Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

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.

UK: Knauf Insulation, has achieved the Building Research Establishment’s BES 6001 standard for its responsible sourcing practices. As part of its commitment to sustainability, the insulation producer uses recycled materials across its product range. The business has also developed a sustainable binder for its glass and rock mineral wool products that has no added formaldehyde, acrylics or artificial colours called ECOSE Technology. Knauf Insulation has achieved the standard across its glass and rock mineral wool products manufactured at its production sites in St Helens, Cwmbran and Queensferry.

“As a business that plays a leading role in the built environment, we are continually aiming to minimise risk within our supply chain. BES certification is the latest step towards achieving this and we are pleased to provide an extra level of assurance to our customers,” said John Sinfield, Managing Director at Knauf Insulation.

World: The vacuum insulation panel industry represented by VIPA International reports that it is pleased to see that standardisation activities on this technology are progressing well around the world. Standards are key tools to accelerate the market acceptance of new products and to create a level playing field for all companies in the market.

In Europe, the CEN Technical Committee 88 (thermal insulating materials and products) Working Group 11 (vacuum insulation products - VIP) has drafted the factory made vacuum insulated panels (VIP) for buildings specification. The draft standard is now under voting process by the national standardisation bodies in Europe. Some comments were received and will be analysed at the next meeting of the CEN TC 88 WG 11 in October 2017 to decide on the next steps, address the comments and start a new round of inquiries with the national standardisation bodies or proceed with the publication of the standard in its current format.

Also in Europe, the VIP group of the GSH (Güteschutzgemeinschaft Hartschaum e.V. - a neutral and independent European Association of Thermal Insulation Manufacturers) responsible for drafting the quality and testing regulations of the RAL VIP Quality Mark 960 has almost completed reviewing the current rules. Once completed, discussed with RAL (German Institute for Quality Assurance and Labelling) and approved, the RAL VIP Quality Mark will be extended to four VIP applications (refrigerators and freezers, building and construction, hot water tanks, temperature-controlled boxes and containers) irrespective of which core material is used for the particular VIP.

In April 2017 the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) VIP group had its first meeting in Canada. Professor Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya is the convener of this group. In China, the Nanjing Fiberglass Institute is leading the review of the Chinese VIP standard. The group plans to extend the current standard to all applications. The drafting process is expected to be completed by 2018.

VIPA International says that it is closely following all these standardisation discussions and is keeping its members informed about all developments. The association believes in the value of standards and would welcome global harmonisation as much as possible.