Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Johns Manville (JM) joined US Senators Michael Bennet and Johnny Isakson in Washington, DC on 19 October 2011 to applaud the introduction of the SAVE (Sensible Accounting to Value Energy) Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at encouraging greater investment in insulation and other forms of energy-efficiency in homes.

Todd Raba, CEO of Johns Manville, spoke at the Capitol Hill event to endorse the bill. The SAVE Act will aim to direct federal mortgage agencies and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create a new mortgage underwriting and realty appraisal process that reflects actual homeowner energy costs, thereby stimulating greater demand for energy-efficient homes. The market-driven proposal is designed to promote cost-effective investments in home energy-efficiency while strengthening federally insured mortgages and creating as many as 83,000 jobs nationally in the construction, manufacturing and home renovation sectors.

"On behalf of the thousands of Coloradans whose jobs depend on vibrant insulation and energy efficiency industries, JM would like to salute Senators Bennet and Isakson for their leadership on this bill," said Raba. "Incorporating energy efficiency calculations into federal mortgage underwriting is a smart and budget-neutral way of creating real jobs and stimulating widespread economic activity."

The SAVE Act is supported by a broad-based coalition including the US Chamber of Commerce, the Council of the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (CNAIMA), the Alliance to Save Energy, the US Appraisal Institute, homebuilders, environmental groups, green building advocates and other champions of energy efficiency.

"Energy efficiency truly is a 'win-win-win.' Homebuyers are able to lower their monthly utility bills, the economy benefits from job creation and the country as a whole saves energy," said Raba. "Considering that 45 million US homes are under-insulated there is a significant opportunity to make American homes more energy efficient and America more energy secure."

Japan: Panasonic Corp has announced that it will begin to mass-produce heat insulation materials by recycling glass used in cathode-ray tube television sets.

To this end, Panasonic has built within the premises of its 'white goods' plant in Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, a facility to melt glass tubes used in the TV sets and turn them into fiberglass insulation. Production is slated to begin in February 2012, the company said.

Panasonic estimates heat insulation for about 300,000 refrigerators can be produced from some 130,000 glass tubes. Besides refrigerators and other home appliances, the insulating material can be used for houses and cold containers, company officials said.

Panasonic has been selling part of glass retrieved from cathode-ray tube television sets at its recycle plant to glass-makers in and outside Japan. But the company decided to recycle the glass on its own because its inventory had piled up.

Russia: The net 2011 first-half profit of OJSC Balakovorezinotekhnika, which makes a number of plastic-derived technical goods including vibration-dampening insulation and pipe-lagging was USD2.3m against a loss of USD3.52m for the same period of 2010. Its revenue increased by 43% to USD98.4m from USD68.8m and its profit due to sales was USD1.77m against a sales loss of USD1.96m in the first half of 2010.

Kazakhstan: A new Vodokanalstroy Company mineral wool plant has started operation in the city of Karaganda in Karaganda region as part of the Business Roadmap-2020 programme.

The executive director of the company, Mikhail Lashkov, said, "The project cost USD11.2m. The sources of financing were our own funds, accounting for USD7.6m and a loan of USD3.7m borrowed at an interest rate of 7%/yr."

According to Lashkov, the production capacity of the plant is 85,000m3/yr of thermal insulation material. "The main product of the plant are mineral wool slabs with Misot synthetic binding agent," he added. The raw materials for the products are sourced from ArcelorMittal Temirtau.

"There is a huge demand for heat insulation materials in Kazakhstan and 85% of such products are imported. Now the imports can be reduced," said Lashkov.

New Zealand: EnergySmart, a major partner in the New Zealand government's home insulation scheme, has been placed into liquidation. The company owes a reported USD780,000 in outstanding unpaid invoices.

EnergySmart has offices across New Zealand and is one of the Warm Up New Zealand scheme's larger providers, having carried out 5% of 115,000 home insulation retrofits across the country since the scheme began in 2009. The company's turnover in 2009-10 was USD11m, but it made a loss of USD590,000. Mike Underhill, chief executive of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, which runs the USD270m scheme, said he was 'appalled'.

EnergySmart was sold by its founders, Peter and Robyn McKeown, for USD390,000 in 2006. After trying to attract a commercial buyer, the company was acquired by the Hutt-Mana Charitable Trust, who injected USD590,000 in 2009.