Owens Corning

In 1939, the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships made Owens-Corning insulation standard in new warship construction. Warship insulation, called Navy Board, was a permanent form-board insulation covered with woven continuous fiber cloth. Owens-Corning produced a prototype boat hull constructed of fiber glass-reinforced plastic in 1944.[11]

In 1945, the company worked with an automaker to produce the first fiberglass-reinforced plastic car body. In 1953, General Motors used this type of body in the Chevrolet Corvette.[18] In 1954, the company invented a process to make centrifugally-spun fiberglass wool, which became the standard process for producing fiberglass insulation.

In 1955, Owens-Corning introduced its Perma-Ply roofing material for built-up room insulation covering. The company created its first all fiber (AF) fiberglass wool in 1956. To distinguish its product, the company dyed their insulation pink by adding red dye to the AF wool.[11][25] However, considering that the coloring made the insulation look pink, the company was concerned that the color would discourage the predominantly male-oriented market away from the material. As such, they decided to remove the coloring from their insulation, only to receive customer requests for the coloring to be restored. The company resumed the coloring in the face of such customer interest to the point of licensing the United Artists cartoon character the Pink Panther in 1979 as the product's mascot. Furthermore, the company trademarked the coloring in 1987, the first time a color was used for that purpose.[26]

After the January 27, 1967, Apollo 1 fire which killed three astronauts, NASA worked with Owens-Corning and DuPont to develop beta cloth, a fireproof cloth of woven fiberglass coated with Teflon, as a replacement for the nylon outer layer of the Apollo/Skylab A7L space suit.[27][28][29]

In February 2017, Owens Corning received the Asthma and Allergy Friendly certification for its Pure Safety™ high-performance insulation. "Owens Corning now joins a select group of manufacturers that are focused on product innovation to address people's exposure to allergens and irritants in their homes," said Julian Francis, president of insulation, Owens Corning.[30]

At the TCT Show in Birmingham, the XStrand family of materials was introduced.[31] These composites are used for 3D printing.[32]

In the Kansas City metropolitan area, Owens Corning purchases locally sourced recycled glass from Ripple Glass to manufacture fiberglass insulation in its local manufacturing plant. The joint effort between Owens Corning and Ripple Glass is helping to greatly reduce the amount of glass that would have been deposited in local Kansas City landfills.[34] The Owens Corning Roofing and Asphalt Shingle Recycling Program was launched in 2009 to keep shingles out of landfills.[35]

In 2013, Constellation Energy built a 2.7-megawatt solar power system at an Owens Corning insulation plant in Delmar, New York. The power system, which is leased to Owens Corning, can produce 3.3 million kilowatt hours of electrical energy in a year.[36][37]

The National Safety Council awarded Owens Corning the Green Cross for Safety medal in 2014.[38] Owens Corning received a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2015 Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign.[39] Owens Corning has been recognized on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for six consecutive years as of 2015.[40] It is also ranked number 1 in the 100 Best Corporate Citizens ranking by Corporate Responsibility Magazine in 2022.[41]

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