Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Owens Corning has launched a formaldehyde-free perimeter fire containment system product in North America. The offering uses Thermafiber Firespan and Safing mineral wool insulation products to deliver fire resistance performance to help commercial architects, specifiers and contractors. The system is available for specification now and will be on sale later in 2018.

“As a pioneer in fire safety, we know the perimeter in a commercial structure is one of the most complex areas where fire can spread and where building professionals face high-stakes design scenarios,” said Carmelo Carrubba, Owens Corning’s insulation strategic marketing vice president.

Owens Corning says that Thermafiber mineral wool insulation products have been installed in eight of the 20 tallest buildings in the world including the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, UAE. The insulation producer is also promoting the sustainability credentials of its product through its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits for specific commercial and residential applications and its certification for a minimum 70% recycled content by the ICC-ES.

Belgium: Huntsman Polyurethanes has launched its DaltoPIR XHFR product for composite panels. The polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation product was introduced at a panels and profile conference in Greece.

The product uses DaltoPIR insulation technology to offer a different viscosity build up in rising foam. The company says that this enables more stable and more consistent processing, which in turn can help panel producers achieve better panel planarity and quicker line speed. The resulting foam has very low friability, which Huntsman says contributes to the long-term properties of the panels.

US: Demilec has been awarded the 2018 Polyurethane Innovation Award at Polyurethanes Technical Conference in Atlanta by the Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) of the American Chemistry Council (ACC). It won for its Heatlok HFO product, a two component, closed cell, spray applied, rigid polyurethane foam system. Other finalists included ICL-IP America, for its VeriQuelR100 phosphorus-based, reactive flame retardant product, and SWD Urethane, for its Quik-Shield 108YM open-cell spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation product.

US: Johns Manville has launched Cavity-Shield, a formaldehyde-free fibreglass batt insulation product intended for use in the concealed spaces of multifamily buildings. The National Fire Protection Association-approved product is being marketed as an alternative solution to sprinklers in the interstitial space. The batts are designed to serve as a passive fire solution for limiting potential flame spread between and through floors. It is also intended to reduce construction costs by reducing the time and resources required for installers to complete the job.

Germany: Dennert Poraver has developed an insulating render formulation by using Poraver expanded glass aerogel granules from Cabot in 0.01 - 4mm sizes. The expanded glass granules producer says that aerogel thermal insulation renders are ultra-light, water-repellent, open to diffusion and achieve high thermal insulation even with small layer thicknesses.

The new product is targeted for the interior and exterior renovation of historic buildings. Due to the thin application layer, the producer says that the characteristics of the building remain largely unchanged. The building material can also be used for rendering masonry in new buildings. The insulating renders are also classified as ‘non-combustible, smoke-development free, non dripping.’ This means that they can also be used for facades, where previously only mineral wool-based insulating materials could be used due to increased fire protection requirements.

Poraver and Aerogel were combined for the development of a mineral thermal insulation render in order to combine the advantages of both lightweight aggregates. Cabot Aerogel supplied aerogel in the form of 0.01 - 4mm granules for the insulation render. Poraver was added to the render as a mineral aggregate with a grain size of 1 - 2mm. Various proportions of aerogel and Poraver were tested. After the tests, it could be determined that the compressive strength and processing properties had improved ‘significantly’ with the addition of Poraver. The most economical and practicable formulation has a thermal conductivity of 0.037W/mK with a dry bulk density of 199 kg/m³.

US: Owens Corning has been recognised by the Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards for three of its insulation products. EcoTouch Insulation, Thermafiber RainBarrier Continuous Insulation and Unbonded Loosefill Insulation have each been independently certified as made with renewable energy and reduced embodied carbon as part of the award scheme.

These products were available for specification and purchase in late 2017. Owens Corning worked with SCS Global Services to develop guidelines for the certification, since no such certification previously existed.

“A building represents two kinds of energy use: ongoing energy to operate the building and embodied energy in the manufacture of the building products. Insulation reduces the operational energy needed for the building. Owens Corning’s new insulation products reduce the embodied carbon inherent in the building as well,” said Jesus Hernandez-Torres, senior Research and Development leader at Owens Corning.

US: Kingspan has launched its QuadCore insulation panel products in North America at the AIA Conference on Architecture in New York. The insulated metal panel products use a hybrid insulation core with a closed microcell structure. Initially, Kingspan will offer QuadCore in its KS Shadowline, KS Micro-Rib and Optimo panels, and QuadCore will eventually be available in all Kingspan insulated metal panels.

Italy: Ursa has launched a new extruded polystyrene (XPS) panel product called Ursa Maior. The insulation producer says that the product, Ursa Maior S27P, is the first and only extruded polystyrene thermal insulation panel that combines a thermal conductivity rate of 0.027W/mK with high compressive strength of 300kPa. Other features include water resistance and resilience to freeze and thaw cycles. It is being produced at Ursa’s Bondeno plant.

Australia: Kingspan Insulation Australia’s Kooltherm K10 Soffit Board FM product has been accredited by FM Approvals. The closed cell phenolic insulation has been accredited with Class 4880 for ceiling applications.

To achieve the FM accreditation, Kingspan’s Kooltherm K10 product was installed in a ceiling for a full scale burn test (UBC 26-3) and set alight. During the test, temperatures, smoke levels and flame spread are all monitored. A burning wood crib was set alight in the corner of the room and left to burn for 15 minutes. During this time, in order to pass the test, the spread of the flame must not exceed the area of the installed K10 test panel.

FM Approvals offers third party testing and certification services including fire tests.

UK: Celotex has found errors in a safety test for its RS5000 polyisocyanurate foam (PIR) insulation board product that was used as part of the rainscreen cladding system in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower. As part of a review of the product the company has determined that there were differences between the system as tested for BS 8414:2 and the description of that system in the report of the test. The BS 8414:2 safety test was originally conducted prior to the RS5000 product being launched.

The insulation producer is exploring whether any safety issues arise from the differences in the test. It says it has notified the relevant bodies and is contacting its customers.

“It is a matter of real regret for us that this issue has arisen: we fully recognise its potential seriousness and that it will give rise to concern. We are working hard to arrange the further testing as quickly as possible and we will make a further announcement once the results of that testing are available,” said Celotex in a statement.

Celotex suspended supply of RS5000 PIR insulation board in June 2017 following a fire at Grenfell Tower in London that killed 71 people.