Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Owens Corning (OC) has reported a weaker than expected first quarter in 2014. However, company officials said that they still believe that they can meet the financial goals they set at the start of 2014 over the rest of the year.

OC reported first quarter sales of US$1.3bn, down by 5% from the same period of 2013. The biggest trouble spot was in roofing, where sales fell by 18%. The company reported a net income of US$120m in the first quarter of 2014, more than five times what it reported for the same period of 2013, however, that figure included several one-time items, the largest among them a US$74m tax benefit. On an adjusted basis, OC said that it earned US$35m in the first quarter of 2014, unchanged year-on-year.

Mike Thaman, the company's chief executive officer, said that OC had anticipated roofing volumes to be down by about 10% in the first quarter of 2014 and slightly higher for the full year. While the company said margins on roofing materials remained solid, harsh weather in much of the US and aggressive pricing from competitors dragged on OC's volumes more than expected. Thaman said that he believes the company can make up the difference in the coming quarters and end the year on target, adding that he does not expect the effects of winter to linger on the business as milder weather comes in.

OC reported higher sales figures for its insulation and composites business, even as volumes were flat in the first quarter of 2014. Thaman said the insulation segment should continue to benefit as the pace of residential construction picks up.

"We're increasingly beginning to see those two businesses develop into the kinds of performers we know they can be," Thaman said. "Insulation is coming out of four or five years of very challenging losses into a year of profitability in 2013 and now into first quarter profitability in 2014, which speaks to continued improvement throughout the year. We have big expectations for what that business can do through a new construction recovery here in the US."

US: The insulation company Installed Building Products Inc (IBP) has announced that Robert H Schottenstein has been elected as an independent director to the IBP board of directors.

"I am extremely pleased to welcome Schottenstein to our board," stated Jeff Edwards, chairman and chief executive officer of IBP. "Schottenstein brings a wealth of experience to IBP, particularly related to residential construction markets and corporate management and complements the significant expertise and depth of our current board members."

Japan: Achilles Corporation has adopted Honeywell's Solstice(R) Liquid Blowing Agent (LBA) for use in its line of spray polyurethane foam (SPF) building insulation, which is sold under the trade name Achilles Airlon FR-FO.

"Honeywell is committed to developing technologies that help our customers to produce energy-efficient materials that are better for the environment," said Sanjeev Rastogi, business director for Honeywell Fluorine Products. "We are delighted to help Achilles introduce a new class of spray foam insulation in Japan that benefits from our expertise in developing and supplying high-performance, energy-efficient and low-global-warming-potential solutions."

US: PPG Industries has announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire almost all of the assets of Hi-Temp Coatings Technology Co Inc, a privately-owned supplier of high-temperature-resistant and insulative coatings, based in Boxborough, Massachusetts. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014, subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Hi-Temp is a global supplier of coatings that withstand extreme temperatures to protect both carbon steel and stainless steel substrates. The company's coatings are used widely in refineries, petrochemical plants, pulp and paper mills and power plants.

"PPG looks forward to integrating Hi-Temp coatings into our product offering," said Tim Knavish, PPG vice president, protective and marine coatings. "Hi-Temp's unique technologies bring multiple growth opportunities to PPG, particularly in the petrochemical segment. Combining their excellent corrosion-under-insulation coatings portfolio with PPG's legacy portfolio enables us to provide additional high-quality options to meet more of our customers' coatings needs."

US: The demand for plastic foams is forecast to rise by 4.1%/yr to 3.90bn kg in 2017, valued at US$24.7bn. The market will mount a healthy recovery from the declines posted during the recession-impacted 2007-2012 period, according to a report by The Freedonia Group Inc.

Packaging will remain the leading outlet for plastic foams through 2017, accounting for nearly one-third of total volume. Increased levels of housing construction combined with rising consumer spending levels bode well for foams used in household products such as bedding, furniture and appliances. In the motor vehicle market, advances will be promoted by rising vehicle output and efforts to enhance safety and comfort.

Flexible polyurethane foam, the leading resin in the plastic foams market, will remain the dominant product throughout 2017, outpacing demand for rigid polyurethane, based on especially rapid growth in the bedding and carpet underlay markets. Strong gains for rigid polyurethane foam will be propelled by a healthy rebound in construction activity and by changes in building codes and construction practices that call for structures with increasing energy efficiency. However, polyurethane foam insulation will continue to encounter competition from fibreglass and polystyrene foam.

