Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UAE: Unigulf Group has helped the Arabian Fiberglass Insulation Company (AFICO) to gain certification from the Dubai Civil Defence (DCD) for its complete range of fibreglass products. The certification now offers AFICO access for its products to a wider range of contractors, according to TradeArabia.

"We worked closely with AFICO towards acquiring the DCD certificate for its entire range of insulation and acoustic products," said Prakash Chablani, the managing director of Unigulf Group. "At a time when the DCD is tightening the fire safety guidelines in the Emirate, the approval reinforces the need to conform with rules and regulations.”

AFICO is a joint venture with US-based Owens Corning and a member of Gulf Insulation Group under Zamil Industrial Company. Established in 1981 with operations in Dammam, Saudi Arabia the company is now one of the single largest manufacturers of fibreglass insulation in the region.

The DCD certification process includes a range of quality control tests and inspections of production plants as well as consistent testing of products. It also includes technical product tests conducted by third-party laboratories and inspections to test factory safety procedures and to evaluate the knowledge and skills of the technicians involved in the manufacturing process.

Netherlands/Israel: ICL has completed ramping up its compaction capabilities and is now producing a range of its sustainable polymeric flame retardant at full capacity, to 12,000Mt/yr, at its Industrial Products (IP) plants in Israel and the Netherlands. The flame retardant, which is marketed by ICL IP under the brand name FR-122P, is an alternative for customers transitioning from hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)-based flame retardants currently used by the building industry in extruded polystyrene (XPS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam insulation products.

FR-122P is now available from both plants in three grades of products: powder material, EPS compacted grade and XPS compacted grade using ICL IP’s in-house compaction technology. FR-122P is manufactured by ICL IP using technology licensed from Dow Global Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company.

US: USA Insulation has opened a foam insulation plant in Cleveland, Ohio to meet increased demand for its products. The location was chosen because the injection foam franchise has its headquarters in the town.

"With over 50,000 homes insulated to date, our brand is now recognised as one of the premier residential retrofit insulation companies in America," said Patrick Pitrone, president of USA Insulation Franchise Corporation. "USA Insulation's proprietary injection foam has been used in the sidewalls of new and existing homes for over 30 years and boasts some of the highest R-ratings in the insulation industry."

UK: Kingspan Insulation will launch four low lambda insulation products for floors, walls and soffits on 1 August 2016.

Kingspan Kooltherm K103 Floorboard, K110 and K110 PLUS Soffit Board and K118 Insulated Plasterboard feature a fibre-free insulation core, enabling them to achieve a thermal conductivity of 0.018W/m.K. The launch of the new products follows the release earlier in 2016 of Kingspan Kooltherm K106 and K108 Cavity Board.

All Kooltherm, Therma and KoolDuct insulation products and cavity closers manufactured at Kingspan Insulation’s facilities in Pembridge and Selby are certified to BES 6001 (Framework Standard for the Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products) ‘Excellent’.

US: The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau has recommended that Applegate Insulation discontinue certain claims for the company’s cellulose insulation products. However, it found the company could support its ‘R-value per inch’ claims. NAD is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation in North America.

The questionable claims included; “Some studies have shown boron might lower the risk of some cancers and is a chemical commonly found in vegetables such as almonds, apples … and pears, according to BoraxPioneer.” NAD also challenged; “The fire retardant additives used to manufacture Applegate are non-toxic. One of the additives, boric acid, is six times less toxic to humans than table salt!”

The North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA) objected to comparative performance claims made by Applegate’s advertising that cellulose insulation provides superior energy savings over fibreglass insulation, resulting in consumers having significantly reduced heating and cooling bills. Applegate maintained that it has a reasonable basis for its energy savings claims based on the findings of three studies.

Following its review of the advertising and advertiser’s evidence, NAD determined that one of the reasonable messages conveyed by comparative performance claims which specifically reference ‘studies’ is that consumers will actually experience the same energy savings as reported in these studies. In this case, NAD found the advertiser’s evidence insufficient to support the challenged comparative performance claims and recommended the advertiser discontinue some of its claims.

NAD determined Applegate provided a reasonable basis for its ‘R-value per inch claims,’ noting that the evidence in the record supports a finding that Applegate’s cellulose insulation meets the exception to the Federal Trace Commission’s R-value rule and therefore, Applegate is not prohibited by that rule from making ‘R-value per inch’ claims.

In a statement Applegate said that it would take the NAD’s recommendations into account for current and future advertising materials.