Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Owens Corning has earned a place in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) for its sustainability performance for the ninth consecutive year. For the sixth straight year, Owens Corning was named the Industry Leader for the DJSI World Building Products group.

“We are honoured to be recognised on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the ninth straight year and as the Industry Leader for the sixth year,” said chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Mike Thaman. “Our 19,000 employees continue to take action and drive real impact for the betterment of our business, employees, customers, partners and the world around us.”

Owens Corning also earned placement on the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, which includes the top sustainability leaders from the largest 600 North American companies in the S&P Global BMI.

US: Johns Manville has released its sixth sustainability report covering 2016 – 2017. The insulation and building materials producer says that it reduced its greenhouse gas emission intensity by 2.5%. It added that it has attained its goal to implement environmental management systems in all of its of North American and European plants three years early and had developed product category Environmental Product Declarations for its heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and mechanical insulation materials. It also decreased its lost time incident rate by more than 50% in the reporting period.

Australia: Kingspan says that its Somerton insulation plant near Melbourne is making progress towards gaining a Green Star rating. If it does so it will the first manufacturing plant in the country to do so. Kingspan and the Green Building Council of Australia have collaborated to allow the rating tool to be used for production plants in the country. A Green Star certified rating provides independent verification that a building or community project is sustainable.

US: Owens Corning has met all seven of its self-declared environmental footprint goals, the company announced as it released its seventh Sustainability Report. The fibre-glass manufacturer is now reporting against its 2020 goals.

"Our accomplishments are representative of the progress we have made this past year, but we clearly recognise that we have much more to do on the path to becoming a more sustainable, and preferably, a net-positive company," said Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer Frank O'Brien-Bernini. "Across our company, these goals inspire innovation, creativity, external collaboration and broad engagement."

Progress towards the 2020 goals include the completion of several greenhouse gas reduction projects whilst preparing for others, including diesel-to-natural gas transportation fuel-switching, fuel cells, waste heat recovery, biomass, solar, and combined heat and power. The company has partnered with the World Resources Institute on its Aqueduct project to conduct a global water stress assessment of Owens Corning's global operations and completed several successful major water use reduction projects in stressed areas. It has released the first Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for fibreglass insulation in North America. It has also highlighted sustainability expectations in its Supplier and Employee Code of Conducts.

US: Johns Manville (JM), the global manufacturer of energy-efficient building products, has announced the publication of its 2012 Sustainability Report, 'We Build Environments.'

"We intend to capitalise on our commitment to sustainability to ensure that we are better prepared to meet both the opportunities and challenges of our dynamic world and that we continue to deliver safe products that delight our customers," said Mary Rhinehart, JM president and CEO. The 2012 report includes 18 fully reported performance indicators applying the Global Reporting Initiative 3.1 guidelines.

Key indicators from JM's 2012 performance summary for the insulation market include a 19% increase of average fibreglass insulation compared to 2011. Total energy use for the company rose by 0.9% and total production fell by 0.4%.