Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UK: Following a successful pilot launch during 2014, Dow Building Solutions has announced the commercial roll-out of XENERGY^TM, a brand new, flame-retarded, XPS roof insulation product. In a departure from the blue STYROFOAM^TM boards that the company is widely known for, the XENERGY^TM boards manufactured by Dow Building Solutions' King's Lynn production site in Norfolk County, will be steel grey in colour.

Dow, the inventor of STYROFOAM, has developed XENERGY to achieve a significantly improved λ insulation performance and to deliver a global warming potential (GWP) of less than five. Through combining a manufacturing process which uses CO₂ as the blowing agent and adding infra-red blocking particles to scatter and reflect heat radiation within the foam board, λ values have been increased by 11%.

XENERGY SL, the first XENERGY product available in the UK, is designed to offer highly moisture-resistant flat roof insulation at thinner thicknesses than conventional XPS alternatives. XENERGY SL offers 4mW thermal conductivity gains in various thicknesses.

"The UK is leading the way with the commercial roll-out of XENERGY, a product that has numerous benefits, including significantly improved thermal performance," said Chris Gimson, head of commercial at Dow Building Solutions. "It signifies a new era for the business and demonstrates our commitment to formulating and manufacturing the highest standard insulation materials."

Slovenia: Kingspan has submitted the highest binding bid for 97% of its troubled Slovenian peer Trimo, but its creditor banks are reluctant to sell it, according to local media.

According to unofficial information of a local daily newspaper, Dnevnik, the sale adviser and Trimo's major shareholder, state-controlled lender Nova Ljubljanska banka (NLB), is in favour of the sale, but the other owners believe that the offered price of Euro25 – 30m is too low. Trimo's two other bidders, Metroll Australia and Innova Capital, have made less generous offers. All three bidders have already been invited to improve their bids.

"The sale process is ongoing and currently we are in the stage of negotiations with potential buyers," said NLB. It added that it has not received any other instructions by the owners on how to proceed. "If the owners would like to stop the sale and this is supported by the majority, of course they can revoke the decisions already taken."

Trimo was 90.81% acquired by a group of local banks under a debt-for-equity swap in April 2014. Most of the local banks believe that the sale should be postponed for a few years when the ongoing restructuring takes effect and Trimo could be sold for a higher price, according to Dnevnik. They also want a buyer with long-term plans. Moreover, the Central Bank has put the group in the list of companies worth restructuring.

NLB's efforts to sell the company are supported mainly by banks controlled by foreign parents. NLB would get between Euro5 – 6m for its 20% stake in Trimo, considering the offered price.

US: Johns Manville (JM), a Berkshire Hathaway company, has launched JM Spider® Plus blow-in insulation, a re-engineered blow-in system. JM Spider Plus replaces JM Spider spray-in fibreglass insulation and JM said that it is ideal for residential, commercial and manufactured buildings.

JM Spider Plus is designed for installation by professionals using a blowing wool machine and features 'Interlocking Fibre Technology,' a new innovation from JM. Interlocking Fibre Technology allows the insulation fibres to spring and lock into cavities with no adhesive or netting. JM Spider Plus achieves an R-value of 15 in a 2x4 cavity and an R-23 in 2x6 walls.

JM Spider Plus is available to customers in North America immediately.

Canada/US: Roxul, a subsidiary of Rockwool International, has adopted a new 'strategic direction' for the North American Industrial, Marine and Offshore business. Effective from 1 January 2015, the Roxul Industrial & Marine team has been integrated into a global platform with Rockwool Technical Insulation (RTI) to create Roxul Technical Insulation.

"With our existing expertise and combined resources, Roxul Technical Insulation can provide improved support to its North American customers by leveraging our global influence, ultimately bringing greater value to our local response," said Mike Kozokowsky, vice president Industrial, Sales. The North American team will continue to be headquartered out of Roxul's Milton offices in Ontario, Canada.

US: Honeywell has launched full-scale commercial production of a low-global-warming-potential (GWP) material for use as an aerosol propellant, insulating agent and refrigerant at its Flourine Products Baton Rouge production facility in Louisiana. The material is known by the industry designation HFO-1234ze and is marketed by Honeywell under its Solstice line of low-global-warming materials.

"Honeywell's Baton Rouge plant is ready to serve customers around the world with this innovative material, which has an ultra-low GWP of less than 1," said Ken Gayer, vice president and general manager of Honeywell's Fluorine Products business. "We are seeing increasing demand for our entire Solstice line of low GWP materials and this new product has already been adopted by a range of customers globally."

In September 2014, Honeywell announced that it would increase production of its low GWP refrigerants, insulation materials, aerosols and solvents and, prior to 2020, will drive a 50%/yr reduction in its production of high GWP hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) on a CO₂ equivalent basis. Honeywell officials project the use of its low GWP Solstice materials to replace HFCs will eliminate more than 350Mt in CO₂ equivalents by 2025, equivalent to removing 70m cars from the road for one year.

HFO-1234ze is a next-generation material that is non-ozone-depleting, non-flammable per ASTM E681 and ISO 10156:2010 testing and has a low-global-warming-potential of <1. It is also not a volatile organic compound (VOC), as determined by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resource Board (CARB).

According to officials, HFO-1234ze is considered a preferred replacement for both HFC-134a (which has GWP of 1,300) and HFC-152a (which is flammable and has a GWP of 138) in aerosol applications and thermal insulating foams, including extruded polystyrene board and polyurethane foams. It is also being considered to replace HFC-134a for large stationary and commercial refrigeration applications and, compared to other low GWP refrigerant options, Honeywell's HFO-1234ze provides energy efficiency benefits.