explore the BusinessNet
REHAU INVESTS IN UK MANUFACTURING FOR PRE-INSULATED PIPEWORK
Story
REHAU will shortly become the first manufacturer to extrude pre-insulated polymer pipework in the UK for use in biomass and district heating applications.
Production of REHAU’s RAUVITHERM pipework will start at REHAU’s factory in Blaenau, North Wales in May and will offer UK based contractors and specifiers a local source of pipe with a lower carbon footprint and improved lead times.
Martin Hitchin, REHAU’s Chief Executive, commented on the move: “We have invested in new manufacturing technology at our largest UK factory in order to meet growing demand from the market for a UK produced pipe.
“It will be produced to exactly the same specification and quality as the RAUVITHERM pipework which we currently supply from our factory in Germany but will have a much lower carbon footprint.”
This is the latest positive indication of REHAU’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions across the entire supply chain and will start to have an impact almost immediately. The carbon savings will be ongoing and are expected to increase significantly as demand for the product continues to surge in the UK.
Steve Richmond, Business Team Leader for REHAU’s Renewable Energy products, added: “In the past year, REHAU has seen sales of RAUVITHERM increase by 100%. This is being driven by the booming UK biomass and district heating markets and, more recently, by the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme launched in November 2011.
“By transferring production to the UK, we will have greater flexibility to meet this growing demand and will be able to offer customers shorter lead times.”
RAUVITHERM is a pre-insulated PE-Xa pipe constructed with layers of cross linked PE insulation and a robust HDPE outer jacket which is longitudinally watertight. It is popular in the UK market because of the high degree of flexibility it offers which simplifies and speeds up installation and because it uses REHAU’s renowned EVERLOC compression sleeve jointing system – proven millions of times in heating and plumbing applications to deliver a permanent leak free joint.
REHAU provides design support for RAUVITHERM installations, assisting specifiers and contractors with pipe sizing, heat loss calculations and drawing up bill of materials from heat network drawings.
RAUVITHERM is part of REHAU’s package of solutions for the district heating market which also includes closed cell RAUTHERMEX pre-insulated pipework, RAUGEO ground source energy solutions and underfloor heating systems.
