Latest news with #insulation
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Miliband's net zero muddle is putting lives at risk
Last month The Telegraph published three related articles detailing: how landlords could force tenants to pay for the costs of insulation and other energy-related building improvements demanded by the Government; how grants for heat pumps might be cut as a result of the upcoming spending review; and the fact that Ed Miliband is considering recovering renewable energy subsidies from gas bills, rather than electricity bills. Collectively, these stories shine a light on how Labour is fundamentally reshaping Britain's energy market. Yet it's hard to describe just how harmful these policies would be. The worst of the lot would be to move green levies from electricity to gas. At the moment, most subsidy costs are loaded on to electricity. This is because they support renewable electricity generation. Subsidies for green gas are already added to gas bills, but they are much lower. Supporters of the idea of shifting more levies on to gas claim it would push people to adopt greener technology, such as electrically powered heat pumps. Yet the logic of this argument rests on a flawed ideology known as 'polluter pays'. The idea is to make polluting – ie. using fossil fuels – so expensive that consumers would be forced to adopt other alternatives. Except it doesn't work that way in practice. Many consumers have little or no choice over the type of fuel they use. More likely, they will face the unpalatable choice between heating and eating. If you don't own your own home, you cannot replace the windows, upgrade the insulation or install solar panels. If you do own your own home but don't have a lot of money for major home improvements, you also won't be able to do any of these things. As a result, putting green levies on bills is regressive: those least able to make changes end up shouldering more than their fair share of the costs as wealthier people invest in energy-saving measures and on-site generation.
National Post
21 hours ago
- Business
- National Post
Epsilyte to Increase Expandable Polystyrene (EPS) Price with Price and Availability of Feedstocks
Article content THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Epsilyte, a leading North American producer of Expandable Polystyrene (EPS), will increase the price of all grades of EPS by $0.06/lb., effective June 1, 2025, or as contracts permit. These adjustments are necessary given the availability and cost of delivered styrene resulting from recent force majeure announcements. Article content About Epsilyte Article content Article content Epsilyte is one of North America's leading producers of advanced insulative materials. We are a company of scale focused on solving customer needs for lightweight, energy-efficient, and carbon-favorable materials. This includes reducing energy usage in buildings, ensuring safe and healthy food through innovative packaging technology, protecting lives in safety helmets and car seats, and enabling cost-effective infrastructure investment worldwide. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Norwegian sovereign wealth fund invests €400 million in Kingspan
Norway's sovereign wealth fund has taken a stake worth more than €400 million in Dublin-listed insulation and building materials specialist, Kingspan Group, the Sunday Times reports. Norges Bank, which manages the Government Pension Fund Global, took a 3.06 per cent position in the company at a share price of €75.50 on Friday. The total central bank managed fund is worth around $1.8 trillion. In a trading update for the quarter ended March 31st, Kingspan said it overcame a slow start to the year to record a good financial performance. Group sales rose 9 per cent year on year to €2.1 billion, and were 'modestly ahead' on an underlying basis. Sales of its insulated panels rose 4 per cent, while underlying sales were broadly in line, while insulation sales saw a similar performance, and roofing and waterproofing sales were up 55 per cent on the acquisition of Nordic Waterproofing. Amazon Web Services discussing €3.5 billion Arklow data centre takeover Amazon Web Services (AWS) is in early takeover talks with Echelon Data Centres regarding its €3.5 billion data centre Arklow, the Business Post reports. Neither party in the discussions commented. READ MORE Echelon, which launched the Arklow site project last month, are also planning a second data centre on a near-by site. The site was the first Irish data centre to receive a grid connection and is situated close to the SSE Renewables Arklow Bank Wind Park 2, from which it is said to be planning to purchase energy to offset the power demand from the data centre. Four Star Pizza feels the heat during franchise tech tensions Tensions have risen between Four Star Pizza and some franchisees following the introduction of a new digital trading system to handle sales within stores, The Sunday Times reports. Franchised pizza delivery business, Four Star Pizza Ireland, which owned by the Fitzwilliam hotelier Michael Holland is currently going through an expansion. Franchisees are said to be unhappy with the operation of the new system, and have resisted its implementation. The Sunday Times said it understands that franchisees have consulted legal advisers and are seeking a meeting with management on the matter. A statement from Four Star Pizza management said that it had a forum for franchisees to 'air opinions' and outside of which its communication 'has never been better'. Ryanair flights grounded by GPS issues Up to 50 Ryanair aircraft were temporarily grounded last week due to global positioning system (GPS) issues across a number of airlines, the Sunday Independent reports. Newer aircraft such as the Boeing 737 Max and Airbus 320s were particularly impacted by the problems which left thousands of passengers facing significant delays over a number of days, peaking on Thursday, May 21st. While it is reported no passengers were ever put in danger by the issues, numerous flights from Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Kerry and Knock airports faced issues.
