Knauf strengthens its customer relationship with ever more services and digitalization

In France, the Group has been present through its subsidiary Knauf France since 1984, which today stands out as the French leader in EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) for construction, but also as the only French producer of wood wool.

Through its Global Offer - plasterboard, expanded polystyrene insulating panels, polyurethane, wood wool and biosourced fibers - Knauf meets all the needs of building stakeholders for interior fittings and building insulation.

Economic update, 2022 balance sheet and 2023 outlook

After a year of very sustained recovery in 2021, the 2022 financial year was marked by demand for interior fittings, plastering and insulation, even if these fell somewhat during the second quarter.

While growth in the plasterboard, partitions and lining market has slowed after an exceptional year in 2021 (+15%), Knauf claims for its part a stable year in 2022, despite the problems encountered following a cyber-attack world.

And Christine Muscat, Knauf General Manager to develop:

“Our tricolor business volume is up slightly for our entire Global Offer vs. 2021. Knauf wood wool ceilings also posted a good performance, with a +5% increase in sales. The same applies to Knauf EPS insulation for facades, which claim an increase of +10%. The volume of other Knauf insulation solutions is stable compared to 2021”.

And to conclude:

"In addition to our Global Offer, Knauf is committed to ever more services and digitalization in order to support building stakeholders in the inevitable evolution of construction methods, particularly in the face of the challenges of RE2020 and decarbonization".

Regarding the general outlook for 2023, a year under the sign of high inflation, they promise to be more difficult than the 2022 financial year in new housing despite a still positive annual trend (housing starts +2,1% in diffuse, 12 rolling months at the end of Q3 2021 - +8,9% in 2021).

A slowdown is therefore inevitable. As for non-residential, after a later restart, the trend is just beginning to weaken (+5,7%). While order books remain high, energy prices in particular have reached unprecedented heights, spreading the crisis to all sectors and leading to record inflation.

Also, new construction should not produce growth and renovation, driven by energy efficiency, will certainly continue its 2022 trend of +3% to become the building's driving sector.

Knauf strengthens its teams at the service of project owners and prime contractors

Knauf is increasingly committed to supporting building stakeholders in the unavoidable evolution of construction methods in order to meet the challenges of RE2020 and decarbonization. Thus, 5 dedicated people reinforce the prescription actions already carried out at Knauf, to respond to the most ambitious projects from the design stage. Under the direction of Jean-Philippe Estner (architect ENSAIS), Kamélia Halhali (Ile-de-France West / West), Catherine Lillemann (Ile-de-France East / North), François Dassé (South-West) Alain Boujemaaoui (Rhône -Alpes/Sud-Est) make up the brand new Prescription Knauf team.

Its mission will be to effectively assist all project stakeholders in all study phases. The specifiers will intervene upstream, with clients, architects, design offices and economists, in order to offer them the best optimized Knauf solutions for their projects. They will be the guarantors of the prescriptions of the interior fittings systems, the ranges of acoustic ceilings, but also of the Knauf Global Offer. The objective is thus to respond effectively to all requests, but also to identify future projects for which Knauf solutions are particularly suitable.

New Knauf digital services dedicated to specifiers and plasterers

In this logic of support and development of services, Knauf is expanding its offer for building professionals with a new application dedicated to architects, design offices and economists: Planner Suite Knauf. This tool constitutes for these actors, a 3 in 1 tool of ultimate productivity of the planning of their projects.

Accessible as a web application or as a BIM plug-in available for Revit and ArchiCAD, Planner Suite Knauf allows them to easily find and insert the Knauf products and systems suitable for their interior design projects, as well as all the relevant specifications by a simple search or via a multi-criteria configuration, with possible import into the BIM model.

By asking a few simple questions, its search function provides an overview of products and systems that meet specific needs, such as fire resistance or sound reduction. It also takes into account other factors, such as regional availability, to ensure that only products and systems relevant to the project location are recommended – particularly useful data for cross-border projects. Planner Suite Knauf immediately validates the data relating to the proposed systems with continuous verification of the validity of the selected systems, for a BIM model that is always up to date.

The Plug-in BIM version also alerts them if they are using products that are no longer marketed and proactively recommends possible alternatives.

