Soprema strengthens its offer of biobased insulation and materials

This waterproofing specialist has specialized for more than ten years in thermal insulation and is strongly committed to R&D and the production of biosourced materials.

Clearly perceived as a highly polluting activity, predatory of mineral materials and consuming fossil fuels, the manufacture of construction products now takes into account these new concepts in line with user demand, changes in regulations on buildings, as well as the desire of architects and specifiers to offer a relevant range of achievements.

As a sign of the times, the construction industry is adopting the vocabulary of environmental activists: biosourced materials, circular economy... The tide has turned, and construction material suppliers are changing their practices.

A validated biosourced offer

The Soprema group, known for being a major supplier of polyurethane insulation and other bituminous membranes, has been on the move for almost a decade with its first productions based on cellulose wadding and Univercell brand wood fiber.

Its Cestas plant, in Gironde, exploits the waste newspaper waste of the great south-west to produce blow-in and panel insulation. This unit, which has reached saturation, should be doubled by one second, probably in another region of France. Soprema does not communicate any drop point for the moment.

In addition, since 2016, this Strasbourg group has owned the Swiss company Pavatex, a specialist in wood fiber insulation. The offer is available for the walls – in particular in insulation from the outside with high density panels – and for the roofs – by blowing in the attic or as a covering under the roof with sarking-type panels.

A biosourced attic insulation with performance equal to mineral wool

Pavatex has just launched an attic and wall insulation with a thermal conductivity (lambda, λ) of 0.036 W/(m.K). A level practically identical to that of mineral wool.

This type of product has proven itself in terms of thermal insulation and comfort: 35 cm of cellulose provides thermal resistance of 7 m².K/W. And, in heavy summer heat, the material stands out with a very clear effect on the comfort of the occupants due to a phase shift in the transfer of accumulated heat lasting twice as long as that of mineral wool, and with an amplitude of much lower thermal release.

With project owners, specifiers can also advance the confirmation of environmental properties by a few FDES sheets. Three of the twelve Pavatex references have it. Several Pavatex and Univercell references also have the “Bio-based product” label.

Launched 10 years ago, Soprema's Cestas (33) cellulose wadding insulation production unit is reaching saturation point. A second unit is due to open in France in 2020-2021

Anticipate environmental regulations

The reasons for this development are easy to identify. The combined efforts in terms of building insulation and the development of wood solutions have produced “an annual growth of 10% in bio-sourced for two years”, recalls Matthieu Lechantre, Marketing Director of Soprema.

Very present on the market, Soprema recorded a 20% increase in sales this year. By developing its ranges and its production volume, the company wants to give itself the means to increase its current market share from 7 to 8% of the €280 million turnover of the French insulation market to approximately 20 % within 4 to 5 years.

Develop R&D and production

For Matthieu Lechantre “we have to support the market to provide it with products that are not dependent on oil. In terms of waterproofing flat roofs, he cites recent research and development results which now make it possible to offer waterproofing membranes based on rapeseed oil and pine resin.

This type of development is characteristic of so-called “cold” production from biosourced deposits: local and renewable components require little embodied energy for supply and preparation; in the same way, the manufacturing process of the finished products requires little transformation and energy.

Other academic research is currently being conducted to develop new material formulations. “Efforts are also focused on industrial logistics to reduce consumption upstream of production, such as the transport of raw materials by water,” underlines Matthieu Lechantre.

Thus, after the carbon neutrality sought through previous thermal regulations, the building sector will shift towards the more global notion of climate neutrality. Clearly, through its new practices – construction with low energy consumption, low-carbon material also playing the role of CO2 storage – the building must concretely contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.

The craze for construction with a wooden structure is driving the market for exterior insulation with wood fiber panels in the same proportions.

The profession is getting organized

It should be noted that the professional unions in the insulation sector – in particular Filmm (mineral wool) and the AICB (bio-sourced construction industries) – are helping manufacturers in this development. They have just finished drafting the draft standard NF DTU 45.11 on the thermal insulation of attics by blowing in insulation, mineral wool or cellulose wadding.

This new text reinforces the precautions with regard to the risk of fire and takes into account all types of materials, mineral wool or cellulose wadding. Today in public inquiry, this standard is to be published in January 2020, a few months before the application of the much-discussed 2020 environmental regulations.

Source: batirama.com / Bernard Reinteau