Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Owens Corning’s insulation business sales rose by 53% year-on-year to US$1.28bn in the first half of 2018 from US$838m in the same period in 2017. Overall, the company’s net sales rose by 14% to US$3.52bn from US$3.08bn. However, its earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) fell by 6.4% to US$360m from US$337m.

“Owens Corning grew revenue by 14% on the contribution of Insulation acquisitions and successful pricing actions in both Roofing and Insulation. The company made significant commercial progress in the first-half of the year, partially offset by operational headwinds,” said chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Mike Thaman. He added that the company expects continued commercial execution and improved operational performance with ‘strong’ financial results in 2018 and into 2019.

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: Rockwool has officially broken ground at a new stone wool in Ranson, Jefferson County in West Virginia. Once completed it will be the company’s second stone wool plant in the country. The project has had an investment of over US$150m and it will employ around 150 people when it opens. The unit is expected to open in the first quarter of 2020. It will manufacture a full range of Rockwool stone wool insulation products.

“Solid customer demand and strong market growth in the US and elsewhere reflects the reality that people are increasingly discovering the quality and advantages of our stone wool solutions. This is our second factory in the United States, which positions us well for future growth,” said Jen s Birgersson, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Rockwool Group.

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.

US: The Reflective Insulation Manufacturers Association International (RIMA-I) has given the Alexander Schwartz Award to David W Yarbrough. The award was presented at the International Reflective Insulation Manufacturers (I-RIM) Conference that took place in May 2018 in Costa Rica.

Yarbrough is an Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Tennessee Technological University and a retired Research Staff Member of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is a founding partner and Vice President of R&D Services and Principal Engineer of R&D Engineering in Cookeville, Tennessee. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and registration as an engineer in Tennessee and Florida.

US: Johns Manville has been named ‘Supplier of the Year’ for 2017 by Insulate America, an insulation contractor association. The award recognises companies for the overall value they provide to the organisation through technical expertise, customer support and lead referrals. Johns Manville has previously won the prize in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017.

“At a time marked by heightened competitive pressure, Johns Manville has demonstrated an unparalleled level of dedication and commitment to Insulate America. We are proud to recognize them yet again with this award,” said Insulate America President and chief executive officer (CEO) David Beam.

Insulate America is a cooperative group of locally owned, independent insulation contractors that provide and install insulation and other building products for residential and commercial construction. It is the largest independent insulation contracting organisation in the US with over 200 locations across the nation. Representatives from each of the locations vote on the ‘Supplier of the Year’ award.

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.

US: Owens Corning’s insulation sales for the first quarter of 2018 has risen significantly followings its acquisition of Finland’s Paroc. Its net sales for its insulation business rose by 49% year-on-year to US$596m in 2018 from US$399m in the same period in 2017. Earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) rose to US$32m from US$5m. It completed its acquisition of Paroc Group, and its range of European mineral wool insulation production plants, on 5 February 2018.

US: The National Insulation Association (NIA) has appointed Daniel Bofinger as its president for 2018 – 2019. The appointment was approved following a vote by the NIA members at its 63rd Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida, which took place in mid-April 2018. Bofinger is the Regional Vice President–East of FBM-SPI, which is based in Tustin, California. He has worked for FBM-SPI and its legacy companies for over 35 years.

The executive committee of the NIA for 2018 – 2019 includes Dan Bofinger, FBM-SPI as president, Dana Vlk, Distribution International as president-elect, John Lamberton, Irex Contracting Group as secretary and treasurer, Dave Cox, Owens Corning as assistant treasurer and Darrel Bailey, Performance Contracting as the immediate past president.

Regional board members include Jim Gribbins, Gribbins Insulation Company representing the Central States Insulation Association (CSIA), Joe Leo, Atlantic Contracting & Specialties representing the Eastern States Insulation Contractors Association (ESICA), Jeffrey DeGraaf, Industrial Construction & Engineering representing the Midwest Insulation Contractors Association (MICA), Matt Caldwell, Caldwell Insulation representing the Southeastern Insulation Contractors Association (SEICA), Mike Feehery, FBM-SPI, representing the Southwest Insulation Contractors Association (SWICA) and Rick Sutphin, Performance Contracting representing the Western Insulation Contractors Association (WICA).

So called ‘At Large’ members include Michael G Benoit, General Insulation Company, Laura Wells Dover, Dover Insulation, Jake Erickson, Rockwool Technical Insulation, Reid (Huck) Finn, APi, John K Freeman, Petrin, Rudy Nigl, L & C Insulation and John Stevens, Thermal Solutions. Jack Bittner, Johns Manville/Industrial Insulation Group will be an associate member.

Bofinger has also selected Ronald King, NIA consultant and honorary member, and Steve Luse, Luse Thermal Technologies, as his past president advisors. NIA’s executive vice president and chief executive officer Michele M Jones and General Counsel, Gary Auman of Auman, Mahan & Furry, will be advising and counselling the executive committee and the board of directors.

US: Cal Dooley, the president and chief executive officer of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), has warned that a proposed Chinese response to US-imposed tariffs on imports of Chinese steel and aluminium could have negative implications for US exports of products including polyethylene.

“China is one of the US chemical industry’s most important trading partners, importing 11%, or US$3.2bn, of all US plastic resins in 2017. We are particularly concerned that 40% of the products to which China has assigned new tariffs are chemicals, including polyethylene, PVC, polycarbonates, acrylates, and others,” said Dooley in a statement. He added that nearly US$185bn in new chemical factories, expansions and restarts of facilities around the US are predicated on current tariff schedules, and market shifts caused by tariff increases may convince investors to do business elsewhere. He ‘strongly’ urged the US and China to reach an agreement.