ENERGYWISE™ and InsulPro raise funds for Christchurch

Brand new house insulation and energy efficient appliances are being sold on Trade Me
to raise funds for Christchurch’s earthquake recovery efforts.  The products have been donated by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority’s (EECA)ENERGYWISE partners, including InsulPro, and all proceeds will go directly to the Red Cross.

The products include 13 heat pumps and their installation, worth up to $5,500 each,
six fridges worth up to $1,499 each, a Sony Blu Ray DVD player, six low-flow shower heads from Methven, carpet for two garages, and 12 lots of ceiling and underfloor insulation for a 150m2 house, worth around $4,000 each – at a total retail value of around $130,000.

Mike Underhill, EECA’s Chief Executive is impressed with the value of products that have been donated. “These products are high-ticket items and the generosity of our partners
is fantastic. All the appliances are ENERGY STAR rated for efficiency and we know
insulation makes a real difference to the comfort of New Zealand homes.”

The Trade Me shop was an initiative of EECA staff who approached suppliers to donate products.  InsulPro generously donated NOVAfloor Underfloor Insulation and NOVAtherm Ceiling Insulation.

Murray Page, General Manager of insulation manufacturer InsulPro says the company had
been debating how best to contribute to the earthquake appeal when EECA approached them for a donation. “The Christchurch earthquake has touched and impacted us,” said Mr Page. “We decided that donating some product for auction would have a double benefit – it would not only raise some funds for the recovery effort, but it would also allow the successful bidder to improve the warmth and health of their home.”

Are you thinking about insulating your home and do you have some questions?

We had a chat to Paul Vujcich, Managing Director for InsulPro, who has been working
with insulation for the past 15 years.  Read what he has to say below.

If you would like any further information please give us a call on 0800 100 007

What are the most important factors to take into account when choosing insulation?

Insulation is a key factor in creating a better living environment in your home.  The important factors are focused on ensuring that the insulation solution results in a warmer and healthier home for you and your family.

Choosing a sustainable product will enable you to make a positive contribution to
protecting the environment.  At InsulPro we produce our insulation from recycled polyester, PET, this is the same material that plastic bottles are made from.  We buy fibres that are extruded from chipped up bottles and manufacture these into ceiling and floor insulation for your home.  Plus our products are fully recyclable so any offcuts left over from an installation can be re-used in our manufacturing process – so in a nutshell our products are 100% recyclable.

To ensure a healthy home environment we recommend that you choose a product that
is safe and comfortable to touch and feel, and free from such things as insecticides and glues.  At InsulPro our insulation solutions, NOVAtherm Ceiling and Wall Insulation and NOVAfloor Underfloor Insulation, are made from 100% polyester which is bonded together using heat not glue.

Imagine the soft touch of your polyester duvet inner; well our insulation product is made of the same material.  So you won’t be left with an irritating feel on your skin when you handle it, making it safe and easy to install.  Also polyester is a not a protein so we don’t have to treat it with insecticide to stop it being eaten.

Insulation is an investment in creating a healthy home for future years; therefore you should consider how quickly it will or will not deteriorate over its lifetime and how long it will last before you need to replace it. Insulpro products will perform for 50 years; so from the day it is installed correctly and adequately protected, we will guarantee that in 50 years time it will still be performing!

The Building Code in New Zealand requires that insulation meets certain criteria which cover durability, internal moisture, hazardous building materials and energy efficiency.  You need to ensure the insulation you choose meets building code requirements.  Products that have been BRANZ appraised provide you with assurance that the insulation product has been tested to meet New Zealand conditions which includes the Building Code.  Our NOVAtherm and NOVAfloor insulation products both have BRANZ appraisals.

Another vital consideration is the quality of installation for insulation as any gaps in the insulation will dramatically affect its performance. We would recommend that if you are installing NOVAtherm and NOVAfloor insulation products that you use one of the InsulPro approved installers to ensure you create a better environment in your home.

Underfloor insulation is exposed to moisture.  It is important that the insulation you choose does not absorb moisture as this will affect the life of the product and expose your home to potential moisture damage.

How can people determine what the best type of insulation is for their homes?

Insulation is commonly made from polyester fibres, wool, fibreglass macerated paper or polystyrene.  The best type of insulation should be safe, healthy, easy to install and durable.

If your house was built before 2000 you are eligible for up to $1,300 (or 33%) subsidy toward the cost of ceiling and underfloor insulation under the Energywise Warm up New Zealand:Heat Smart programme.  It runs over 4 years from June 2009. If you have a Community Services Card you can get 60% funding towards the cost of insulation.

The Energywise programme includes a list of approved products so if you are taking part in this scheme make sure you select a product that is on the list. For further information visit the EECA Energywise website www.energywise.govt.nz

What are the main benefits of installing it?

Insulation creates a healthier, more comfortable home environment.

