Europe: The EU energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger has said that European Union (EU) member states should install insulation in their public buildings, going as far as saying that the 27 nations should be forced to do so. Oettinger thinks that insulation should be improved by 3% in public buildings and that that this improvement should occur year-on-year starting in 2014.

The EU is ultimately aiming to cut energy consumption in buildings by 20% by 2020. It would also like to create new public procurement rules aimed at awarding contracts to products and services that are energy-efficient.

US: Serious Materials has announced that it has changed its name to Serious Energy. The new name reflects the company's suite of advanced building products and energy software services designed to 'increase the value of America's buildings', for both owners and occupants. For building owners, the goal is to increase net operating income. For occupants, the goal is to increase comfort, productivity and health at lower operating costs.

Kazakhstan: Ecostroyservice JSC has commissioned a manufacturing line to produce a wide range of insulating concrete products in the Karaganda region of central Kazakhstan. The total investment in the project will be USD1.6m design production capacity is 36,000m³/yr.

"The positive feature of these building materials is low heat conductivity," said Ecostroyservice's Serik Akhmetov at the plant's launch. "Production of special heat insulation materials will allow heat losses to be reduced by 10-20 times," he added.

China/Japan: The first overseas base of Japanese fibreglass producer Asahi Fiber Glass, which was formed in Shanghai in April 2011, will enter full-scale operation at the end of June 2011, supporting the company's goal of developing its business in the high-growth Asian market as well as the domestic market.

The new base will initially focus on supplying the local operations of Japanese companies with imports from Japan and carry out trading functions, under the supervision of manager Manabu Suzuki. In the future it will explore the establishment of local processing bases for thermal-insulation building materials, vacuum insulation materials and automotive sound-absorbing materials through partnerships with Chinese companies and mergers and acquisions.

Asahi Fiber Glass regards China as an ideal foothold for entry into the southern Asian region, where demand is growing for glass wool as a vacuum insulation material and a sound-absorbing material for automobiles. The Chinese market for glass wool has already expanded to more than double the size of the Japanese market and its expansion looks set to continue.