Insulation industry news from Global Insulation
US: Stepan plans to sell its speciality polyurethanes business to J6 Polymers. In 2014, the business generated sales of US$2.8bn. Stepan expects to make US$2.5 - 2.8m from the deal.
The sale includes intellectual property, formulations and production units, as well as client and supplier lists. Stepan makes polyurethanes at its plant in Millsdale, Illinois. It also uses custom manufacturers. Stepan will continue making polyurethanes on J6 Polymers' behalf at its Millsdale plant during the transition period. Stepan's polyurethanes are used in thermal insulation, coatings, adhesives, insulation materials and elastomers.
Johns Manville launches Spider® Plus blow-in insulation
15 January 2015US: Johns Manville (JM), a Berkshire Hathaway company, has launched JM Spider® Plus blow-in insulation, a re-engineered blow-in system. JM Spider Plus replaces JM Spider spray-in fibreglass insulation and JM said that it is ideal for residential, commercial and manufactured buildings.
JM Spider Plus is designed for installation by professionals using a blowing wool machine and features 'Interlocking Fibre Technology,' a new innovation from JM. Interlocking Fibre Technology allows the insulation fibres to spring and lock into cavities with no adhesive or netting. JM Spider Plus achieves an R-value of 15 in a 2x4 cavity and an R-23 in 2x6 walls.
JM Spider Plus is available to customers in North America immediately.
Roxul integrates units to form Roxul Technical Insulation
08 January 2015Canada/US: Roxul, a subsidiary of Rockwool International, has adopted a new 'strategic direction' for the North American Industrial, Marine and Offshore business. Effective from 1 January 2015, the Roxul Industrial & Marine team has been integrated into a global platform with Rockwool Technical Insulation (RTI) to create Roxul Technical Insulation.
"With our existing expertise and combined resources, Roxul Technical Insulation can provide improved support to its North American customers by leveraging our global influence, ultimately bringing greater value to our local response," said Mike Kozokowsky, vice president Industrial, Sales. The North American team will continue to be headquartered out of Roxul's Milton offices in Ontario, Canada.
Honeywell's Baton Rouge plant begins producing low-global-warming-potential material
07 January 2015US: Honeywell has launched full-scale commercial production of a low-global-warming-potential (GWP) material for use as an aerosol propellant, insulating agent and refrigerant at its Flourine Products Baton Rouge production facility in Louisiana. The material is known by the industry designation HFO-1234ze and is marketed by Honeywell under its Solstice line of low-global-warming materials.
"Honeywell's Baton Rouge plant is ready to serve customers around the world with this innovative material, which has an ultra-low GWP of less than 1," said Ken Gayer, vice president and general manager of Honeywell's Fluorine Products business. "We are seeing increasing demand for our entire Solstice line of low GWP materials and this new product has already been adopted by a range of customers globally."
In September 2014, Honeywell announced that it would increase production of its low GWP refrigerants, insulation materials, aerosols and solvents and, prior to 2020, will drive a 50%/yr reduction in its production of high GWP hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) on a CO2 equivalent basis. Honeywell officials project the use of its low GWP Solstice materials to replace HFCs will eliminate more than 350Mt in CO2 equivalents by 2025, equivalent to removing 70m cars from the road for one year.
HFO-1234ze is a next-generation material that is non-ozone-depleting, non-flammable per ASTM E681 and ISO 10156:2010 testing and has a low-global-warming-potential of <1. It is also not a volatile organic compound (VOC), as determined by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resource Board (CARB).
According to officials, HFO-1234ze is considered a preferred replacement for both HFC-134a (which has GWP of 1,300) and HFC-152a (which is flammable and has a GWP of 138) in aerosol applications and thermal insulating foams, including extruded polystyrene board and polyurethane foams. It is also being considered to replace HFC-134a for large stationary and commercial refrigeration applications and, compared to other low GWP refrigerant options, Honeywell's HFO-1234ze provides energy efficiency benefits.
NCFI Polyurethanes used successfully on NASA Orion test flight
22 December 2014US: NCFI's spray polyurethane foam insulation (SPF) was successfully used in the second stage liquid fuel tank for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Orion spacecraft launch and test flight on 5 December 2014.