In winter a cold, damp building can promote mould and mildew, which can lead to asthma, recurring colds and flu.  Insulation keeps a home’s interior warm and dry in winter, creating a better environment in your home.

While keeping the cold out in winter, insulation keeps the heat out in summer for a more comfortable temperature indoors. This is an increasingly important consideration as more homes are installing heat pumps and air conditioning units.

Insulation has a vast return on investment which includes such things as providing a healthier home, reducing the strain on the country’s health system and assisting with the resale value of your home as buyers look for warmer homes.  It can also save significant money in energy in an environment where the cost of power continues to increase.

Effective insulation in the ceiling can cut heat loss from a building by over 40%.
Insulation in exterior walls can cut overall heat loss by roughly one quarter, and by using insulation in internal walls around living spaces the amount of energy required to heat them will be reduced too. Insulating under floor boards can dramatically improve heat retention even further, as well as cutting out uncomfortable draughts.

Superior insulation will absorb noise to create a quieter living environment, reducing
surrounding noise pollution from the likes of neighbours and traffic.

There are minimum requirements for insulation in the building code. Should homeowners give serious consideration to exceeding those? What are the benefits of doing so?

Yes, we would definitely recommend a homeowner exceeds the Building Code requirements as the home will be more energy efficient, warmer, healthier and will create a more rewarding and comfortable living environment.

And will savings on heating make this an efficient decision in the long term?

The price of electricity continues to increase. In fact a number of power companies are increasing their prices on the 1st of April, after only increasing them in October with the introduction of the Government’s Emissions Trading Scheme.  Exceeding the Building Code requirements will mean that your insulation will work harder for you, making you less reliant on using electricity to create a warmer home in winter and a cooler home in summer.

But it is not just about the dollar savings, it is about creating a healthier home for your family and removing the cold damp air in winter time which reduces the incidence to colds, asthma and flu.  While in summer time you will have a cooler home.

Award winning home that is warm, healthy and comfortable to live in

The award winning home is located on a narrow urban site in the heart of Herne Bay. Tight site controls and a sloping site resulted in a long narrow building form that steps down the slope of the site.

One of the main features of the house is the entry which is reached by a bridge that crosses a moat of planting. The entry is glazed with translucent glass to give privacy and a beautiful soft light to the interior spaces. The entry space is protected by a vertical cedar screen with intermittent horizontals painted with colours that have also been used on the interior and inspired by the homeowners’ fantastic collection of 1950 -60s furniture, art and ceramics.

Once inside an open riser jarrah and steel stair with a hanging screen of stainless steel mesh leads either upstairs to the main living level or downstairs to the bedrooms and a second family living area.

The rooms on the lower level open out to the usually redundant side yards surrounding the house with each room having its own terrace and outdoor space.  The building steps down the site and culminates in a terrace and pool off the family living space.

Light and privacy is modulated on the upper levels by opening and closing vertical lourveline panels or either cedar or aluminium. The living space opens out to a generous deck which with glimpses of the harbour.

Playful colours, finishes and hoop pine cabinetry enliven the interior spaces and the exterior materials of fine vertical cedar shiplap, double skin bagged brick reflect the clients’ love of fifties and sixties architecture.

The home is warm in winter and cool in summer due to Insulpro’s NOVAtherm Ceiling
and Wall Insulation and NOVAfloor High Density Underfloor Insulation.  The insulation installed was over and above what is required by the New Zealand Building Code, creating a warmer, healthier home for the family which is more energy efficient and sustainable.

The polyester insulation is made from recycled plastic bottles and any off-cuts during the installation process were put back into InsulPro’s manufacturing process, resulting in zero waste.  The insulation is 100% safe and healthy as it is non-irritant, non-toxic and the fibres are bonded by heat, removing the need for glue which contains formaldehyde.

For peace of mind for the homeowner, the insulation is covered by a 50 year guarantee.   Some of the insulation solutions in the market collapse over time. InsulPro guarantees that as long as the insulation is installed correctly and adequately protected, their insulation solutions will perform to the same level 50 years later.

The home has won two Registered Master Builders Awards which are the Registered Master Builders Award Auckland Region – Gold Award 2010 and the Registered Master Builders National House of the Year – Gold Reserve Award 2010

InsulPro partners with Maui Capital to target bigger opportunities

Having built a successful business on smarter new building insulation technology, Paul
Vujcich, Managing Director of Insulpro Manufacturing, says partnering with Maui
puts the company on a new footing and targets bigger opportunities for growth.

For a long time now the benefits of insulation products in homes and buildings have
been well understood and mandated by building codes. But for those actually
involved in installing them technological progress has probably seemed slow.
Made from fibreglass and glued together, traditional products are itchy to use
and require special safety clothing.

In the early 1990s Paul Vujcich saw how difficult the products were to use during his time on commercial construction sites in Sydney, where insulation workers were required to don safety gear. Back in New Zealand when he met Godfrey Hall, who had just invented a radically new insulation material, he instantly saw the potential.

