The recent opening of Fletcher Building group’s new insulation manufacturing plant in Dandenong, Victoria, signals a significant step forward for greener manufacturing.

The Honourable Gavin Jennings MLC, Minister for Climate Change, the Environment and Innovation commissioned the new INTECH glass melting furnaces, developed in Australia for use in the manufacture of glasswool insulation for the building and automotive industries.

The upgrade to the Dandenong facility, which produces 42 per cent of the glasswool used in Australia, saw an investment of $8 million and will allow the plant to remain competitive for another 15 years, Fletcher Building Products group Chief Executive Chris Ellis said.

“Estimations are that a Victorian house that relies on electricity for its heating and cooling will save close to two tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per annum by including Pink Batts insulation in the walls and ceilings,” he said.

Fletcher Insulation has worked with the local EPA to improve the entire manufacturing process, ensuring the plant remains at the forefront of sustainable manufacturing and cleaner environmental outcomes. Once commissioning and optimisation at the facility has been completed, the plant is expected to produce 22 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions.

Unlike the old furnaces, the new furnaces can be switched off when not in use thereby saving energy and additional greenhouse gas emissions.

Due to its environmental credentials and manufacturing efficiencies, the INTECH furnace technology is being installed in other Australian plants and has also been sold to manufacturers around the world.

Along with the plant’s emissions reductions, all the glass used in the production of the glasswool insulation is recycled and makes up 70 percent of material used to manufacture the Pink Batts.

The upgraded facility also means that the plant’s water consumption will be reduced. Rainwater entering the plant site is harvested and process water used in production is now recycled.

When the new plant is completely optimised, Fletcher Insulation says that discharged air particles from the furnace will be reduced by more than 50 per cent from previous levels. Dust and moisture is also collected in the new electric furnace filters, with the dust collected reused in the furnace feed.

And instead of a visible CO2 plume being released into the atmosphere, the plant now puffs out a plume mostly made up of steam.

However the benefits of the ecological and environmental changes to the plant also have direct flow on effects for the Australian community.

As Mr Ellis says, “Giving greater consideration to the thermal performance or energy efficiency of the home’s design both in new and older buildings will deliver much by way of greenhouse gas savings and improved health and wellbeing.”

“In our industry alone some 40 per cent of Australian homes don’t even have ceiling insulation and mandatory insulation levels in Australia for new buildings are almost half that of the USA in areas with similar climates.”

However, Mr Ellis said that change is on the way. He commended the Victorian Government’s leadership in the drive to improve building energy efficiency, by being the first Australian government to adopt the 5 Star Australian Building Code for energy efficiency and other measures in new homes such as rebates for retrofitting insulation in older houses.

The launch of the new Pink Batt plant is a step towards reducing both the industry’s and the nation’s environmental footprint. However Mr Ellis understands that becoming a more sustainable company is an ongoing process.

With the new plant up and running, he voiced a simple truth. “We are all on a steep learning curve as we learn more about the effects of human activity and about climate change.”