Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Researchers at Washington State University (WSU) have developed an alternative to extruded polystyrene foam that uses nanocrystals of cellulose instead of petroleum based products. The team, led by Amir Ameli, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Xiao Zhang, associate professor in the Gene and Linda School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, have also developed a manufacturing process to make the foam using water as a solvent.

The project is working on developing an environmentally friendly replacement for extruded polystyrene foam. The WSU team created a material that is made of about 75% cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp. They added polyvinyl alcohol, another polymer that bonds with the nanocellulose crystals and makes the resultant foams more elastic.

“We have used an easy method to make high-performance, composite foams based on nanocrystalline cellulose with an excellent combination of thermal insulation capability and mechanical properties,” said Ameli.

The researchers are now developing formulations for stronger and more durable materials for practical applications. They are interested in incorporating low‑cost feedstocks to make a commercially viable product and considering how to move from laboratory to a real-world manufacturing scale.

UK: SIG’s revenue fell by 1.2% year-on-year to Euro3.11bn in 2018 from Euro3.15bn in 2017. Its profit before tax increased by 8.5% to Euro87.2m from Euro80.4m. The building materials producer blamed ‘challenging’ market conditions but it highlighted its focus on prices and profitability.

Belgium: Knauf Insulation plans to install 6000 photovoltaic panels at its Visé mineral wool plant. These will provide 1700MWhr/yr to the unit. The announcement was made at the opening of Knauf Insulation’s Experience Centre in Visé. The centre is intended to act as a knowledge base for best practice and sustainability.

Ireland: Kingspan Group sales rose by 18% year-on-year to Euro1.06bn for the first quarter of 2019. It attributed this to ‘strong’ volumes across its key markets. Its insulated panel sales grew by 22% driven by growth in Europe. Its insulation board sales increased by 12% due to growth in Europe.

US: Johns Manville has appointed John Vasuta as the president of its Engineered Products business. He will lead the business that manufactures glass fibre nonwovens, polyester spunbonds and glass fibres for the building and construction industry, as well as for automotive, industrial and residential applications. It operates manufacturing plants in the US, Germany, Slovakia and China.

Vasuta most recently worked at Bridgestone Corp. as president and managing director, Firestone Building Products International as well as Global Senior Vice President, Firestone Building Products. He joined Bridgestone as Deputy General Counsel and later held a variety of executive-level jobs, including president of Bridgestone’s 250 commercial store division and vice president of International Sales and Operations for building products. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering, an MBA and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Akron.