Insulation industry news from Global Insulation
Etex advances sustainability in 2023
23 April 2024Belgium: Etex says that it ‘considerably’ progressed its Road to Sustainability 2030 plan during 2023. That year, safety intensity increased by 7%, and Etex established a global diversity, equity and inclusion ambassador community of 110 volunteers across 26 countries. In Europe, the company achieved 70% Environmental Product Declaration coverage as a percentage of its turnover, up from 58% in 2022. Etex raised its total use of recycled materials to 7.6%, and achieved a 23% reduction in Scopes 1 and 2 CO₂ compared to 2018 levels, in line with its 2030 target of 35%.
CEO Bernard Delvaux said “In the EU, more than 40% of energy consumed is used in buildings and more than 30% of energy-related greenhouse gasses emissions come from buildings. Next to new building activities, and according to current high energy standards, renovating old building stock should hence be a top priority. With our portfolio of building materials such as glass wool and extruded polystyrene insulation, gypsum wallboard, fibre cement boards and fire protection materials, Etex has the solutions to reach the ambitious targets. But in view of the huge challenge, a holistic and effective plan to boost renovation is needed, to finance and simplify the renovation process, in each of the EU countries.”
Evonik’s Calostat receives environmental product declaration from Institut für Bauen und Umwelt
10 December 2018Germany: Evonik’s Calostat insulation product has received an environmental product declaration (EPD) from the Institut für Bauen und Umwelt (IBU). The EPD takes into account the entire production process, from manufacture of precursors, their transport, production of Calostat and the option of recycling the material.
Calostat is a non-combustible thermal insulation material based on silicon dioxide.
It is a class A (non-combustible) building material with a thermal conductivity λ of 0.019 W/(mK). It does not absorb liquid water but is permeable to water vapour. Other distinguishing features are its compressive strength of ≥ 90 kPa and gross density of 165kg/m3. It contains no fungicides, algicides, pesticides, binding agents, or flame-retardants. Notably, the manufacturer also says that the product can be recycled.
Armacell initiative receives recognition from UL Environment
17 September 2015Singapore: Insulation foams producer Armacell has been recognised for its pioneering initiative on environmental certification in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. The recognition came from UL Environment, which presented Armacell with an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Certification during a workshop on Indoor Air Quality and Environmental Product Declarations.
Lisa Meier, UL Environment vice president and global general manager, acknowledged Armacell as the first company to receive EPDs from UL Environment in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. Stephen Hodson, general manager of marketing APAC, said that, "The EPDs are highly important for providing product information to designers of green buildings in Asia."
Armacell's latest EPDs cover seven premium products that are sold across the Asia Pacific region. The initiative, said Armacell's technical manager for APAC Peter Cheng, makes Armacell the first insulation company to receive EPDs from UL Environment in APAC.
Demand for EPDs is growing in response to a change in green building guidelines and design practices. The US Green Building Council's LEED green building programme is now placing emphasis on life cycle assessment (LCA) based environmental reporting and transparency, rewarding points for the use of products with EPDs and LCAs as part of the Material and Resources (MR) Credits. Outside of the US, four of the top ten countries for LEED-certified buildings are in the APAC region: India, China, Korea and Taiwan.
Armacell presents environmental product declarations (EPDs) for its elastomeric insulation materials
17 June 2015Luxembourg: Armacell is now the first manufacturer of flexible technical insulation materials to present environmental product declarations (EPDs), which are based on an independent life cycle assessment (LCA).
EPDs are becoming more important in the construction industry as they provide a transparent, independent and reproducible analysis of the environmental impacts of construction products and give detailed information with sound data and figures. As a 'sustainability passport,' EPDs form the basis for designing green buildings in accordance with certification schemes such as LEED, BREEAM or DGNB.
Comparing the primary energy input identified in the Armacell LCA with the energy saving achieved shows that using Armaflex insulation materials saves 140 times more energy than is needed for their manufacturing, transport and disposal. The energy input needed to manufacture Armaflex is paid off after just 50 days.
"With the EPDs we create a unique degree of transparency for our Armaflex products. We provide architects, specifiers and those inviting tenders with reliable information for designing sustainable building projects. At the same time we commit ourselves to continuing to improve the environmental friendliness of our products and thus sharpening our competitive edge," said Patrick Mathieu, CEO of the Armacell Group.