"NASA and the United Launch Alliance (ULA - the Boeing and Lockheed consortium), uses our polyurethane foam insulation, specially-formulated for high temperature and extreme pressure applications, on their external liquid fuel tanks to prevent condensation and the formation of ice on the tanks that could come free and harm the main vehicle," said Clarence Tolbert, vice president with NCFI. "The fuel tanks of the Delta IV Heavy three-core rocket contain liquid hydrogen and oxygen and are actually a tank within a tank covered by a skin onto which our foam insulation is spray applied. Nothing covers the foam, so it's pretty obvious as the golden yellow, or slightly orange acreage on the exterior of Orion."
Orion's first test flight took the unmanned vehicle to an altitude of just under 6000km with a re-entry speed of up to 32,000km/hr and temperatures up to 2200°C. Previously NCFI worked on the space shuttle's External Tank Programme.
Installed Building Products acquires Installed Building Solutions
11 November 2014US: Installed Building Products has acquired Installed Building Solutions (IBS), an installer of fibreglass insulation, spray foam insulation and waterproofing products. IBS primarily serves select markets across Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. Its sales for the 12 months that ended 30 September 2014 were approximately US$17.4m.
Element Partners completes sale of Icynene
07 November 2014US: Element Partners, a growth equity firm focused on investing in businesses providing innovative products, software and services to the energy and industrial markets, has executed a definitive agreement to sell Icynene to FFL Partners.
Established in 1986, Icynene manufactures and supplies spray foam insulation. In the past 25 years, more than 3Bnft2 of Icynene spray foam insulation has been installed in nearly 500,000 residential and commercial projects.
Kingspan completes US$82m acquisition of Pactiv
05 November 2014Ireland/US: Irish insulation and building materials manufacturer Kingspan has completed the acquisition of US firm Pactiv. The US$82m deal has been funded from Kingspan's existing cash resources.
Pactiv produces a range of extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation products under the GreenGuard brand, which it supplies throughout the US from its manufacturing base in Virginia. Pactiv had sales of US$84m in the year to June 2014 and recorded an operating profit of US$10m in the period. The enterprise value is US$82m, of which US$72m is payable in cash on completion plus US$10m of working capital. Gross assets being acquired are US$30m.
US: Johns Manville (JM), part of Berkshire Hathaway, has named Mary Rhinehart as chairman of the company. Rhinehart was appointed as president and CEO in November 2012.
Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, selected Rhinehart for this additional role due to her diligent leadership of JM. “With more than three decades of comprehensive experience at JM, Mary Rhinehart has proven not only her ability to succeed at every level, but also her commitment to the business and passion for JM’s employees and customers. Mary is the right choice for chairman of JM,” said Buffett.
Rhinehart has held a variety of roles during her 35-year career, including general managership of several Johns Manville business units. Before being named CEO, she was CFO, providing her breadth of experience in all financial operations of the company. Rhinehart’s wide range of responsibilities have also encompassed global business management and strategic business development.
“I am proud to assume the role of chairman of Johns Manville and am grateful for the confidence Berkshire Hathaway has placed in me,” said Rhinehart. “Moving forward, JM will continue to win by delivering powerful experiences to our customers and employees, experiences that will create lasting relationships, sustainable competitive advantage and profitable growth.”
Unifrax and others get low-cost power and grants
21 October 2014US: Unifrax Corp, a producer of ceramic fibre insulation materials, is getting 3.3MW of low-cost hydropower from the New York Power Authority for a pair of expansion projects in the Town of Tonawanda, New York. The work is expected to create 75 new jobs.
The low-cost electricity, about 40% below wholesale power prices, is in addition to US$1.4m in tax credits that the company could receive through the State’s Excelsior Jobs Programme and US$2.5m in tax breaks approved earlier in 2014 by the Erie County Industrial Development Agency.
In one project, Unifrax plans to spend US$18m to build and equip a new 76,000ft2 manufacturing plant in the North Youngmann Commerce Centre, a business park next to its current operations. The IDA in August 2014 approved US$1.2m in tax breaks for the expansion project, which Unifrax will use to expand production of polycrystalline fibre that it currently produces in Japan. The company, which needs more capacity for that product, had considered options such as expanding the Japanese plant or building a new plant at one of its other sites before settling on the Tonawanda site.
In July 2014 the IDA approved US$1.27m in tax breaks for a separate US$33m project in Tonawanda that involved acquiring facilities on Fire Tower Drive that the company already leased, as well as building a new facility there and installing machinery and equipment.