Spotlight
Insulating the way to Net Zero
This month the spotlight falls on insulation expert Paroc. John Watt, national HVAC sales manager/technical insulation offers some insight
Who is Paroc?
Insulation specialist PAROC has been in existence for over 80 years and is one of the market leaders in many North European countries – and specifically in the UK for the last 15 years. In that time it has achieved a strong position in the UK’s HVAC sector.
Describe your range of products
There are many different components to an HVAC system and Paroc offers stonewool insulation for the technical insulation of all parts of a normal HVAC system.
Depending on the size, shape, and temperature of the equipment, Paroc products provide a solution for insulating heating and water pipes, heat exchangers, boilers, hot water tanks, and ventilation equipment. Products include aluminium foil-faced pipe sections and HVAC Bend AluCoat T — a pre-fabricated insulation component for pipe elbows. Paroc also offers additional components and accessories that complement an HVAC installation. For example, InVent slabs have been designed specifically to reduce noise in ducts and HVAC Dots are the optimal solution for covering pins’ heads in a faster, seamless way. The company’s stonewool solutions provide
thermal, sound, and fire insulation that improve energy efficiency, reduces noise pollution, and protects equipment throughout a building’s
lifetime.Paroc’s aluminium foil-faced products also protect from damage due to condensation, preventing water vapour from penetrating equipment. Thermal insulation ensures that pipe contents remain within the correct temperature ranges for performance and safety and also boosts cost efficiencies. It also protects from the risk of spreading disease (Pontiac fever or Legionnaires’ for instance). Since ventilation ducts often pass from one fire partitioning area to another, fire protection is essential. Because Paroc’s insulation
products provide a reliable and fire-safe solution, it also reduces the need for mechanical fire safety equipment, such as sprinklers and dampers. Products are classified as non-combustible
according to the international standard EN ISO 1182 and PAROC stonewool is classified as Euroclass A1. The company only sells to experienced distributors, but is applicable to all kinds of HVAC installations. All distributors can be found by looking at the Independent Insulation Distribution Association (UK).
Which of your products are in demand?
All our products are currently in high demand. Overall, this sector wasn’t as impacted as some other industries. However, what’s notable is that during the ‘Covid bounceback’ that’s happening across most organisations, Paroc has experienced accelerated growth in all product ranges. The construction sector in mainland Europe is undergoing a strong rebound that’s predicted to continue for the next two years. This is fuelling demand for Paroc’s solutions. Simultaneously, more organisations are aware of the need to conserve energy and have sustainable operations. Climate change, the Net Zero Carbon commitment, and the green agenda have all increased the awareness around sustainability (and made it a boardroom priority). So Paroc’s solutions, as a way to save energy and improve lifetime performance, are becoming a more attractive option. It’s also worth mentioning that some organisations
have been looking at PAROC as an alternative during the supply chain challenges.
What challenges do you face?
Overall in the HVAC sector, there’s a lack of awareness from a technical point of view of the type of products that we offer. So Paroc’s focus has largely been on educating installers from a theoretical point of view and increasing their knowledge on the intricacies of technical insulation (and best practice). One recent challenge (which is being experienced by all manufacturers in construction) is spiralling
www.heatingandventilating.net
costs. The cost of raw materials and imports have risen due to Brexit. Also, with many industries re-opening, the demand for raw materials and gas means that supplies are running low, and lead times are increasing. Product availability can also be impacted by fluctuations in demand, but Paroc has always worked really hard to remedy that.
Has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your
operations and how do you plan to bounce back? Paroc was fortunate as the technical insulation sector wasn’t as badly impacted by the pandemic compared to other industries. There was an initial decrease in orders, as organisations got to grips with new processes and restrictions. But after the initial COVID-19 panic passed, its customers and installers were open and operating normally. So there isn’t really a ‘bounce back’ to do… instead, it’s more about ramping up to meet accelerated demand and dealing with shortages across the construction and manufacturing sector. When the pandemic happened, our operations
(where possible) adapted to remote working. Admin support, sales, and customer service teams all pivoted to working from home. They remain largely remote to this day, although as restrictions ease there will be options to return to workplaces if they wish to. On the manufacturing side, they were able to keep their plants open, with stringent COVID safety measures in place. Everyone follows regular testing, social distancing, wearing face coverings and so on. Importantly, over this time Paroc implemented solutions and processes to keep its people safe and pivot back to remote operations if needed. This will all lead to greater continuity for the future.
Any other future plans?
Paroc is in the process of launching several new product ranges in early 2022. It’s exciting to see these come to fruition as they have been years in the making, with a lot of different teams involved in their development. These products are described as “real game-changers” for the sector and for our customers and installers. Training for specifiers is also an area that
the company is focusing on, that will help them follow best practices when specifying buildings and considering technical insulation and energy efficiency, and all attendees can earn CPD points from these training sessions. During the height of COVID-19, this training
was implemented online, but in-person sessions will be re-introduced soon, so specifiers can physically see and feel the products. And ultimately this will benefit end-users, as they’ll get insulation that continues to perform well over a building’s lifetime, with no concerns about damage or corrosion, energy loss, or ongoing maintenance.
10 December 2021
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