France: Saint-Gobain’s Point.P construction materials and building products distribution brand has put together a specific range of bio-sourced insulation materials. The materials include wood fibre and hemp-based materials. Point.P says that these products account for 10% of the insulation market. The new range has been developed in response to new expectations expressed by trades professionals and individuals.

US: Johns Manville (JM) has appointed Bob Wamboldt as its president and chief executive officer (CEO) with effect from 1 September 2020. He succeeds Mary Rhinehart, the company’s current chairman, president and CEO, who will retain the role of chairman.

Wamboldt joined Johns Manville in 2003 and became president of JM’s Insulation Systems business in 2017. He earlier led the Engineered Products North America and Roofing Systems businesses at JM. Wamboldt is also chairman of the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association and previously served as president of the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association. Before joining Johns Manville, Wamboldt worked for 16 years at PPG Industries, where he held a variety of positions in the company’s Fiber Glass and Coatings divisions. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Lehigh University.

Greg Clarke will become president of JM’s Insulation Systems business with effect from 1 September 2020. He became JM’s Senior Vice President and chief financial officer (CFO) when he rejoined the company in 2013. In this role, he led JM’s finance organisation, global procurement and logistics operations, and corporate development activities. He previously worked for Johns Manville from 1997 to 2002 and was Vice President and General Manager of the company’s Building Insulation and Commercial & Industrial Insulation divisions.

Before returning to Johns Manville, Clarke was CFO and a director at AeroGrow International, an early-stage consumer products company, and president and CEO at Ankmar, a building products company. Earlier in his career, he held finance leadership and strategic planning roles at PepsiCo and The Coleman Company. Clarke earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Amherst College and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He serves on the AeroGrow board of directors and is a member of the board of Alumni and Friends of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado.

UK: Knauf Insulation has developed a tool that uses machine learning techniques to measure the energy performance of individual homes. The method can generate an assessment of fabric performance of a residential building within three months, according to BusinessGreen. The product is intended to provide evidence to support the building fabric component of a building's energy performance certificate (EPC) rating, as opposed to Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) calculations. Such evidence could be used to support return on investment calculations for energy efficiency retrofit programmes.

Azerbaijan: Titan Group says it plans to start export insulated sandwich panels and refrigerators to Georgia from September 2020. The industrial products manufacturer made the decision following market research that identified demand in Central Asia, according to the Trend News Agency. The company produces panels using polyisocyanurate foam (PIR) and rigid polyurethane (PUR). It says it is the only company making these products in Azerbaijan.