Planner Suite Knauf will also allow them, in its next version, a simplified call for tenders process, by providing the texts of the specifications to download and will also facilitate the drafting of their calls for tenders thanks to the integrated configurator ( using descriptions of types of works). This new version will also quantify quantities in an automated way for the DCE.

In addition, Knauf has been a partner of BiM Cloisons since October 2022, a company that facilitates the work of professional plasterers 2.0. Designed by drywall workers for drywall workers, BiM Partitions.Knauf is indeed a latest-generation tool allowing unprecedented mobility and universal access to the data and documents generated with, as a result, more responsiveness, more precision and more productivity.

With the help of a configurator with an intuitive interface and innovative design, BiM Cloisons.Knauf stands out as the ideal 360° digital companion, ensuring in particular the recommendation of the most relevant technical and economic choices according to the constraints of each site, by comparing and varying, in a few clicks, the technically and economically most suitable structures.

BiM Partitions.Knauf offers quick access to the Knauf Interior Design database. A panel that concentrates to date the Knauf systems most commonly used in partitions and inner partitions, glued linings and removable and non-removable ceilings for housing, public buildings and the tertiary sector. It should be noted that the scope is set to complement each other in order to present all of Knauf's solutions in Interior Design.

BiM Partitions.Knauf adapts to all construction phases, BIM or not. It ensures a quick start of Revit® projects using BIM partition templates, in order to quickly generate measurements, quotes, technical files and location plans. It also stands out as a real competitive asset thanks to the 3D views with a very high level of detail.

Finally, by automating management processes, by generating all the essential management documents in one click, BiM Cloisons.Knauf also ensures control of budgets and changes, thanks to an instant update of all data, thus eliminating redundant tasks and unnecessary entries.

BiM Partitions.Knauf is therefore a complete and versatile tool that facilitates the work of plasterers 2.0.

Knauf: a long tradition of biobased

The Knauf Fiber factory, which has just celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, is the perfect embodiment of a long tradition of bio-based products. Site certified chain of control PEFC, it is the only French industrial unit of production of wood wool. In 2021, it produced some 2,5 million m2 of monolithic and composite panels dedicated to slab underside insulation (Knauf Fibra® range) and acoustic insulation of ceilings and walls (Organic range).

In an eco-design approach, Knauf R&D has succeeded in further increasing the percentage of biosourced materials by optimizing the composition of the products and their manufacturing process. These improvements have reduced the impact of global warming (total CO2 equivalent) for the entire product life cycle. The FDES of the affected products were then recalculated, updated and re-verified by a third party. They are available on knauf.fr and on the INIES database, which promotes their use for low-carbon construction, in particular the RE2020.

And Knauf goes even further. In the same vein, in order to provide even more guarantees to building designers, Knauf recently approached Karibati, an expert in bio-based building, to certify Organic and Knauf Fibra® products eligible for the "Bio-based Product - French Filière" label. ".

A label that also allows project owners to benefit from additional “points” or “credits” within the framework of environmental site certifications such as “LEED” or “BREEAM”, or to enhance the quantity of wood used. in building certifications, for example for construction or renovation projects labeled “Bio-based Building” or “BBCA” (Low Carbon Building).

The Knauf products concerned* (mono-component panels, 100% wood wool, certain insulating complexes mixing wood wool, EPS and/or rock wool) thus become the only products in France to justify this Karibati label in their respective categories. : Knauf Fibra® for insulating the undersides of slabs in collective housing, tertiary buildings and public buildings, Organic slabs for acoustic and decorative interior facings. It should be noted that this "Biosourced Product and French Industry" certificate can be freely downloaded from knauf.fr and that this labeling unequivocally positions the Organic and Knauf Fibra® ranges selected as "biosourced solutions" which can thus fully meet eco- construction such as the "Guide to biosourced materials and public procurement" of April 2020.

ThermaSoft® nature!

With the launch of the new Knauf ThermaSoft® natura interior insulation solution at the start of the year, Knauf confirmed its desire to expand its biosourced insulation offerings. Although the referencing period proved to be particularly long, feedback from the field is very positive from installers regarding the qualities of the product. Since August, the rise has been exponential and should reach 300 m² sold in 000.