Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UK: SIG recorded full-year sales of Euro2.1bn in 2020, down by 13% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis. In the fourth quarter of 2020, sales rose by 5% in the EU, by 2% in the UK and by 4% overall. The group said that this reflects the initial impact of its Return to Growth strategy. The strategy has delivered increased organic sales, supported by ‘robust demand’ in the Repair, Maintenance and Improvement segment. The company noted France and the UK as robust markets within the segment. It said that profitability improved throughout the second half of 2020, with ‘solid’ performance in the EU. Estimated full-year costs were Euro25m.

The group said “Whilst the evolving Covid-19 backdrop will continue to create uncertainty in the short term, the fundamentals of the group’s markets remain sound and the strong recovery in demand across territories and sectors through the second half was encouraging. Providing there is no material disruption to either our business or end markets as a result of the pandemic, the board expects the near-term benefits of the actions taken in 2020 to deliver organic revenue growth in 2021, including market share gains. The benefits of this will become increasingly evident as the year progresses and should enable us to return to underlying operating profitability during the second half.”

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.

Ireland/UK: Mannok says that it has undertaken extensive preparatory measures to help its operations transition smoothly when the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December 2020. While keeping operations unchanged, the group has formed new legal entities such as Mannok GB, which will deal with UK customers. The group acknowledged that prices would depend on the future tariff arrangement between the UK and the EU, but would remain in line with market pricing. It added that the same effects would impacts competitors, who import significant amounts of raw materials from Europe.

The group said that it has been working closely with suppliers for over 18 months to ensure the security of its supply chains. It has capacity at its sites to store enough raw materials for polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation for a ‘number of weeks’’ of production.

Chief financial officer Dara O’Reilly said, “A key priority for us in all of this was to ensure that the service we can provide to our customers in a post-Brexit environment is as seamless as possible. We’ve made the changes to our structures; we’ve made the changes to how we operate and as a result of that, regardless of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, we’re ready.”

UK: The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) has awarded Knauf Insulation’s Supafil range of blowing glass wool insulation with Declare Red List Free Certification. The label signifies that the products contain none of a list of agreed harmful chemicals. The company says that its Supafil range, which is produced using 80% recycled glass, is the first blowing wool solution in Europe to receive the certification.

Director of housing and specification Matt Prowse said, “For the first time, people can see the environmental impact of individual construction products at a glance, in a clear and transparent way. For architects and housebuilders, using products with the Declare label – like the Supafil range – is good for business. It ensures installer wellbeing and is a powerful point of difference to customers in a competitive market.”

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 reported a sales fall of 5% year-on-year in its 2020 nine-month trading update, to Euro3.27bn from Euro3.44bn in the first nine months of 2019. Its sales of insulation boards fell by 14% and by 5% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2020.

The group said that insulation board sales “performed well” in Ireland, the UK and parts of Continental Europe in the third quarter of 2020, while volumes “improved, with raw material-related price deflation in the earlier part of the period partially offsetting this” in total sales. The Asia Pacific region “consolidated the progress seen in the first half,” while activity in the US was “positive through the third quarter.” Only the Middle East proved “a more challenging environment.”

The company said, “Overall, our end markets are in reasonable shape bearing in mind the uncertain and evolving backdrop. In this environment it is difficult to see too far ahead and trading patterns can evolve quickly. Our raw material costs are on the rise at present and, with the customary lag anticipated, a challenging recovery effort is underway. Trading in the fourth quarter to date has been strong, helped to an extent by accelerated demand in the expectation of inflation-led price increases in the coming months. Whilst conscious that much of the seasonally variable fourth quarter is still at play, in what is an untypical year, we expect to deliver a full year trading profit marginally ahead of 2019.”

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: Italy-based Hennecke-OMS says that it has received an order for a 45m/min lamination line for Ballytherm UK’s upcoming 1.2Mm²/yr Herefordshire polyisocyanurate (PIR) and polyurethane (PUR) insulation plant. The plant consists of a continuous foaming line including a 38m double belt conveyor and foaming, mixing and distribution units for the PUR foam inside the two flexible facings, a cross cutting unit, a panel cooling section and stacking and packing equipment. The company said, “The entire plant in a fully automatic cycle and is controlled by a series of electric control panels based on an industrial Siemens S7 PLC and with relevant interface operator panels.”

The supplier added, “The choice of Hennecke-OMS as the supplier for Ballytherm’s second plant confirms the excellent co-operation between supplier and customer, as well as Hennecke-OMS’ leading position in continuous plant technology.”

Installation will commence in October 2020 and Ballytherm plans to commission the line in early 2021. It has future potential for expansion to 70m/min lamination capacity, according to the supplier.

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.

UK: Knauf Insulation has launched a new product in its Earthwool Soffit Linerboard range, intended for use in car parks, stadiums and commercial units. Rock mineral wool product manager Luke Davies said, “Specifications for non-combustible soffit insulation are likely to increase as building regulations evolve further and soffit applications become a focus for fire safety. We’ve improved Earthwool Soffit Linerboard to give customers the best possible solution to respond to this demand.”

The product uses tube washers instead of all-steel for ease of installation and each board has greater rigidity than previous products to reduce susceptibility to thermal bridging. Knauf Insulation says that its ECOSE Technology bio-based binder makes Earthwool Soffit Linerboard soft, durable, easy to handle and low in dust and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).