Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Knauf Insulation has won a 2019 Greenbuild Leadership Award for outstanding contributions to sustainable building by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). The insulation producer was recognised for providing innovative solutions that both reduce energy consumption and save resources. The USGBC said that Knauf set an ‘outstanding’ example for the international green construction industry through its commitment to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and other green building practices and its corporate social responsibility commitment.

“Knauf Insulation serves as a model for the international community. Your commitment to corporate social responsibility and improving the quality of life is an inspiration," said Mahesh Ramanujamm, the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of USGBC and Green Business Certification.

The award was received on behalf of Knauf Insulation by its Sustainability and Product Regulatory Affairs Director Vincent Briard at Greenbuild Europe, an annual USGBC forum for sustainable building experts held in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Russia: TechnoNicol plans to spend around Euro5m on an upgrade to its Chelyabinsk mineral wool plant. The majority of the investment will go towards refurbishing the unit’s production line, according to the AK&M Information Agency. The rest will be spent on installing additional cleaning and treatment systems. Once the upgrade is completed the plant will start producing rolled technical insulation materials based on rock wool. The unit will have a production capacity of 0.27Mm³/yr

China/Germany/US: The Mannheim Court in Germany has found that Chinese companies Guangdong Alison Hi-Tech and Nano Tech infringed one of Aspen Aerogels’ European patents by selling infringing aerogel insulation products. As part of the judgments, the Mannheim Court issued injunctions prohibiting the offer, distribution, use or import of infringing products in Germany and held Nano and Alison liable to Aspen Aerogels for damages, court costs and some of Aspen's legal fees and expenses. The Mannheim Court's decision is subject to an appeal to the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe. In a related lawsuit, the Mannheim Court had previously issued a series of judgments against Hiltex Techniche Weefsels, a Dutch reseller of the infringing Chinese aerogels.

In addition, the German Federal Patent Court in Munich found the Aspen patent to be valid as granted in a patent nullity action initiated by Nano. The Munich Court's decision follows other unsuccessful challenges to the validity of Aspen's patents by Nano and Alison in the US and China.

"Our core strategy is to invest in the research, development, commercialisation and protection of our aerogel technology platform worldwide. These European patent wins, along with our 2018 victory at the US International Trade Commission, reinforce the scope and strength of Aspen's patent portfolio," said Don Young, President and chief executive officer (CEO) of Aspen Aerogels.

US: Hennecke Group, a manufacturer and supplier of polyurethane processing equipment and plants, has moved its North American headquarters to a new plant in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. The new headquarters features more office and conference space, a research and development laboratory, a parts warehouse and areas for machinery repair and mixhead rebuilding services.

"This building better represents the innovation and leading polyurethane technology that we provide," said Lutz Heidrich, General Manager of Hennecke. He added that the new plant used some of the materials that its customers produce in its construction. This includes using foil-faced polyiso panel insulation made by Hunter Panels, part of Carlisle Construction Materials.

Hennecke manufactures equipment and supplies plants that make a variety of polyurethane-based products for the construction industries and other sectors. It operates facilities in Italy, Brazil, Mexico, China, Singapore, South Korea, India and Russia.

Germany: Va-Q-Tec’s revenue grew by 8% year-on-year to Euro50.7m in 2018 from Euro46.9m in 2017. Sales from its Products business, including vacuum insulation panels (VIP) and phase change materials (PCM), increased by 12% to Euro20.1m from Euro18m. However, its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 58% to Euro3m from Euro7.2m. It blamed the fall in earnings on a rise in sales from its lower-margin Products business and investment costs in the company generally.

“Even though business trends in 2018 fell short of our expectations, the outlook at the end of the year brightened considerably. We have completed all of our major growth investments, we have achieved important progress with projects for major customers,” said Stefan Döhmen, the chief financial officer (CFO) of Va-Q-Tec.