Made from the same sort of polyesters used in pillows and sleeping bags, Mr Hall’s
new material had none of the itchiness of fibreglass. Its unique heat-welding
manufacturing process required no glues, the component in traditional products
that often contains formaldehyde and can break down over time. Rolling out like
a big blanket over a ceiling, it not only prevented heat leakage through joists
but was extremely easy to install. “I immediately saw the potential”, Mr
Vujcich says.

Together with other founding shareholders, the two men formed the company InsulPro and bought first a manufacturing plant in Milton in the South Island and, a little
later, installed a modern purpose-built plant in Auckland. Since then cycles of
constantly rising demand have been met with new investment in research and
greater production capacity.

Over five years their insulation was installed in more than 10,000 New Zealand
homes. They introduced successful products for acoustic insulation, NOVAhush,
and a new high-density insulation, NOVAfloor, for underfloor insulation.
Friction-fitted between floor joists without needing to drive staples near
unseen electric wiring, this also conferred a safety advantage by removing the
risk of electrocution, which has come at the cost of installers’ lives.  The components for
making the insulation had also been developed with an increasing use of fibre
made from recycled plastic bottles.

But if the growth had a logic of its own so did the changes it brought to the company.
By 2008 they had bought out their other shareholders. With staff numbers
swelling from five to 50, sales also continued to grow. But so did the scale of
the personal guarantee obligations they carried to provide working capital and
to re-invest in increasingly sophisticated purpose-built carding lines to
process and recombine their new insulation fibres. Mr Vujcich recalls doing
some very hard thinking about a newly uncertain world when he saw news of the
Lehman Brothers’ collapse on CNN while in transit at Heathrow. The November
2008 elections in New Zealand were also pending, with no guarantee a new
government would continue funding support for insulation for homes.

As it happened, government support did continue. But the seed had been sown, Mr
Vujcich says. If they were to really take advantage of the opportunities they
could see, they needed to get somebody else involved. Around this time a major
corporate approached them with an offer to buy the business. Mr Vujcich says
the numbers for this deal might have made sense, but the process petered out,
mostly because they could not see the business succeeding when squeezed into a
bigger corporate mould. When Mr Vujcich met the team from Maui he saw a better
fit.

“There was just this huge difference between the way the corporate and the guys at
Maui talked”, he says. “Their concern was how to preserve the entrepreneurial
spirit and all those things that had gone into the company to make it what it
is today, against the ‘how do we fit you guys into our mould’ that had been
coming from the corporate.”

InsulPro has now significantly expanded its capacity. Mr Vujcich says it has gained
hugely from having its first professional independent board. They have
appointed key new management personnel. He says it is good to just pick up the
phone, “and get access to this whole depth of expertise. You don’t have to wait
for a board meeting to talk about what you are doing. So that where you can get
a bit too close to your own industry, now we can draw on this whole other
impartial perspective.”

The company is not only becoming bigger but also moving from a production to a more
market focus. Maui networks are enabling them to forge new alliances in
Australia. The future, he says, will be defined by international growth and
continued product development.

“For us the relationship is a way of getting some value out of the business we have
built up while sharing in its future growth. We can now look at opportunities
that otherwise we would not have been able to finance ourselves into. So it
brings a lot of opportunity.”

“You don’t have to wait for a board meeting to talk about what you are doing… now we
can draw on this whole other impartial perspective.”

For more information on Maui please visit www.mauicapital.co.nz

Insulation fibre’s a bottler

We thought you might like to read an article that appeared in the New Zealand
Herald about us.  Click on the link below to read the full article.

New Zealand Herald Business Article – InsulPro Insulation

ENERGYWISE™ subsidy available on NOVAtherm Ceiling Insulation and NOVAfloor Underfloor Insulation

NOVAtherm Ceiling Insulation and NOVAfloor Underfloor Insulation are two of the most popular insulation products being installed under the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart programme.

Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart is a government funded insulation and clean heating subsidy initiative run under the ENERGYWISE™ banner of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). It started on 1 July 2009, and aims to retrofit more than 188,500 New Zealand homes over the next four years.

According to the EECA website “better insulation means our homes are warmer, cosier, and easier to heat. Warmer, drier homes bring health benefits, especially for those with respiratory illness or other conditions derived from living in cold and damp houses.”

If your house needs insulation and it was built before 2000 you are eligible for a 33% subsidy on insulation under the programme. Up to $1,300 (incl. GST) is available for both NOVAtherm and NOVAfloor fitted by a professional installer. If you can access the space both ceiling and underfloor insulation must be done to qualify for the funding.

The subsidy is not means tested, and if you hold a Community Services Card (or your rental tenant does) you are eligible for a 60% subsidy on the total cost of insulation.

To arrange a free visit from an insulation professional to assess your requirements call us on 0800 100 007

Information current as at October 2010