Kingspan has written to the Building Research Establishment (BRE) to withdraw fire test reports on its rigid thermoset phenolic insulation Kooltherm K15. The Irish Times newspaper has reported that, speaking at the inquiry into the Grenfell tower fire in London, a representative of the company admitted that the fire test reports on Kooltherm K15 may not reflect the actual product. This was due to possible compositional changes arising from “process shortcomings” that “fell short of the high standards which Kingspan sets itself." In 2007 it failed a fire test in which it was reportedly tested with a cladding system that also failed subsequent testing with another company’s insulation.

The Grenfell inquiry has asked Kingspan why it had not previously withdrawn the Kooltherm K15 fire test reports with the BRE. A distributor supplied the insulation to contractors for use in the refurbishment of Grenfell in 2012 – 2016.

The majority of the insulation purchased for use in a refurbishment of Grenfell Tower prior to the fire in June 2017 was Celotex’s RS5000 polyisocyanurate foam (PIR) insulation board. However, Kingspan confirmed in July 2017 that a small amount of its Kooltherm K15 product had also been used without its knowledge and that it had no involvement in the design or specification of the refurbishment.

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.

Turkey: A fire broke out in an outside area and spread to the main factory and adjacent commercial property at Hunter’s Istanbul polyurethane (PU) plant. The company has stated that nobody was harmed and monitoring for any offsite environmental impacts is underway.

Slovenia: A fire broke out at Fragmat’s insulation plant at Podskrajnik near Cerknica on 13 June 2019. Around 450 fire fighters were involved in controlling the blaze, according to the Slovenian Press Agency. The unit manufactures polystyrene insulation.

US: Celotex has been named in a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia on behalf of victims and families of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London, UK that killed 72 people. Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they represent the estates of 69 of the 72 people who perished in the residential high-rise fire, and 177 survivors who suffered life-altering injuries, according to Reuters. The lawsuit demands a jury trial but has not specified the amount of compensation it is seeking. Whirlpool and Arconic have also been named in the document.

Slovenia: A fire has caused damage to Knauf Insulation’s Škofja Loka mineral wool plant. The fire started in a warehouse before spreading on 2 February 2019 before it was extinguished, according to the Slovenian Press Agency. No injuries were reported during the incident. The cause of the blaze is being investigated.

UK: The UK government plans to adopt the recommendations made by Dame Judith Hackitt in her review of building regulations and fire safety published following the Grenfell Tower fire in mid-2017. Other commitments the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has made include creating a new regulatory and accountability framework to provide greater oversight of the industry and introducing clearer standards and guidance, including establishing a new Standards Committee to advise on construction product and system standards and regulations. It says it will place residents at the heart of the new system, with new routes for engagement and redress, and that it wants to help create a culture change and a more responsible building industry. In addition to setting out its plans to implement the changes called for by Hackitt, the government says that a full review of fire safety guidance within building regulations has also been launched.