CNET
22-05-2025
- Business
- CNET
A Free Energy Audit Helped Me Get Insulation in My Home
The way the heat moved through my home gave me the inkling that my home had no insulation. It's a 100-year-old home in Boston where I was splitting the first-floor apartment with a roommate I met on Facebook. After receiving a $500 gas bill for one month of heat, we were outraged. We called up a home energy contractor who was licensed to perform free home energy audits on behalf of MassSave, the state's energy efficiency program. What is a home energy audit? A home energy audit is a way for professionals to inspect your home and identify spots where you could increase energy efficiency and, ultimately, lower energy costs. An audit like this is usually a first step to getting financial incentives from a state- or utility-run energy efficiency program. Often, a home energy audit is performed by an HVAC contractor. They'll come into your home, inspect your walls, windows and heating systems, as well as insulation in the walls, basement or attic. Their goal is to identify places where your home is losing heat or energy, and suggest improvements such as better insulation or new appliances. They might also recommend smaller fixes, like weather-stripping your doors and installing a low-flow showerhead. At the end of an audit, the inspector will leave you with a report and tell you how you can move forward with any of the improvements you're interested in. What I learned during my home energy audit The energy inspector showed up to my apartment two weeks later and gamely started with an inspection of the basement -- where he found not a bit of insulation -- before drilling a small hole in the exterior wall of our kitchen and inserting a camera. I watched with smug satisfaction as the video feed on his phone showed a cavern between the plaster lath and clapboard siding. I was right: no insulation there, either! I saw particles of dust speed by on an airstream of suction, pulling hot air from our ancient steam radiators right through the walls and out of the apartment. The energy expert in my kitchen talked excitedly about how much of a difference we could make by stuffing those empty walls full of cellulose insulation, a feat accomplished by drilling holes underneath the siding and blowing it in from outside. But I was skeptical. That sounds expensive, I thought. There's no way my landlord -- who doesn't live here or pay the utility bills -- would go for that. I humored the contractor and invited him to sit at my kitchen table while he hammered out a proposal on his laptop. When he was finished, he spun the screen toward me and delivered the verdict: We could have our walls blasted full with insulation, and our basement airsealed against the elements, for free. As in, 100% covered by state incentives, at no cost to us or our landlord. My jaw nearly hit the floor. I write about state and federal energy policy for CNET pretty extensively, and I like to think I have a good sense of how this works: Usually, incentives can shave off a chunk of the cost, but not all of it -- and you probably need to have a lower income to qualify. Right? Wrong. At least in Massachusetts. The state offers 75% to 100% off approved insulation and air sealing projects, and the contractor told me that because our household was entirely occupied by renters, the state would cover 100% of these improvements. There was a small caveat: A third project he recommended -- insulating the ceiling of the basement (underneath our apartment floors) to keep more heat in our unit -- was not covered by the program and would cost my landlord $4,000. But I could hardly be disappointed. Even if our landlord only authorized the other two projects (which, again, would be free!), we could see a dramatic reduction in our heating bill. Making your home well insulated is one of the most effective ways to reduce your energy bills. Mike De Socio/CNET What happened after my energy audit My contractor friend was not content to leave me with a PDF that I could forward to my landlord. He insisted on calling my landlord on the spot to pitch him on the projects. I stood in the doorframe of my kitchen and watched in awe as he walked my landlord through the proposal, answering questions and doing his best to close the deal. By the time the energy audit was over, I was giddy. I never thought insulation would excite me so, yet I was doing a happy dance (literally!) at the prospect of it. I felt like I was living in a clean-energy utopia where state policies just work the way they're supposed to. When I was done dancing, I followed up with my landlord via email. He seemed interested in moving forward but said he wanted to ask the contractor a few more questions and would look into scheduling the work. By early the next week, more good news arrived in my inbox. My landlord had signed the paperwork to proceed with the two free projects: Insulating our walls and air-sealing the perimeter of our basement. He passed on the $4,000 add-on to insulate underneath our floorboards, but I still felt like it was a huge win. Only days later, the contractors pulled up with a box truck full of toasty insulation they were set to stuff into our home. They started in the basement, first using spray-foam to seal the cracks where wood floor joists met the basement's perimeter walls. A second worker followed, slicing puffy chunks of pink insulation that he stuffed into the space between the stone foundation and the basement's rim-joists. When they finished, our basement had been air-sealed, protecting it from the elements. But they couldn't go upstairs and start doing the same thing for our apartment walls because, ironically enough, it was too cold to install insulation. An ambient temperature of 15 degrees Fahrenheit, plus a hard layer of ice around the house, made for unsafe working conditions. But the delay was only temporary. As soon as the ice melted and the mercury crept back above freezing, the contractors returned to fill our walls with a warm blanket of cellulose. How you can get a free home energy audit too Not every state offers free home energy audits, but many do. Check with your state's energy department to see what's available. Usually, in states that offer this, you'll contact a qualified home energy contractor, who will come to your home and perform an inspection. The state reimburses them, so it won't cost you a thing. Then, based on what they find, the contractor might propose more insulation or a new heating system and can tell you what state incentives you qualify for. If you decide to proceed with a project, you can usually use the same contractor to do the work too.
Globe and Mail
19-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
TopBuild Extends and Upsizes Senior Secured Credit Facilities
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., May 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TopBuild Corp. (NYSE: BLD), a leading installer and specialty distributor of insulation and building material products to the construction industry in the United States and Canada, today announced the extension and upsizing of its existing senior secured credit facilities. The new $2.25 billion facilities include a $1.0 billion term loan, a $1.0 billion revolving credit facility and a $250.0 million delayed draw term loan, each maturing in May 2030. 'The continued strong support from our key banking partners reflects our solid track record of operating performance and confidence in our business model,' said Rob Kuhns, Chief Financial Officer of TopBuild. 'The transaction significantly increased our available liquidity and financial flexibility, further strengthening our ability to execute our capital allocation strategy.' The amended credit facilities will bear interest at the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) plus 1.25% per annum (subject to adjustment based on a leverage-based pricing grid). About TopBuild TopBuild Corp., headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida, is a leading installer and specialty distributor of insulation and related building material products to the construction industry in the United States and Canada. We provide insulation installation services nationwide through our Installation segment which has more than 200 branches located across the United States. We distribute building and mechanical insulation, insulation accessories and other building product materials for the residential, commercial, and industrial end markets through our Specialty Distribution business. Our Specialty Distribution network encompasses more than 150 branches across the United States and Canada. To learn more about TopBuild please visit our website at This press release was published by a CLEAR® Verified individual.
