Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

China: Danish insulation maker Rockwool International has announced that its board of directors have approved a plan to construct a plant in China costing around Euro110m. The new plant will be constructed in Tianjin, approximately 150km from Beijing in northern China. The plant is expected to be ready by the end of 2014 and will have a capacity of more than 120,000t/yr of mineral wool insulation.

"We have seen a good sales development since we acquired the Australian company CSR's insulation activities in southern China in 2010," said Rockwool division managing director for East Division Theo Kooij. "So far the majority of our sales have gone to industrial insulation. With the new plant in the northern part of China we can now target the promising market for building insulation, which has the potential to become the biggest in the world over time. High-rise buildings, where fire safety is a serious concern, stand out as a promising segment for our non-combustible insulation. The national and regional authorities in China are now expressing a high interest in improving the fire safety of insulated buildings."

In 2011, sales in Asia accounted for 5% of the total group sales for Rockwool and this share is expected to grow in the coming years. China is the group's biggest single Asian market.

China: China's Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development have announced that the state will ensure that more than 30% of new construction projects produce green buildings by 2020 via subsidies and lightened administrative requirements. Such a drive is likely to increase demand for insulation in the country. China is expected to invest over US$158bn in energy efficient buildings by 2020.

China has set a 'green' target for the industry for the first time in 'Guidelines on Promoting China's Green Buildings'. Since January 2012, China has issued related documents promoting the Golden Sun project, for energy conservation in new buildings in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and northern China, including the use of renewable energy sources in the buildings.

Green buildings are incorporated in the 12th Five-Year Plan. According to the two ministries, the Chinese government will act via incentive policies, standards, technological progress, industrial supports and accreditation to stimulate all of the sectors that are crucial to green buildings.

China's built-up areas are currently expanding at a rate of two billion square metres per year. The government expects that the operation of buildings will become the biggest energy consumer in the country by 2020, accounting for over 30% of the total at that time. According to preliminary estimates, new buildings being built in the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2010-2015) could save 45Mt/yr of standard coal if the state adopts strict energy saving measures and pushes green construction forward.

China: China is to allot USD265m to eliminate the use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) according to a Ministry of Environmental Protection announcement. The country is the world's largest producer and consumer of the ozone-layer destroying chemicals, which are still routinely used in the developing world for a variety of uses, including thermal insulation materials.

As a developing country, by 1 January 2013 China is required to keep the production and use of HCFCs at a level equal to the average amount seen in 2009 and 2010. By 2015, the amount should be reduced to 90% of that seen in 2013. By 2030 their routine use should be given-up entirely, save for specific limited purposes such as maintenance.

China/Japan: The first overseas base of Japanese fibreglass producer Asahi Fiber Glass, which was formed in Shanghai in April 2011, will enter full-scale operation at the end of June 2011, supporting the company's goal of developing its business in the high-growth Asian market as well as the domestic market.

The new base will initially focus on supplying the local operations of Japanese companies with imports from Japan and carry out trading functions, under the supervision of manager Manabu Suzuki. In the future it will explore the establishment of local processing bases for thermal-insulation building materials, vacuum insulation materials and automotive sound-absorbing materials through partnerships with Chinese companies and mergers and acquisions.

Asahi Fiber Glass regards China as an ideal foothold for entry into the southern Asian region, where demand is growing for glass wool as a vacuum insulation material and a sound-absorbing material for automobiles. The Chinese market for glass wool has already expanded to more than double the size of the Japanese market and its expansion looks set to continue.

China: Asia can improve its energy-efficiency and cut carbon emissions by adopting proven energy-saving technologies, but this has to be supplemented with regulations and market-driven energy pricing to be effective, according to the vice-chairman of the German chemical giant BASF. Beijing's practice of setting energy prices below those in the free market mean some opportunities had been lost due to poor economic fundamentals, said Dr Martin Brudermueller.

"If you look at the low energy cost in China, and you take the top one million households in Chongqing and you say you will reduce the air-conditioning cost by 50%, you end up with only US$280 of savings per year per household. You could hardly invest this in building insulation because it simply doesn't pay off," he said.

BASF is working on several projects to provide insulation materials for Chinese buildings that help cut heating and air-conditioning demand. Brudermueller says up to 60% of energy consumption can be cut with retrofitting. In addition to insulation, energy can be saved by treating floors to make them reflect heat and pigments can be added to building materials to reflect infrared lights - even if the materials are black. He added that China's energy consumption per square metre of floor space is two to three times higher on average than that seen in the EU.