US: Stepan has recorded a first-half income before tax of US$63.4m, up by 15% year-on-year from US$55.2m in the first half of 2020. Net sales were US$910m, down by 5.4% year-on-year from US$962m. Polymer sales, which includes sales of Stepan’s rigid foam insulation polyols, fell by 20% to US$112m from US$141m due to lower North American and European demand, “reflecting Covid-19 construction project delays,” according to the company. This was partly offset by increased sales volumes of 41% from its China division.

France: Saint-Gobain’s Point.P construction materials and building products distribution brand has put together a specific range of bio-sourced insulation materials. The materials include wood fibre and hemp-based materials. Point.P says that these products account for 10% of the insulation market. The new range has been developed in response to new expectations expressed by trades professionals and individuals.

US: DuPont plans to launch new extruded polystyrene foam insulation products in its Styrofoam brand with reduced global warming potential (GWP) from the start of 2021 to meet its 2030 Sustainability Goals and comply with adopted and upcoming state and provincial hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) regulations throughout the US and Canada. The company also expects a reduction in embodied carbon to be reflected in an updated Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), which will be available with the new products.

"We are taking a thoughtful, phased approach to launching this latest Styrofoam innovation to ensure we are providing a sustainable, code-approved solution that does not sacrifice the performance our customers have come to trust," said Tim Lacey, Global Vice President & General Manager, DuPont Performance Building Solution.

UK: Knauf Insulation has developed a tool that uses machine learning techniques to measure the energy performance of individual homes. The method can generate an assessment of fabric performance of a residential building within three months, according to BusinessGreen. The product is intended to provide evidence to support the building fabric component of a building's energy performance certificate (EPC) rating, as opposed to Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) calculations. Such evidence could be used to support return on investment calculations for energy efficiency retrofit programmes.