Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

France: Saint-Gobain’s third quarter results for 2020 for its High Performance Solutions division were supported by external thermal insulation products (ETICS). The group said that, “activities serving the construction Industry held up well in the nine-month period, and in the third quarter when sales were virtually stable thanks notably to ETICS.” Despite this sales decreased for the division in both the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020.

The building materials producer’s overall like-for-like sales fell by 7.2% year-on-year to Euro27.9bn in the first nine months of 2020 from Euro32.4bn in the same period in 2019. However, overall sales improved by 3.2% year-on-year to Euro10.1bn in the third quarter of 2020.

France: LafargeHolcim subsidiary LafargeFrance has relaunched its Airium mineral foam, a concrete block additive, for a new application, namely roof insulation. The company says that Airium has a lifespan of 50 years and “retains heat in winter like most insulation, while also preserving buildings’ freshness in summer” thanks to its phase shift time of over nine hours.

Lafarge France developed the new application in partnership with coatings producer PRB. It said, “We select premium applicators (blowers) from suppliers from LafargeHolcim’s screeds and PRB coatings network. The PRB and Airium partnership thus takes on its full meaning and ensures quality service to new users.”

France: Saint-Gobain’s Point.P construction materials and building products distribution brand has put together a specific range of bio-sourced insulation materials. The materials include wood fibre and hemp-based materials. Point.P says that these products account for 10% of the insulation market. The new range has been developed in response to new expectations expressed by trades professionals and individuals.

France: Switzerland-based Sika has entered production of facemasks at its Dexel building materials plant in Les Salles du Gardon, Gard department. Sika says that the plant produces 15,000 masks/day ‘almost entirely from Sika products.’ It will distribute the masks around customers and employees and has received an order for 165,000 masks.

Sika Europe, Middle East and Africa regional manager Ivo Schädler said, “We find ourselves in an exceptional situation that confronts us with new challenges on an almost daily basis, especially in those countries worst hit by coronavirus. Our top priority is to protect our employees, their families, and our customers – which also includes finding unconventional ways of helping them.”

France: Saint-Gobain’s net profit in 2019 was Euro1.45bn, up by 207% year-on-year from Euro474m in 2018. Its net sales were Euro42.6bn, up by 1.9% from Euro41.8bn in 2018. Saint-Gobain chairman CEO Pierre-André de Chalendar praised the year’s performance in spite of a ‘less supportive market environment in the second half.’ He said, “For 2020, in a more uncertain market environment, Saint-Gobain should continue to benefit from its attractive positioning and from the results of its ‘Transform & Grow’ initiative, and is targeting a further like-for-like increase in operating income with an uncertainty about the impact of the coronavirus.”

France: Hirsch France, a partnership consisting of 66% Hirsch and 34% BewiSynbra, has purchased six Saint-Gobain expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation plants and 49.9% of shares in Isossol from Saint-Gobain subsidiary Placoplâtre.

Saint Gobain’s nine-month sales fell by 4.1% year to Euro31.1bn to 30 September 2019 from Euro32.5bn. The group is targeting annual divestment equivalent to Euro3.0bn to cut losses.

UK: French-based Saint-Gobain has received vindication in its attempted deflection of liability for alleged harm done by flammable insulation products designed, manufactured and sold by its subsidiary Celotex with the revelation of systematic failures in the London Fire Brigade response to the Grenfell disaster on the night of 13 – 14 June 2017. BBC News reported that the Phase One Report, published on 29 October 2019, identified ‘serious shortcomings’ in large-scale incident management training for control room supervisors, with a ‘stay-put’ advisory strategy rescinded 60 to 80 minutes too late at 2:47AM.

France: Knauf Insulation entered production at its new 0.1Mt/yr mineral wool plant in Illange on 22 October 2019. Knauf Western Europe managing director Mark Leverton called the plant, which cost Euro110m and will employ 123 people, a ‘reference plant’ for the group ‘in terms of its approach to the environment and the wellbeing of employees.’ The group reported that 7.5ha has been set aside for a wildflower meadow, with Urbanscape Green Roof installed across plant buildings.

France: Knauf Insulation France has appointed Yann Ditsch as its managing director. He holds experience in the French construction market having worked as Country Sales Director for Knauf in France since 2011. Prior to this he worked for Saint-Gobain, Rockwool France and US Gypsum. Ditsch, aged 50 years, holds a masters degree in marketing and communication from the ESCP Europe (École supérieure de commerce de Paris).

UK/France: A project between the University of Bath, University of Brighton, UniLaSalle in Rouen and five other academic and non-academic partners, and funded under the Interreg VA France (Channel) England programme, is investigating the performance of a range of waste materials and bio-based co-products as alternative building insulation materials. Three different materials are being evaluated: wheat straw bales, rapeseed stalks (processed into bio-composite) and recycled duvets.

A research team at the University of Bath is testing and comparing the thermal performance of each of the insulation materials by constructing three identical prototype wall panels, each containing one of the materials. Their performances will be compared and contrasted with each other as well as against industry standard insulation used currently in most buildings. The panels are 150mm thick by 1.1m2 and fitted with 9mm plywood either side, similar to how insulation is commonly installed within buildings. Each panel contains a number of probes to measure relative humidity, interior and exterior temperature, and heat flux. The panels will undergo six weeks of consecutive testing in an environmental chamber at the University’s Building Research Park. There will be two tests – a steady state and a non-steady state temperature test.

“This is the first time these materials will have been tested in such a robust scientific way, allowing us to accurately assess their thermal performance against each other as well as against industry standard insulation,” said Shawn Platt, Research Associate in the University of Bath’s Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering.