Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Germany: Measurement systems supplier Fagus-GreCon has announced the appointment of Mario Haas to its management team. Haas has served as head of the company’s fire protection unit since December 2019 and its head of information technology since December 2020. Haas joined Fagus-GreCon from glass producer SCHOTT in 2019. He has worked in industry since 2005, after gaining his engineering degree from Dortmund University and Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the Stuttgart Institute of Management and Technology. Mario Haas takes the place of former technical managing director Michael Gawronski on the management team, who has left the company with immediate effect. Uwe Kahmann will remain responsible for commercial management, while Alexander Kuppe continues to head the company’s marketing, sales, after sales and service departments.

Chair Stephan Weber said "The shareholders would like to thank Dr Gawronski for his important achievements and contributions and wish him all the best for the future. At the same time, with the appointment of Mr Haas as the third managing director, we are emphasising the growing importance of the fire prevention business unit in our company."

Belgium: Recticel has appointed Jan Vergote as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Olivier Chapelle, who will start the handover process in September 2023.

Vergote has worked as the head of a number of European companies notably in the flooring sector. He was the CEO of IVC Group from 2008 to 2021. Prior to this he was the managing director of Balta Group from 2003 to 2008 and Beaulieu International Group from 1996 to 2002.

US: Owens Corning has appointed Nicolas Del Monaco as the president of its insulation business with effect from 15 September 2023. He will succeed Todd Fister in the post, who is taking over the role of chief financial officer. Del Monaco will report directly to chair and chief executive officer Brian Chambers and serve as a member of the company’s executive committee.

Del Monaco joined Owens Corning in 2000 and currently serves as senior vice president and managing director of the company’s European operations, leading a team of 4400 employees spanning both the Insulation and Composites businesses. Prior to that, he served as vice president of non-wovens and glass reinforcements Europe. During his tenure with the company, he has also held a variety of finance, operations and general management roles.

US: Todd Fister will take over as chief financial officer (CFO) at Owens Corning from 15 September 2023. Fister brings 27 years’ experience at Fortune 500 companies spanning the global building materials, consumer products and packaging industries. This includes working as president of Owens Corning’s Insulation business since 2019, where he leads a team of 8000 people. His work in the role has included developing the producer’s enterprise strategy. Fister also sits on the Owens Corning executive committee. He holds an economics degree from Miami University, and also obtained a PhD from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Owens Corning chair and CEO Brian Chambers said "I've worked closely with Todd over the past several years, and am excited to welcome him to the CFO role. Todd brings a broad set of financial, operational and strategic experiences and capabilities to the new role, along with invaluable customer perspective, that will be critical as we continue to accelerate our growth and expand the earnings power of our company."

Fister will replace Ken Parks, who is stepping down to pursue another professional opportunity. Thanking Parks for his contributions while CFO, Chambers said “Under Ken's leadership, we have strengthened the capability of our global finance team and consistently delivered our financial targets."

UK/Ireland: Knauf Insulation has appointed Ross Foreman as its National Wood Wool Manager for UK & Ireland. Foreman will support the company’s drive to meet increasing demand for its Heraklith range of wood wool products.

Knauf Insulation offers two core products in the Heraklith range: the Heraklith A2 Decorative Panel, which is a cement-bonded wood wool panel; and the Heraklith Tektalan A2 SmartTec, which is a cement-bonded wood wool panel combined with a rock mineral wool insulation core. Both products are non-combustible with A2 - s1, d0 Euroclass reaction to fire classification.

The Heraklith A2 Decorative Panel is designed for use in residential, recreational, industrial and commercial environments where sound absorption is desired. It is available in three panel thicknesses with thermal conductivity of 0.085W/mK.

Heraklith Tektalan A2 SmartTec is suitable for insulating the soffits of carparks and underground garages, basement ceilings and technical rooms. It has a thermal conductivity of 0.095W/mK and the mineral wool core a thermal conductivity of 0.034W/mK.

UK: Denmark-based Rockwool has appointed Hedley Thompson as Rockwool’s Recladding and Façades Sector Manager in the UK. The position is a newly created role in the company. Thompson’s appointment is the first step in the creation of a new team which will target housing associations, local authorities and housebuilders.

Hedley has worked for Rockwool UK since 2014 in the position of Technical Specification – Façades. Prior to this he held a variety of technical and operations roles with the construction sector.

US: Owens Corning has announced its conclusion of a deal to buy polyurethane (PU) foam insulation producer Natural Polymers. The companies say that Natural Polymers president and CEO Benjamin Brown will take on an innovation leadership role at Owens Corning following the completion of the transaction.

Germany: Saint-Gobain has appointed Danijel Lučić as the head of sales for its Germany-based subsidiaries Saint-Gobain Isover G+H and Rigips. He succeeds Dirk Borgmann, who has decided to leave the company. Lučić will take up his new positions from July 2022.

Lučić has worked for nearly 30 years with Saint-Gobain Group with much of it in the insulation sector. This has included roles with Saint-Gobain HES and Superglass Dämmstoffe.

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.

US: The National Insulation Association (NIA) has announced its 2022 appointments to its executive committee and board of directors. For the coming year, New York-based Atlantic Contracting & Specialities president Joe Leo will serve as NIA president. North Carolina-based Dover Insulation president Laura Dover will serve as president elect, Wisconsin-based L & C Insulation vice president Rudy Nigl will serve as secretary/treasurer and Kansas-based Performance Contracting senior vice president operations Rick Sutphin will serve as assistant treasurer, while Owens Corning US regional sales manager David Cox will continue to serve on the association’s executive committee as immediate past president. NIA members also appointed regional representatives to five of six board seats, and will appoint the sixth, Eastern US, representative at a later date.