Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: A fire reported at Owens Corning’s insulation plant in Newark, Ohio on 25 March 2017 is the latest in a series of such events at the site. The fire is believed to have started in the plant’s insulation system before spreading to a few rooms and the roof of a building, according to the Newark Advocate newspaper. It is the third significant fire at the site since 2013 following incidents in November 2013 and January 2014. Owens Corning has said that it takes the safety of its employees seriously and that it has taken ‘numerous’ actions to minimise the risk of fires at the plant.

Czech Republic: Consumption of expanded polystyrene (EPS) fell by 6.8% year-on-year to 57,900t in 2016 from 62,100t in 2015. The decrease was caused by a decline of the domestic construction sector said the Czech EPS Association, according to the Czech News Agency (CTK). Local building output fell by 5.9% in 2016 according to the Czech Statistical Office (CSU).

"The decrease is being caused mainly by lengthy building permit proceedings in our country. In comparison with Germany or Austria, building permit proceedings in the Czech Republic take more than twice as long," said insulation association chairman Pavel Zemene.

Around 85% of the total EPS consumption in the country is used in the construction sector, and 50% is used for building insulation.

UK: Knauf Insulation has entered into a long-term contract with Veolia to support the construction of a glass cullet-processing unit next to its insulation production plant in St Helens, Merseyside. The unit will be constructed and operated by Veolia on land owned by Knauf Insulation. It will provide recycled glass for use in Knauf’s insulation products. Veolia has invested Euro11.6m into the unit it plans to build by the end of 2017.

“We are delighted to be working with Veolia on this project, which perfectly aligns our goals for sustainability and the circular economy. Given recent shortages impacting the construction sector, our customers can be reassured that we are working proactively upstream to further enhance the security of our supply,” said John Sinfield, managing director at Knauf Insulation Northern Europe.

The new facility will dry and refine glass into a ‘furnace ready cullet’, a recycled standard of glass that has been cleaned and crushed into small fragments. The cullet is then fed into a furnace where it is melted and spun into glass mineral wool.

Canada: Ashburton Ventures has announced that it is to enter the vacuum insulation panel (VIP) market and, in partnership with ZMM Canada Minerals, will target the construction market, following research and development. The partners will use ZMM’s Z-1 Clinoptilolite Zeolite Quarry, as a source of Z-1 zeolite, a highly-porous naturally-occuring mineral, as the core of VIPs.

VIPs have so far found limited use in the construction sector due to their high cost and tendency to lose performance with time. The cost of using zeolites is expected to be much lower than conventional silica or glass fibre based boards, potentially opening up vast new areas of application for VIP technology.

“This is an exciting time for Ashburton. To have its unique Z-1 zeolite used in the creation of a leading edge clean energy, clean technology initiative in collaboration with the University of Victoria, the Province of B.C. and the Federal Government is truly a big step for our shareholders,” said Ashburton’s President David Gdanski.

UAE: Researchers at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) have developed a composite thermal insulation material made from a blend of unsaturated polyester liquid with date pits powder. The material is intended to improve upon the low mechanical properties that conventional insulation materials such as polyurethane, polystyrene and mineral wool have. As such it can be produced in different forms such as a sheets, boards and blocks.

“In the UAE, there is an on-going search for alternative means and materials that preserve and minimise the loss of energy in buildings,” said Basim Abu-Jdayil, Professor in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, UAEU, who leads the project.