Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Ireland: Kingspan has delivered a significantly better-than-expected full-year forecast, suggesting that its 2015 profits could increase by 68% to Euro250m, despite global economic confidence wavering. Insulated panels should show 53% revenue growth to Euro1.7bn in 2015.

Kingspan has reported a 44% year-on-year rise to Euro2bn in sales for the first nine months of 2015. The third quarter was particularly strong, with a 54% sales rise noted, which was boosted by the contribution of recent acquisitions. Sales in the UK, mainland Europe and the Americas, Kingspan's three main regional markets, soared by 54% in the first nine months of 2015. This performance was boosted by a 'solid' showing in the UK, 'steady' sales in Europe and strong growth in North America, particularly in the US.

US: Installed Building Products has acquired California's Sierra Insulation Contractors Inc and Eco-Tect Insulation Inc, both installers of fiberglass and cellulose insulation. It has also acquired Overhead Door Company of Burlington, Inc, which installs and servicing garage doors and provides fulfillment services for windows, interior and exterior doors and molding. The terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Middle East: Honeywell has joined hands with Bayer Pearl to introduce a new spray foam system in the Middle East region.

A joint venture between Bayer MaterialScience AG and Pearl Insulation Materials Industries, the company said that it will deploy the solstice liquid blowing agent (LBA) technology from Honeywell in its new polyurethane spray foam insulation to offer homeowners in the region excellent thermal insulation performance and reduced energy consumption with lower global-warming impact.

Honeywell and Bayer Pearl had developed the new polyurethane spray foam system using the new blowing agent to be the most economical and competitive when assessed by performance and overall cost effectiveness.

"This first application of a PU spray foam system with a fourth-generation blowing agent in a construction project in the UAE underlines Bayer Pearl's commitment to sustainability. We evaluated several options to meet the sustainability requirement of GWP less than 5 in the region and found foam with Solstice LBA to be the best solution," said Jose-Antonio Diaz-Lopez, the Head of Application Development at Bayer Pearl.

The Bayer Pearl spray foam insulation system has already been used in residential applications, with the system applied to the roofs of residential villas in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE, by Water Seal. "As one of the leading spray insulation companies in UAE, we have experience using all types of foam blowing agents for spray foam," said Muhammad Asghar, Managing Director for Water Seal. "We have found Bayer Pearl's product with Solstice LBA to be the best available polyurethane spray foam solution in meeting sustainability requirements without compromising on insulating properties."

US: US LBM has further bolstered its presence in the southeast of the US with the acquisition of Building Supply Association, headquartered in Powder Springs, Georgia. BSA is a provider of exterior building products that was founded in 2007 by Michael Langston and Tim Bice. Langston, Bice and Beau Vineyard will remain in place as operational leaders, together with the rest of the executive team.

"BSA is excited to join the US LBM team," said Langston, CEO and President of Building Supply Association. "This new partnership allows us to continue to invest in operations and enhance customer service. The opportunity for growth for our employees, customers and vendor partners is extraordinary."

BSA specialises in roofing, siding and windows, serving residential contractors in the new home construction and remodelling industry throughout Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Louisiana.

"Building Supply Association is a great addition to the US LBM family," said L T Gibson, President and CEO of US LBM. "This enables us to strategically serve the Atlanta area specialty contractor with exterior building supplies from BSA, while simultaneously providing gypsum products through Rosen Materials. BSA's unique business model and proprietary management systems have propelled them to top of their market. We are eager to partner with their associates and look forward to future opportunities together in the southeast."

US: Owens Corning has announced more ambitious sustainability goals to reduce greenhouse gas and toxic air emissions, along with new renewable power initiatives that will continue to expand the company's impact through sustainability.

"Owens Corning has a history of promoting energy efficiency through our products, our suppliers and our operations," said Chairman and CEO Mike Thaman. "Today's announcements reflect a continuation of our company's history of being a good steward of the environment."

Owens Corning will execute power supply agreements of newly-installed capacity that reportedly represent the largest wind power agreements reported by an industrial company in the world. It will also dedicate a 2.4MW solar canopy at its headquarters in Toledo that is expected to supply approximately 30% of the facility's electricity needs and offset the equivalent greenhouse gases emitted from the commute of its local workforce. Finally, it is establishing new 2020 sustainability goals to reduce greenhouse gas intensity by 50% and toxic air emissions intensity by 75% from its 2010 baseline.

"Our new sustainability goals are ambitious and impactful. Importantly, they are made more achievable by these large scale renewable energy actions and by partnering with leading providers of solar photovoltaic systems to continue our leadership in this area," said Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer Frank O'Brien-Bernini. He said that the wind energy deal will generate the equivalent electricity to power more than 65,000 US homes and support the wind power industry by enabling the construction of new wind power assets, a market to which the company supplies high performance glass fibre reinforcements for wind turbine blades. "Our new greenhouse gas reduction goal is informed by science-based methodologies that are designed to reduce carbon emissions enough to limit global warming to less than 2°C compared to pre-industrial temperatures," said O'Brien-Bernini. "We have taken an important step in aligning our goals consistent with the scientific consensus on what's needed."