Cornwall, Ontario (8/13/2002) --- The Johns Manville plant in Cornwall, ONT that manufactures polyisocyanurate foam roof insulation and residential sheathing, has completed its conversion to a non-ozone depleting blowing agent to comply with government regulations. According to the regulations, all plants that produce polyiso foam need to convert from the currently used blowing agent to non-ozone depleting blowing agents, such as pentane, by the end of 2002.
The Cornwall plant, which was converted to polyiso production in 1994, was the first JM polyiso plant to be converted to non-ozone depleting blowing agents. The plant employs 40 people and serves customers in Eastern Canada and the Northeast United States.
"Canada has done a lot of research related to blowing agent performance and accordingly it was important for us to lead the way in the conversion process," said Bill Major, the plant manager. "We are pleased to be able to provide our customers with an outstanding product that not only complies with environmental regulations but also a product that quantifies long-term performance."
As part of its conversion process, Johns Manville Roofing Systems Group adopted an advanced scientifically supported methodology called Long Term Thermal Resistance (LTTR) to accurately predict the long-term-R-value performance of polyisocyanurate insulation. LTTR is the result of the work in Canada by designers, end users, researchers and manufacturers to develop a new standard to accurately predict long-term thermal performance. "Standard Test Method for Determination of Long-Term Thermal Resistance of Close-Cell Thermal Insulating Foams" was published as a National standard in May 2001. This new standard, which applies to all permeably faced foam insulation with blowing agents other than air, provides a technically supported, more descriptive measure of the Long-Term Thermal Resistance of polyiso insulation-a 15-year time-weighted average.
The method used to determine long-term R-values is based on accelerated aging by conditioning thin slices of foam insulation and is based on consensus standards in both the United States and Canada. On July 1, 2002 JM and other manufacturers discontinued publishing figures from the PIMA 101 standard in Canada. The date for the elimination of PIMA 101 numbers in the United States is January 1, 2003.
Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a leading manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality building and specialty products. In business since 1858, the Denver-based company has sales in excess of $2 billion and holds leadership positions in all of the key markets that it serves. Johns Manville employs approximately 9,500 people and operates 52 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and China. Additional information can be found at www.jm.com
