Isover: Ireland’s leader in sustainable insulation Moy Isover has been an Insulation supplier to the construction sector for over 35 years.During the course of 2009 the company will be re-branding to Isover. Isover is the world’s largest Insulation Company with a presence in over 50 countries with 11,000 employees. Part of the Saint-Gobain group, Isovers global reach allows it to draw on unrivalled technical and financial resources in creating superior products to meet the changing market needs. Isover net sales worldwide in 2008 were e2.7bn. Isover insulation warms and protects one in three homes in Europe and one in five in America.

(l to r) David Rossiter National Accounts Manager; Padraig Barry Managing Director and Kieran Holohan Marketing Manager

Isover has within its range glasswool, stonewool, foams, organic based and new innovative insulation. As a result, Isover Ireland will, over time, have a greater range to offer customers and end-users alike. Isovers new premises in Greenogue also allows it to service its customers more effectively and with a new team in place it is able to rapidly respond to changing market needs.

Brian Geary & Vario point of sale stand Although the rapid and dramatic downturn in both the size and value of the construction market has caused problems for many in the industry, Isover’s current goal is to tap into the huge potential in the RMI sector - especially with regard to Ireland’s housing stock. “Our strategy is to stimulate the residential renovation market by connecting with the homeowner, offering them simple, effective and economical solutions to re-insulate their homes and save money,” says Kieran Holohan, Marketing Manager with Isover. “The key is to make the connection so that the consumer identifies with the solution, and buys it - that’s the bottom line.” Isover recently commissioned a study which found that out of the 1.8 million housing units in Ireland approximately 880,000 dwellings have inadequate roof insulation. Add in the amount of dwellings that have absolutely no roof insulation and the market potential is huge. In response Isover has developed “Heatshield” – a high performance top-up insulation layer for roofs. Its thermal performance is over 20% better than standard attic insulation, says Kieran. By adding one layer of Heatshield on top of the average thickness layer found in its study, you now meet the latest building regulations. Heatshield was launched successfully at the recent Energy show in Dublin and the response so far has been very good. “Homeowners are looking for simple solutions to save them money, BER assessors and SEI contractors are looking for reliable products they can recommend and use and merchants are looking to stimulate the RMI market and improve margins.”

Isover insulation centre In conjunction with the new air-tightness regulations for new buildings, Isover also launched its air-tightness and moisture control system; “Vario”. Developed in Germany to exceed Passive House standards, the Vario system consists of an intelligent membrane that can change its structure according to the humidity, with a range of age-tested tapes and mastics to give buildings guaranteed air-tightness and moisture control to maximize its energy performance. “Vario is unique in that it’s a full system of products covering insulation, air-tightness and moisture control – a fully tested and certified system all available from one supplier, a one-stop-shop,” says Kieran Holohan. “We believe we are the only mainstream supplier of insulation and air-tightness systems, and the message we want to give the market is that today insulation and airtightness must go hand in hand, to ensure maximum performance from both.”

Brian Geary (Munster) & James Dunne (Leinster) with Heatshield merchandising displays With genuine momentum behind energy conservation, and a public need for energy savings, Isover is doing its best to find innovative and easy ways of retro-fitting the housing stock in Ireland so that they are more energy efficient. It is also addressing significant and serious issues with the levels of sound insulation within our housing stock, especially between dwellings. In response to this need Isover have developed Calibel sound board, a board with high density crimped glasswool finished with plasterboard, which can be “dot-and-dabbed” directly onto block wall. Calibel can achieve a dB rating of 59 on a single block wall on the flat, and is a very effective sound solution especially for party walls. As well as rolling out a point of sale stand for the Vario system, which stockists have found an excellent aid as it takes the confusion out of air-tightness and enables them to effectively sell a system at counter level. Isover, in conjunction with key partners and customers, is installing a network of Isover insulation centres to promote the effective insulation of buildings and the renovation of the existing housing stock in Ireland. Later this year will see a big focus on its new innovation dry lining system Optima – the only dry lining system on the market that eliminates thermal bridges. In today’s cost conscious market Glasswool insulation has a lot to offer, "3 in 1 insulation" as not only is it an excellent thermal product it also gives outstanding sound insulation and fire protection.

505 Grants Drive, Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co Dublin Telephone: +353(0)1-2575400 Web: www.isover.ie Email: kieran.holohan@saint-gobain.com