Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Spain: Knauf Ibérica has announced the launch of Etiks, a façade system comprised of Aquapanel Outdoor mineral wool and expanded polystyrene boards. Alimarket-Construcción News has reported that the system is compatible with Knauf ColorMix technology, enabling rapid on-site colouring of finishes or primers.

Product manager Isabel Gómez said "The external thermal insulation composite system is very interesting for refurbishing or constructing buildings for energy efficiency, greater comfort and savings in air conditioning."

Spain: URSA says it used 35,800t of recycled materials to produce glass wool and extruded polystyrene (XPS) products in 2023. Just under 70% of the raw materials used to manufacture glass wool and XPS came from waste streams from sectors including car and food manufacture.

The subsidiary of Belgium-based Etex has also been granted a new Environmental Quality Assurance certifying that it recycles at least 60% of the raw materials used in its glass wool. Other recent sustainability milestones include an increase in the amount of recycled material the company uses in its packaging. Glass wool products from its El Pla de Santa Maria plant contain a primary sheet with a minimum of 50% of recycled plastic and the packaging of its XPS range includes a primary sheet with up to 30% of recycled plastic.

Spain: Knauf Insulation has called on Spain, as the current president of the Council of the European Union, to further decarbonise building stock in the region.

Oscar Del Rio, the general manager of Knauf Insulation Iberia, said “The outcome of domestic politics may still be uncertain at the moment, but on the international stage, Spain holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union until the end of December 2023 and its focus must be crystal clear. Europe needs to seize the opportunity of the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) to ensure an approach that will decarbonise its building stock by increasing renovation rates and committing to quality retrofit standards that deliver real performance.”

The insulation producer cited research by the Building Performance Institute (BPIE), which it supported, that found that insulating all Europe’s residential buildings would cut energy demand for space heating by 44%, compared to 2020, making a ‘significant’ contribution to energy security and the EU’s 2050 climate goals. The company has also urged policy makers to introduce ‘one-stop shops’ for renovation to enable building owners to make retrofitting easier and to use digital tools to make it easier for people to view potential performance savings.

The company used Spain as an example of a country that needs a more ambitious renovation strategy. It noted that, according to Spain’s Energy Renovation of the Building Sector strategy, 9.7 million homes or 50% of residential buildings were built before 1980 and an additional one million are described as in a poor or dilapidated condition. In addition, 81% of existing buildings are in the E, F or G emissions categories and 84.5% are in these categories for energy consumption. It quoted research by Renovate Europe that found that the renovation rate of buildings in Spain was eight to 10 times lower than the average for neighbouring countries.

US: Owens Corning has published its 2022 Sustainability Report, detailing its progress towards its 2030 sustainability goals during 2022. During the year, the insulation producer reduced its CO₂ emissions by 22% compared with 2018 levels, against a 2030 reduction target of 50%. It sourced 56% of its electricity renewably. It achieved this with the help of multiple power purchase agreements (PPA), including for on-site generation. It concluded a new 81.9MW virtual PPA in Spain, which will come online in stages throughout the rest of 2023 and 2024.

Senior vice president and chief sustainability officer David Rabuano said "In 2023 and beyond, sustainability will remain at the heart of our business and a critical value creator for Owens Corning, our customers and other stakeholders. As we shift into the next chapter of our sustainability strategy, we will build on the foundational efforts that have been central to sustainability within our organisation - and with the engagement of our 19,000 employees worldwide, we will take the action needed to reach the next level."

Finland/Spain: Finland-based UPM Biochemicals and Spain-based URSA have developed a new type of glass wool insulation that uses a proprietary lignin-resin binder. The companies have worked together to optimise the binder composition for both performance and smooth runnability on URSA’s production lines. UPM Biochemicals says that UPM BioPiva lignin is a “sustainably produced, cost-effective and versatile raw material that has proven valuable in the creation of many value-added industrial applications, especially in lignin-based phenolic resins.”

Christian Hübsch, Director Sales & Marketing at UPM Biochemicals said “We are thrilled about having reached this milestone together with our partners from URSA, as it marks a potentially disruptive innovation for the insulation materials industry in general, and a great achievement for URSA with its long-held vision to go green and to reduce the carbon footprint of its products,”

Wolfgang Marka, Managing Director of URSA-Adria, added “We undertook long-term studies with UPM Biochemicals to assess the viability of replacing synthetic resins with a new bio-based binder and we are excited to produce one of the most sustainable glass wool insulation materials available.”

UPM Biochemicals develops and sells wood-based biochemicals for use in a variety of industries including insulation. It is building an industrial-scale biorefinery in Leuna, Germany to convert solid wood into biochemicals.

URSA produces both mineral wool and extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation products in Europe. It is a subsidiary of Etex.

Spain: Norway-based BEWi has concluded a deal for the acquisition of an 80% stake in Aislamientos y Envases. Aislamientos y Envases operates three Spanish insulation plants, where it produces its expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation products, including boards for underfloor heating and panels for external thermal insulation composite systems.

BEWi CEO Christian Bekken said “Through this acquisition, we are expanding our geographic footprint into Spain, primarily within the market for insulation solutions." Bekken added "There is a huge need to make buildings in Europe more energy efficient, to reduce CO₂ and energy costs.”

Spain: Ireland-based Kingspan has acquires mineral wool-based sandwich panel producer Invespanel. Invespanel’s panels include extruded polystyrene (XPS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS)-core refrigeration panels, and the company continually develops new sandwich panels for various applications. Invespanel recorded a turnover of Euro11m in 2021.

Kingspan’s Southern Europe insulated panels director Josep Jordan said “The integration of Invespanel into Kingspan is a great opportunity to complement our offerings with customised products for even the most demanding applications. The synergies with the Kingspan group, together with Invespanel's technological know-how and human capital, will be the key tool to drive the growth of our project in Southern Europe.”

France: Ireland-based Kingspan has closed its acquisition of Ondura Group. The group consists of light roofing producer Onduline, membranes producer CB and waterproofing systems producer Alwitra. It operates plants in four European countries, as well as Brazil, Malaysia, Turkey and the US. Law firm Clifford Chance, a long-term partner of Kingspan, advised the insulation group through the deal.

On 27 September 2022, Kingspan acquired waterproofing membranes producer Derbigum in neighbouring Belgium. Derbigum has recycled 30,000t of bitumen in its operations to date.

Russia: URSA Eurasia has appointed Alexander Trubitsyn as its general director for the production of thermal insulation materials. Previously he held the position of the Director of Production and Logistics at the company. Trubitsyn succeeds Denis Shvydkoi in the post. Shvydkoi will manage international projects for URSA Group, based at the company's head office.

Spain: Etex has completed its acquisition of extruded polystyrene (XPS) and glass wool insulation producer URSA from Xella Group. URSA operates 13 plants and employs 1700 people.

Xella CEO Christophe Clemente said “With this portfolio simplification, Xella takes an important step, to focus its resources on the development of building materials solutions. With our complementary product types, autoclaved aerated concrete and calcium silicate products, we aim to strengthen our position as a leading European supplier of masonry solutions. I warmly thank the URSA teams for their achievements during the successful past years within Xella Group and wish them a bright future with Etex.”