Polystyrene accounts for almost two-fifths of demand for plastic foam and will maintain a sizable share of the market through 2017 based on its excellent protective and insulating capabilities, moisture resistance and low cost. However, advances in the large packaging sector will be restricted by ongoing solid waste disposal concerns regarding the use of disposable foam products and rising competition from paper-based materials, which are viewed as more eco-friendly. Expanded polystyrene foam is projected to see more rapid gains through 2017, stemming primarily from its use in insulation, molded foam protective packaging and insulated shipping containers. Expanded polystyrene geofoam is predicted to exhibit especially rapid growth, albeit from a relatively small base.

US: Rhino Linings Corporation has acquired the assets of Expo Industries Inc, a San Diego-based manufacturer of Expo Stucco™ interior and exterior stucco products, sealers, bonders, patch products and plaster mixes.

The acquisition expands Rhino Linings line of building products, which already include waterproofing products, spray polyurethane foam insulation, decorative concrete and epoxy flooring systems.

"Expo Stucco is a well-respected and recognised leader in the building industry," said Pierre Gagnon, president and CEO of Rhino Linings Corporation. "Since Expo Stucco blended and packaged our Concrete Solutions bag mixes, we are now able to bring product packaging in-house and expand our line of building products. We are also excited about the opportunity to expand name recognition and sales for the Expo Stucco brand."

US: The Building Science Corporation (BSC) has released a report detailing the results of a multi-year insulation research project. The most significant finding from the report is that sealed walls of the same R-value perform equally well regardless of the type of insulation used.

The study entailed a baseline set of seven test walls using various insulation types including fibreglass, cellulose, spray foam and extruded polystyrene.

Other selected highlights from the report include:

• When walls are constructed with the same installed R-value in the stud space and are air sealed both inside and outside, they exhibit essentially the same thermal performance regardless of the type of insulation material used.
• All of the reference test wall assemblies were subjected to significant temperature differences. Natural convective looping was not noted in any of the wall assemblies.
• Conventional energy models may over-predict the negative energy impact on walls that have a significant interaction effect (e.g. air moving through insulation).
• All wall assemblies experienced a loss in thermal performance due to air movement through the assembly. This is true for all of the assemblies tested, regardless of the type of insulation material used (e.g. cellulose, fiber glass, open cell spray foam, closed cell spray foam or extruded polystyrene.)
• Commercially available 2D and 3D heat transfer models provided good predictions of thermal bridging in the assemblies tested, as did the parallel path method described in the ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals and other texts.

US: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) will test integrated multi-layer insulation (IMLI) in 2015. Quest Thermal Group LLC will manufacture the insulation under a subcontract from Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. Quest is developing the technology under small business innovative research (SBIR) contracts to NASA.

"Conventional insulation was necessary for the GPIM spacecraft, and now we can fly a section of the IMLI at no extra cost to the program and prove it for operational use," said Jim Oschmann, vice president and general manager for Ball's Civil Space and Technology business unit.

GPIM is a project for NASA's Technology Mission Demonstration (TDM) program managed by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). The primary purpose of the mission is to demonstrate the viability of an alternative propulsion system for spacecraft other than hydrazine by flying a 'green' propulsion system.

US: Owens Corning has completed the construction of a 2.7MW solar power plant for its thermal and acoustical insulation facility in Delmar, New York. Constellation Energy, part of Exelon Corp, funded, constructed and will operate the solar facility. The project was developed under the NY-Sun initiative, which is being administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Owens Corning will buy the power generated by the plant under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Constellation. The facility consists of 9000 ground-mounted panels and is expected to produce about 3.3BWh/yr of power, offsetting about 2339t of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. It will cover over 6% of the electricity requirements of Owens Corning's insulation facility.

US: Californian governor Jerry Brown has signed into law bill AB 127 that directs the California State Fire Marshal to consider fire safety without the use of toxic flame retardant chemicals, now commonly used in building insulation. The bill does not ban the use of chemicals such as a Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) but it does encourage a reduction in their use.

The Californian State Fire Marshal, in consultation with the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair, Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation will review the flammability standards for building insulation materials. The State Fire Marshal may propose, by 1 July 2015, for consideration by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, updated insulation flammability standards whose objectives include maintaining overall building fire safety.