Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

France: Saint-Gobain subsidiary Isonat is investing Euro10m in a capacity expansion to its Mably insulation wood fibre insulating panels plant. French Collection News has reported that the expansion will double the plant’s capacity to 42,000t/yr. The company says that it aims to double its sales in two years. It noted growing demand for bio-sourced materials and the availability of favourable home renovations subsidies.

Europe: Dow has announced the European launch of V PLUS Perform Next, a polyurethane (PU) insulation product for use in insulated metal panels. V PLUS Perform Next insulation contains alternative raw materials from circular feedstocks, including bio-based feedstocks. Dow allocates the feedstocks based on a mass balance chain of custody, validated by International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC). It produces V PLUS Perform Next using over 25% renewable energy.

Dow PU construction insulation marketing fellow Alberto Mercati said “The new EU Energy Performance of Buildings directive adds urgency for buildings that require energy efficient insulation with decreased embodied carbon. For the last five years, V PLUS Perform has enabled insulated metal panel manufacturers to deliver building envelopes that couple energy efficiency and fire safety. V PLUS Perform Next supports insulated panel manufacturers to select lower carbon and circular construction ingredients from the design phase to the delivery of a novel class of products for more sustainable buildings.”

Ireland: Kingspan says it has beaten its target of generating at least half its aggregate energy use from renewable resources by 2016. The Irish insulation producer’s aggregate renewable energy use was 57% of its total energy use in 2016, suggesting that the it is on track to hit its goal, set in 2011, of operating at Net Zero Energy (NZE) by 2020. Key drivers to reaching this goal have included saving energy through measures such as a cutting lighting and heat costs, genreating more renewable energy through solar, wind and biomass sources and buying more renewable energy where it can’t be produced on-site.

“In the five years since launching this initiative we have seen multiple benefits including reductions in costs, less reliance on fossil fuels and demonstrating the business case for our systems and solutions. Without more action from the corporate sector, greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise and the impact of global warming will become a bigger threat for future generations,” said Gene Mutagh, the chief executive officer of Kingspan.