Victoria’s manufacturing sector is set for a boost with the opening of a world-leading high performance insulation manufacturing facility at Somerton, in Melbourne’s north.
The $40 million plant is the most technically innovative and energy efficient facility yet for the Kingspan Group which leads the world in the manufacture of high performance, rigid board insulation.
The new 14,000 square metre facility is located in the City of Hume where Ford Australia shut down local production in 2016. The Kingspan plant has already created 26 new jobs with another 24 people to be employed as production ramps up. The new jobs include production and warehouse positions and trainee positions in chemical engineering and information technology as well as sales, management, operations and administrative support.
The plant construction was awarded a $3 million grant from Melbourne’s North Innovation and Investment Fund, set up by the Victorian Government in partnership with the Federal Government and Ford Australia.
The Victorian minister for industry and employment, the Hon. Wade Noonan MP; Irish ambassador Breandán Ó Caollaí and Kingspan Group chief executive Gene Murtagh will officially open the facility today at 2.30pm. The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP will also be in attendance and speak on the day.
Frank McGuire MP State Member for Broadmeadows, Parliamentary Secretary for Medical Research, Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Innovation, Ros Spence MP State Member for Yuroke and Kingspan Insulation Australia Managing Director Scott Gibson are also attending.
Kingspan Insulation Australia, a division of the Kingspan Group, is Australia’s leading supplier of high performance insulation. Mr Gibson says Kingspan Australia will now not only be able to supply insulation products made in Australia but also export throughout the Asia Pacific region with 20 per cent of production already scheduled for export. This is expected to grow to 35 per cent by 2020.
Mr Murtagh says the Somerton manufacturing facility is the first fourth-generation Kooltherm manufacturing site in the world, using the group’s latest technical innovations in its manufacturing processes.
The market for high performance insulation is growing rapidly around the world in response to government policies aimed at making buildings more energy efficient. This facility gives Australia world leading technical capability in a sector experiencing significant sustained domestic and international growth. – Gene Murtagh, CEO Kingspan Group
Kingspan Kooltherm is a super high performance rigid thermoset phenolic insulation with ultra-low conductivity for roofs, walls and floors. It offers exceptional thermal and fire performance and its ultra-thin profile allows for more internal floor space to be created due to thinner walls.
Mr Murtagh says Kingspan places a high priority on net zero energy manufacturing and aims to meet the energy requirements of its 100-plus manufacturing sites around the world through renewable energy by 2020. It currently meets approximately 60 per cent of energy requirements.
The Somerton facility was designed by architect Tone Wheeler, a leader in environmentally sustainable design in Australia. It has a 750kW solar system designed into its roof structure which, when installed, will provide most of its daytime shift energy requirements. It also uses Kingspan’s energy saving smart lighting system and was constructed using high performance Kingspan insulation products throughout to significantly reduce energy requirements and optimise comfort and safety for employees.
The facility was built using sustainably sourced or manufactured building materials, uses energy renewing ventilators that provide occupants with 100 per cent more fresh air than required by the building code and harvests rainwater for bathroom and landscape use.
The Kingspan Insulation plant at Somerton is on track to be Australia’s first Green Star-rated manufacturing facility.