Pipe Insulation Blog

The European Commission announced today its proposal for a 30% energy efficiency target for 2030, completing its January Climate & Energy Package. Commenting on today’s announcement from the European Commission on its Communication and proposal  for a energy efficiency target for 2030, Susanne Dyrbøl, Public Affairs Manager for Energy Efficiency, at ROCKWOOL stated: “Setting a proposed energy efficiency target of just 30% is really a missed opportunity to drive demand for energy savings in the coming decade. It leaves huge savings potentials untapped, and leaves undone many investments that would increase economic growth, provide new jobs, as well as improve EU competitiveness, reduce import dependency and fight climate change.” Within the current 2020 framework, 20% efficiency by 2020 (starting in 2010), would mean 2% improvement per year. Anything less than maintaining this 2% annual rate from 2020 to 2030 can only be seen as Europe lowering its ambition for energy eff

To Bjørn Høi Jensen, Rockwool's new Chairman of the board, the world of industry and building materials is certainly not new. He already has solid background experience, having joined the ROCKWOOL Group board in 2009 and has also served on the board of the VELUX Group façade window subsidiary. Bjørn Høi Jensen’s main career, though, has been in finance. Back in the 1980s, he was one of the pioneers in the fledgling Danish private equity world. Starting out at the Danish bank SDS, he spearheaded one of the first Danish buy-outs. In 1994, he moved on to found the Scandinavian capital fund EQT, together with three Swedish partners, with the Wallenberg family as one of the main investors. Initially he headed the Copenhagen office and later assumed responsibility for the German and North European enterprise. What do you see as the value of your finance and private equity experience for an industrial business like the ROCKWOOL Group?  Aren’t they two different worlds? “They m

22 CEO and senior level representatives (including Rockwool , Kingspan and many more) of leading industries  in the building energy efficiency sector in Europe have sent a letter this morning to President Barroso and the College of Commissioners (together with Commission Secretary-General and Director-General for Energy) calling for further ambition on energy efficiency in buildings. In the letter, the industry leaders emphasise that political bargaining in the on-going negotiations on the EU Energy Efficiency Strategy cannot ignore economic necessity. “As leading company executives” -the letter says- “our day-to-day concerns are very much linked to the economic reality that we are confronted with, and this reality tells us that in order to consolidate the recovery in our sector we are in dire need of vision and ambition from policy-makers in the promotion of building renovation.” Research has shown that bold action in this field can have positive effects on other political pr

Kingspan Tarec ®'s premium performance Kooltherm ® FM Pipe Insulation has been installed on one of the UK's first University Technical Colleges, Silverstone UTC, helping it to achieve a BREEAM rating of 'Very Good'. Situated at the iconic home of British racing, Silverstone UTC has been designed by HKS and was opened in May by Red Bull Racing's chief technical officer Adrian Newey. The college has been created through a partnership between Silverstone Circuits, Tresham College and the University of Northampton; and offers specialist GCSE and A Level equivalent applied courses in either Business & Technical Events Management or High Performance Engineering. Work on the UTC building has been overseen by Interserve construction and over 4,000 metres of Kingspan Tarec® Kooltherm® FM Pipe Insulation were fitted on hot water and heating pipework across the building by specialist contractors, Gill Insulation. To maintain a clean, minimalist interior, the intern

The political manoeuvrings over a new climate and energy agreement are in full motion. All signs point to a stricter protocol, which is welcomed by the ROCKWOOL Group. The table has been set for political suspense this autumn when the 28 member nations of the EU are going to negotiate a new climate and energy agreement for 2020 to 2030. This is an area that has usually entailed great disagreement between member nations. While Denmark is advocating increased requirements and binding targets for the climate and energy pact, countries like Poland are very concerned about how this will affect their economy and industry. Energy security in Europe The new climate and energy agreement is to build on the 2020 goal setting framework from 2007. At that time, heads of state and government finally agreed that the EU will reduce its emission of greenhouse gasses 20% by 2020, improve energy efficiency by 20% and promote the use of renewable energy sources so that they account for

54 shelters constructed from ROCKWOOL stone wool will break the pattern of igloo tents during this year’s Roskilde Festival. These shelters will protect guests from the vagary of the weather and can create better housing conditions for the world’s poorest people in the long term. Cold, heat, water and noise will not be an issue for the guests that have rented a ROCKWOOL Shelter at this year’s Roskilde Festival. These shelters provide shelter for the vagary of the weather so that neither rain, nor noisy festival participants or the heat from the morning sun will ruin a good night’s sleep. Last year, three demo shelters were tested at the festival, but this year, there has been room for 54 upgraded shelters, which will soon be ready to accept the partying festival goers. “We see the shelters as an exciting development in temporary housing. The unique aspect of these shelters is that you do not wake up in a baking hot tent – or freezing cold – if that is what the weather presents.