UK: The London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council has alleged a conspiracy by Celotex (now a subsidiary of France-based Soprema), its former outright owner France-based Saint-Gobain, and others to fraudulently supply unsafe insulation for use in the council’s social housing projects. Celotex insulation was installed in the Grenfell tower block, where an ‘uncontrollable’ fire broke out, killing 72 people, in the early morning of 14 June 2017.

Counsel for the claimant said that companies failed to highlight the unsuitability of Celotex’s RS5000 polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation for use in high-rise buildings’ façades, after failing to carry out ‘necessary and proper testing’ and supplying the product ‘based on a test the details of which were dishonestly concealed.’ Counsel further criticised Celotex’s defence submission as ‘too long,’ alleging that it made submissions ‘without discrimination as to whether it needed to do so for the purposes of proceedings.’

Counsel for Celotex and Saint-Gobain said “The allegations made against Celotex are complex, serious and are required to be properly pleaded.”

The hearing is due to conclude on 9 October 2025.

North America: Kingspan Insulation North America has rebranded its expanded polystyrene (EPS) product line as AeroRoof, AeroWall and AeroSlab, with different names for different applications.

The AeroRoof brand encompasses flute fillers for standing seam metal roof systems, tapered EPS boards for high-traffic roofs and Holey Board lightweight EPS insulation for concrete. AeroWall features BackerBoard siding insulation and underlay, while AeroSlab features the A-One insulated concrete forming system and GeoFoam lightweight engineered fill.

Senior Director of Building Solutions Billy Conry said “This reorganisation makes it easier for contractors, designers and engineers to specify the right EPS solution for each application.”

India: Rockwool India intends to start operations at its new 50,000t/yr stone wool plant at Cheyyar, Tamil Nadu in the second quarter of 2026. The unit had an investment of around US$60m, will be larger than the company’s existing plant in Gujarat and will become the company’s key production site in India, according to The Hindu newspaper. The new plant will also manufacture sandwich panels.

Canada: Tennessee-based Enverge Spray Foam is expanding into Canada and launching its 1860 CDN spray foam insulation. The spray foam insulating provider says the 1860 CDN closed-cell spray foam insulation is engineered in compliance with local building codes, formulation requirements and energy efficiency standards.

Enverge is a part of Amrize, a provider of advanced building solutions and materials.