US: The Environmental Claims Service of UL Environment (ULE) has certified that Knauf Insulation's products contain 55.7% of post-consumer waste.

"As one of the first manufacturers in our industry to work with ULE on this type of initiative, we are proud to announce the validation of environmental and sustainability claims for our glass wool products," said Scott Miller, director of sustainability at Knauf Insulation. "Independent, third-party validation provides our customers with confidence in the sustainable attributes of our insulation products. Knauf Insulation, as a company, will continually adapt to the constantly changing atmosphere of environmental sustainability and stay in the forefront with our sustainability platform."

Steven Wenc, president of ULE, said, "We applaud Knauf Insulation for their commitment to diverting waste to make insulation. Knauf Insulation is also committed to building confidence and trust in the marketplace by validating their claims with an independent, third party."

North America: France's Saint-Gobain has announced the appointment of John Crowe as President and CEO of both the Saint-Gobain Corporation, Saint-Gobain's North American holding company, and CertainTeed Corporation, which is Saint-Gobain's largest North American subsidiary.

Crowe will take on these two new roles effective from 1 September 2011. As President and CEO of Saint-Gobain Corporation, he will act as Saint-Gobain's representative in North America, overseeing the company's North American businesses and chairing the company's Executive Committee. In this role, he succeeds Gilles Colas, who will return to Saint-Gobain's Paris headquarters as Senior Vice President in charge of global strategic developments.

In addition, Crowe will assume operational responsibility for CertainTeed, following in the footsteps of Peter Dachowski, who retires today after 35 years of service in a wide variety of senior leadership roles at Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed.

"With more than 30 years of experience in Saint-Gobain's innovative materials businesses, John is an exceptional leader with strong operational skills," said Pierre-Andre de Chalendar, Chairman and CEO of Saint-Gobain. "His appointment underscores Saint-Gobain's focus on leveraging its innovation and technical expertise to develop products and solutions that change the way we think about built environments. John will help CertainTeed and other Saint-Gobain businesses in North America to develop innovative materials that advance the way we build today in order to meet the challenges of tomorrow."

Crowe sees his main role as continuing to drive innovation throughout the company. "CertainTeed has been a leader in the construction industry for over one hundred years, Saint-Gobain for over three centuries, but we have never seen such a rapid pace of change or so many exciting new building technologies," he said.

Russia: Denmark's Rockwool, the world leader in manufacturing environmental thermal insulation materials, will spend USD150m on the first rockwool production line in Tatarstan's Alabuga special economic zone. The new Alabuga plant, which will have a capacity of about 110,000t/yr of products, represents the largest investment in Rockwool's history. When built, the plant will be the largest of its kind in the world. The plant is even designed for the installation of a second production line, which would increase the capacity to 250,000t/yr. It will be the fourth Rockwool production line in Russia.

The new plant is scheduled for opening in the first quarter 2012, creating at least 200 jobs. It will supply its products to the Volga region, Urals region and Siberia. It will additionally export to Kazakhstan. The roll-out of the new plant will allow Russia to substantially reduce its dependence on thermal insulation imports.

Commenting on the choice of venue for the project, Rockwool's Director General Nick Vince said, "We considered a total of 22 factors. At the top of the list is the full support of the authorities that we found here. The other pluses are tax benefits, a large space (48 hectares), convenient transport system, availability of a hydroelectric station 15km away and that of natural gas. A solid workforce is important. All these factors taken together make Alabuga an ideal venue for our project."

Continuing, Vince said, "We favourably assess the Russian economy's long-term potential. Buildings account for about 40% of the thermal energy produced in the country. There is a vast potential for increasing energy-efficiency and demand for thermal insulation materials."

Denmark: Rockwool International A/S saw its net profit decline slightly to Euro16.5m in the three months to 30 June 2011 from Euro17.2m in the corresponding period of 2010.

Recovery in the company's main European insulation markets, driven by Germany and France, continued and considerable growth was marked in Poland and Russia as well.

Net sales went up to Euro845m from Euro452m. Operating costs expanded by 18% to Euro434m, which led to a reduction in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to Euro57.9m from Euro64.8m in the quarter.

Rockwool foresees that further sales growth will come in the coming quarters. Rockwool anticipates that its net profit after minority interests will be Euro73.8m for 2011.