Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UK: Gene Murtagh, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Kingspan Group, has called for a number of changes to be made to fire safety regulations for buildings in the UK. He called for large-scale testing under BS8414 to be extended to cover all cladding systems, a strengthening of the way desktop studies are used in fire safety compliance, improved training for installers of building facades and better control of fire safety through the design and construction process of buildings. His comments were made to Building Magazine following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 and at the start of the Public Inquiry into the incident.

“So far as I am aware, polyethylene (PE) cored Aluminium Composite Materials (ACM) have never been successfully tested in a cladding system in a manner consistent with building regulations so it is hard to understand how this product ever ended up on Grenfell Tower,” said Murtagh. “Similarly, given the fire performance characteristics of these ACM cladding panels, it is no surprise in my view that they performed so poorly in combination with a range of insulation types in the recent series of large-scale tests by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).” said Murtagh added that fire safety is an ‘extremely complex’ field and that any investigation needs to consider a wide range of factors.

The majority of the insulation purchased for use in a refurbishment of Grenfell Tower prior to the fire was Celotex’s RS5000 polyisocyanurate foam (PIR) insulation board. However, Kingspan confirmed in July 2017 that a small amount of its Kooltherm K15 phenolic insulation product had also been used without its knowledge and that it had no involvement in the design or specification of the refurbishment.

Czech Republic: Sika has agreed to acquire KVK Holding, a manufacturer of waterproofing and roofing systems, including insulation products and a range of mortar products. The transaction is subject to clearance by anti-trust authorities. KVK operates six production sites: three for the manufacture of mortar products, two for bituminous membranes and one for expanded polystyrene insulation (EPS) for building envelope solutions. With these facilities Sika will strengthen its production platform and expand its geographical footprint in the growing Czech market. KVK’s relationships with major builders’ merchants will also allow Sika to enhance its presence in the Czech market.

“KVK is a proven industry leader, with a product portfolio and geographical presence that will increase our market penetration and support our growth strategy. The acquisition also brings us manufacturing expertise for waterproofing and insulation solutions,” said Ivo Schädler, Regional Manager EMEA.

Germany: Matthias Hau has been appointed as the Regional President Eastern Europe for Evonik. He succeeds Thomas Müller, who has been leading the activities of the European Region since 2011 and has now retired.

Hau joined Evonik in 1982 while completing a vocational training at the former Degussa, followed by a commercial trainee program in Germany and the UK. After working as a sales employee in Melbourne, Australia he was delegated to Singapore and Malaysia. Afterwards he held various responsibilities in sales, product management, and marketing, before he took over as head of the BioActives Business Unit. In 2005 he became the president of the India Region. After being head of the Agrochemicals & Polymer Additives Business Line at Performance Materials, he became responsible in 2016 for a sales programme across the group.

US: Roxul, the North American division of Rockwool Group, will fully rebrand as Rockwool on 1 January 2018. The rebranding exercise will apply to all segments of Roxul’s North America insulation business including residential, commercial, roofing, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and technical (industrial, marine & offshore) sectors, as well as all product lines.

“Roxul is soon to be Rockwool in North America,” said Trent Ogilvie, president of Roxul. “The rebrand creates a unified identity for our company, its solutions and benefits on a global scale. It reinforces Rockwool’s position as a world leader in a diverse range of stone wool solutions, while unlocking significant potential for our business.”

The rebrand follows an April 2017 announcement from the Rockwool Group that all its global subsidiaries have assumed a new, cohesive brand identity. This marked the introduction of the Rockwool symbol, a graphic representation of a volcano, as well as a new purpose statement. The rebranding only applies to the group’s North American insulation business. Its Rockfon and Grodan subsidiaries will continue to operate under their respective brand names.

New Zealand: TechnoNicol’s Techno mineral wool plant in Ryazan has sent a test batch of products to New Zealand. Following feedback the insulation producer plans to arrange a regular export of materials to the region.