Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Huntsman’s polyurethane business has contributed to its growing revenue and earnings so far in 2018. Its revenue grew by 18% year-on-year to US$4.7bn in the first half of 2018 from US$3.99bn in the same period in 2017. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 47% to US$820m from US$559m.

“Our polyurethanes business continues its growth in variants and systems and enjoys the back drop of good supply and demand fundamentals, foreseeable for the long term,” said Peter R Huntsman, chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO). Prices and sales volumes rose year-on-year in the second quarter of 2018.

In late July 2018 the chemicals producer announced that its Polyurethane division was setting up a new subsidiary in Chile based in Santiago. The new company, Huntsman (Chile), will operate from a local warehouse and a customer service centre. It joins existing operations in Cartagena and Bogotá in Colombia, São Paulo and Taboão da Serra in Brazil and Buenos Aires in Argentina.

US: Owens Corning has appointed Brian Chambers as its president and chief operating officer (COO). Mike Thaman, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) said that the creation of a COO and Chambers’ appointment would create, “additional senior management capacity to accelerate our progress on growing the company.”

Chambers, aged 51 years, has been president of Owens Corning’s Roofing business since 2014. Prior to his current position, he was vice president and general manager for Roofing, a role he held since 2013. Chambers returned to Owens Corning in April 2011 as vice president and managing director, Engineered Solutions in the Composites business. He had spent almost four years prior as president of Saint-Gobain’s Distribution business in North America after Owens Corning’s divestiture of its Siding Solutions business where he served as president of the Siding and Building Material Distribution businesses. Over the course of his career, Chambers has held a number of senior commercial and operational roles across a range of businesses and geographies.

Gunner Smith will succeed Chambers as President, Roofing. Smith has been with Owens Corning since 2008 and has served in his current role, as Vice President of Sales, Roofing, since 2013. He will report to Chambers and will serve as a member of the company’s executive committee.

US: Owens Corning’s insulation business sales rose by 53% year-on-year to US$1.28bn in the first half of 2018 from US$838m in the same period in 2017. Overall, the company’s net sales rose by 14% to US$3.52bn from US$3.08bn. However, its earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) fell by 6.4% to US$360m from US$337m.

“Owens Corning grew revenue by 14% on the contribution of Insulation acquisitions and successful pricing actions in both Roofing and Insulation. The company made significant commercial progress in the first-half of the year, partially offset by operational headwinds,” said chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Mike Thaman. He added that the company expects continued commercial execution and improved operational performance with ‘strong’ financial results in 2018 and into 2019.

US: Owens Corning has been recognised by the Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards for three of its insulation products. EcoTouch Insulation, Thermafiber RainBarrier Continuous Insulation and Unbonded Loosefill Insulation have each been independently certified as made with renewable energy and reduced embodied carbon as part of the award scheme.

These products were available for specification and purchase in late 2017. Owens Corning worked with SCS Global Services to develop guidelines for the certification, since no such certification previously existed.

“A building represents two kinds of energy use: ongoing energy to operate the building and embodied energy in the manufacture of the building products. Insulation reduces the operational energy needed for the building. Owens Corning’s new insulation products reduce the embodied carbon inherent in the building as well,” said Jesus Hernandez-Torres, senior Research and Development leader at Owens Corning.

US: Rockwool has officially broken ground at a new stone wool in Ranson, Jefferson County in West Virginia. Once completed it will be the company’s second stone wool plant in the country. The project has had an investment of over US$150m and it will employ around 150 people when it opens. The unit is expected to open in the first quarter of 2020. It will manufacture a full range of Rockwool stone wool insulation products.

“Solid customer demand and strong market growth in the US and elsewhere reflects the reality that people are increasingly discovering the quality and advantages of our stone wool solutions. This is our second factory in the United States, which positions us well for future growth,” said Jen s Birgersson, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Rockwool Group.

US: Kingspan has launched its QuadCore insulation panel products in North America at the AIA Conference on Architecture in New York. The insulated metal panel products use a hybrid insulation core with a closed microcell structure. Initially, Kingspan will offer QuadCore in its KS Shadowline, KS Micro-Rib and Optimo panels, and QuadCore will eventually be available in all Kingspan insulated metal panels.

US: The Reflective Insulation Manufacturers Association International (RIMA-I) has given the Alexander Schwartz Award to David W Yarbrough. The award was presented at the International Reflective Insulation Manufacturers (I-RIM) Conference that took place in May 2018 in Costa Rica.

Yarbrough is an Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Tennessee Technological University and a retired Research Staff Member of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is a founding partner and Vice President of R&D Services and Principal Engineer of R&D Engineering in Cookeville, Tennessee. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and registration as an engineer in Tennessee and Florida.

US: Johns Manville has been named ‘Supplier of the Year’ for 2017 by Insulate America, an insulation contractor association. The award recognises companies for the overall value they provide to the organisation through technical expertise, customer support and lead referrals. Johns Manville has previously won the prize in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017.

“At a time marked by heightened competitive pressure, Johns Manville has demonstrated an unparalleled level of dedication and commitment to Insulate America. We are proud to recognize them yet again with this award,” said Insulate America President and chief executive officer (CEO) David Beam.

Insulate America is a cooperative group of locally owned, independent insulation contractors that provide and install insulation and other building products for residential and commercial construction. It is the largest independent insulation contracting organisation in the US with over 200 locations across the nation. Representatives from each of the locations vote on the ‘Supplier of the Year’ award.

US: Johns Manville has released its sixth sustainability report covering 2016 – 2017. The insulation and building materials producer says that it reduced its greenhouse gas emission intensity by 2.5%. It added that it has attained its goal to implement environmental management systems in all of its of North American and European plants three years early and had developed product category Environmental Product Declarations for its heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and mechanical insulation materials. It also decreased its lost time incident rate by more than 50% in the reporting period.

US: Owens Corning’s insulation sales for the first quarter of 2018 has risen significantly followings its acquisition of Finland’s Paroc. Its net sales for its insulation business rose by 49% year-on-year to US$596m in 2018 from US$399m in the same period in 2017. Earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) rose to US$32m from US$5m. It completed its acquisition of Paroc Group, and its range of European mineral wool insulation production plants, on 5 February 2018.