Will Wigfield, Product Manager for HVAC & Fire Protection at ROCKWOOL®, tells us about some of the company’s current initiatives.

Can you give us an overview of your history and current role at ROCKWOOL?

A chemistry graduate, my ROCKWOOL career began 14 years ago in the Quality and Process Department as an Engineer. Since that time, I held a number of positions within our Technical Department before taking on my first Product Management role in 2018.

As the new Product Manager for HVAC & Fire Protection, I’m responsible for the development and certification of new and existing products, ensuring that all supporting test data and literature is up-to-date. I also work closely with our Marketing Communications department to develop CPD’s, digital assets and online tools that educate and assist customers in specifying insulation products for HVAC and fire protection.

What’s your current focus at the moment?

As always, there’s an emphasis on working to ensure our products are tested to the latest and most stringent standards.

A particular focus is the development of our passive fire protection solutions for ductwork, ensuring not only that all testing is carried out to the latest EN standards, but that the ductwork specification itself accurately reflects what our customers use in fire-rated applications.

It’s our view that working with fire duct system suppliers to test complete systems is the best approach for ensuring that we meet the needs of the specifiers and installers. To this end, we’re working closely with fire-rated ductwork system holders to ensure we meet the needs of those who specify and install fire-rated ductwork.

What’s new from ROCKWOOL in terms of resources and support?

We’ve just launched an updated version of our ROCKWOOL FIREPRO® Book, our comprehensive catalogue of tested and certified passive fire protection solutions

It contains all the information specifiers and installers need for firestopping and fire resistance in every application, from structural protection to cavity firestops, and building services protection. Users can also find detailed information for each product in the FIREPRO® range, including application and installation advice, testing data and relevant specification clauses.

In addition, we’ve just released the latest edition of the ROCKWOOL Red Book, our established fully-interactive industry guide to acoustic, fire and thermal insulation. This new version also features details of our updated CPD library, including access to on-demand modules for industry professionals to upskill their knowledge at any time, and from anywhere.

We’re always looking at ways to improve our user experience and embed the golden thread process across our solutions. With this in mind, we’re currently working on our digital app, and look forward to being able to share an exciting update in the near future.

Do you have any product news to share with us?

Our RockLap Pipe Supports are now CE-marked, which provides verification of the product’s non-combustible Euroclass rating. This makes them, we believe, the first such certified non-combustible pipe support solutions available in the UK, further reinforcing our commitment to effective passive fire protection.  There’s no doubt that specifying non-combustible where possible, even when not regulated to do so, can embed an extra element of fire safety within a project.

This article was originally published in the January edition of IFSJ. To read your FREE digital copy, click here.