Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Saint-Gobain plans to spend US$32m towards to upgrade to CertainTeed’s Chowchilla glasswool plant in California. The investment is part of a US$400m expansion package planned for four US plants previously announced in November 2021. The upgrade work at Chowchilla will include the addition of a new furnace and other equipment that will use less natural gas and electricity. It is the largest investment in the site since its creation in 1978. Saint-Gobain Group estimates that these improvements will reduce CO₂ emissions by 4000t/yr at the site.

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.

US: Owens Corning’s 16th Sustainability Report has detailed the producer’s progress towards achieving its 2030 sustainability goals. The report covers indicators under 16 topics to demonstrate its environnmental footprint reduction. These included lowering greenhouse gas emissions, increasing recycled content and circularity, improving energy and process efficiency, increasing renewable energy use and fuel switching from on-site fossil fuel use to lower or zero-carbon alternatives. Between 2007 and 2021, Owens Corning reduced its CO₂ emissions by 60%. In 2021, it recycled 635,000t of glass in its glass wool insulation production.

CEO Brian Chambers and senior vice president and chief sustainability officer (CSO) Frank O'Brien-Bernini said "We have established roadmaps to help our teams understand what’s needed to meet our environmental footprint reduction goals. These roadmaps guide our short, mid and long-term strategies, and help ensure that sustainability remains our priority as we innovate to serve our customers, while addressing both the challenges and the opportunities within the relevant secular trends." They continued "Beyond environmental footprint reduction 'within' our plants, we are working to refine our understanding and set measurable goals for our impact on biodiversity and the circular economy, as well as continually seeking better ways to measure our progress on social impact priorities like inclusion and diversity.”

US: The National Insulation Association (NIA) has announced the winners of its 2022 Safety Excellence Award and Premier Manufacturers Award winners. In the Safety Excellence Associate category, Johns Manville’s Denver, Colorado, plant, Knauf Insulation’s Shelbyville, Indiana, plant, Owens Corning’s Toledo, Ohio, plant and Proto Corporation’s Clearwater, Florida, plant all won Platinum awards. Meanwhile, the NIA’s Premier Industry Manufacturers for the year were Armacell, Johns Manville, Knauf Insulation and Owens Corning.

Belgium: Knauf Insulation has officially opened a new Euro15m glass mineral wool recycling plant in Visé. It will recycle the glass mineral wool as part of its ‘Resulation’ service. The site will also recycle production off-cuts from Knauf Insulation’s Visé glass mineral wool production plant using a dedicated production line and furnace. The inauguration event was attended by Olivier de Wasseige, managing director of the Walloon Enterprise Network.

Dominique Bossan, member of Knauf Group’s management committee and head of Knauf Insulation Europe, Middle East and Asia, said, “The new facility is an important step towards achieving Knauf Insulation’s commitment to generate zero waste to landfill by 2025 as part of the company’s ‘For A Better World’ sustainability strategy.

Knauf Insulation says that around 85,000t/yr of glass mineral wool waste are generated in France, while in Belgium and the Netherlands the figure is around 30,000t/yr with 26,000t of that total coming from demolition.