Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UK/Ireland: Knauf Insulation has appointed Ross Foreman as its National Wood Wool Manager for UK & Ireland. Foreman will support the company’s drive to meet increasing demand for its Heraklith range of wood wool products.

Knauf Insulation offers two core products in the Heraklith range: the Heraklith A2 Decorative Panel, which is a cement-bonded wood wool panel; and the Heraklith Tektalan A2 SmartTec, which is a cement-bonded wood wool panel combined with a rock mineral wool insulation core. Both products are non-combustible with A2 - s1, d0 Euroclass reaction to fire classification.

The Heraklith A2 Decorative Panel is designed for use in residential, recreational, industrial and commercial environments where sound absorption is desired. It is available in three panel thicknesses with thermal conductivity of 0.085W/mK.

Heraklith Tektalan A2 SmartTec is suitable for insulating the soffits of carparks and underground garages, basement ceilings and technical rooms. It has a thermal conductivity of 0.095W/mK and the mineral wool core a thermal conductivity of 0.034W/mK.

UK: Denmark-based Rockwool has appointed Hedley Thompson as Rockwool’s Recladding and Façades Sector Manager in the UK. The position is a newly created role in the company. Thompson’s appointment is the first step in the creation of a new team which will target housing associations, local authorities and housebuilders.

Hedley has worked for Rockwool UK since 2014 in the position of Technical Specification – Façades. Prior to this he held a variety of technical and operations roles with the construction sector.

US: Owens Corning has announced its conclusion of a deal to buy polyurethane (PU) foam insulation producer Natural Polymers. The companies say that Natural Polymers president and CEO Benjamin Brown will take on an innovation leadership role at Owens Corning following the completion of the transaction.

Germany: Saint-Gobain has appointed Danijel Lučić as the head of sales for its Germany-based subsidiaries Saint-Gobain Isover G+H and Rigips. He succeeds Dirk Borgmann, who has decided to leave the company. Lučić will take up his new positions from July 2022.

Lučić has worked for nearly 30 years with Saint-Gobain Group with much of it in the insulation sector. This has included roles with Saint-Gobain HES and Superglass Dämmstoffe.

Russia: URSA Eurasia has appointed Alexander Trubitsyn as its general director for the production of thermal insulation materials. Previously he held the position of the Director of Production and Logistics at the company. Trubitsyn succeeds Denis Shvydkoi in the post. Shvydkoi will manage international projects for URSA Group, based at the company's head office.

US: The National Insulation Association (NIA) has announced its 2022 appointments to its executive committee and board of directors. For the coming year, New York-based Atlantic Contracting & Specialities president Joe Leo will serve as NIA president. North Carolina-based Dover Insulation president Laura Dover will serve as president elect, Wisconsin-based L & C Insulation vice president Rudy Nigl will serve as secretary/treasurer and Kansas-based Performance Contracting senior vice president operations Rick Sutphin will serve as assistant treasurer, while Owens Corning US regional sales manager David Cox will continue to serve on the association’s executive committee as immediate past president. NIA members also appointed regional representatives to five of six board seats, and will appoint the sixth, Eastern US, representative at a later date.

UAE: Pearl Polyurethane has newly appointed Oliver Bruns, Michael Friede and Wilhelm Lamberts to its board. Chemical Industry Digest News has reported that the new board members’ experience collectively spans various sectors and industries, bringing broad and deep expertise to the polyurethane (PUR) producer’s strategic guidance and oversight as it expands internationally and into new verticals.

Bruns has over 10 years’ PUR industry experience with Germany-based Bayer AG and Covestro, formerly known as Bayer MaterialScience. This included a role as managing director of Bayer’s Czech Republic-based PUR system house for Eastern Europe. Bruns currently also holds a full-time CEO position at Neveon, a leading global integrated foam group that supplies PUR flexible and composite foams for a wide range of applications.

Friede started his career at Bayer AG in 2001 and held various senior executive roles at Bayer MaterialScience and then Covestro, including global head of coatings, adhesives and specialities. He then moved to Netherlands-based AkzoNobel, where he worked as chief commercial officer (CCO) of performance coatings.

Lamberts’ career also spans multiple executive roles at Bayer AG and Covestro, most recently as the former’s strategy project manager and senior vice president, head of elastometers and the latter’s innovation project manager.

Belgium: Dominique Bossan has stepped into the roles of head of Knauf Insulation and member of Knauf Insulation Europe/Middle East/Africa’s management committee. Bossan first joined Knauf Insulation in 2003 and has since held roles as Eastern Europe regional managing director and as a member of Knauf Gypsum Western Europe, South America and Israel’s management. He now returns to Knauf Insulation’s headquarters in Visé, Belgium, to take over leadership from Jean-Claude Carlin, who has held the position since 2016.

Bossan said “Jean-Claude, the management team and everyone at Knauf Insulation should be exceptionally proud of what has been achieved in recent years. I am now looking forward to maximising this success to create exciting new opportunities in the future — a future defined by our leadership and innovation For a Better World.”

General partner Alexander Knauf said “The Knauf Group management is delighted to welcome Dominique to this exciting role. He is an exceptional leader who knows our business extremely well. We are confident he will build on the outstanding results Jean-Claude, and the company, has achieved in recent years.”

UK: Avonside Group has appointed Bill Rumble as the managing director of its energy division. He first became the unit’s divisional director following the group’s acquisition of BillSaveUK. The company said that he had led a restructuring and refocusing of the operation resulting in a profitable and scalable business with industry leading levels of quality and service. Avonside Energy, the energy division of Avonside Group, suppliers insulation products to housebuilders in the UK.

Rumble holds a degree in manufacturing and engineering from the University of Nottingham followed by an apprenticeship with the Ministry of Defence. He held posts at the Ford, Aston Martin and Mark Group before setting up BillSaveUK in 2016.

US: The Reflective Insulation Manufacturers Association (RIMA) has appointed seven new directors to its board for a two-year term from the start of 2021. Prodex business director Sergio Luconi will serve as president, with Bill Lippy, Fi-Foil serving as vice president and Ralph Dale, Dunmore as secretary and treasurer. Dan Russell, Monty Millspaugh, Bobby Bird and former president Doug Kinniger also join the board.