Profile
Owens Corning was founded in 1938. Since then, the company has continued to grow as a market-leading innovator of glass fiber technology. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Owens Corning is a world leader in composite and building materials systems, delivering a broad range of high-quality products and services. The company’s products range from glass fiber used to reinforce composite materials for transportation, electronics, marine, infrastructure, wind-energy, and other high-performance markets to insulation and roofing for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. As a sustainability-focused company, Owens Corning creates value for its customers and stockholders and enhances lives through its products. Owens Corning’s sustainability strategy is built to achieve goals by greening our operations, greening our products and accelerating energy efficiency and renewables in the built environment.
We operate within two segments: Composites, which includes Reinforcements and downstream businesses; and Building Materials, which includes Insulation and Roofing businesses.
Composites
Owens Corning glass-fiber materials can be found in more than 40,000 end-use applications within seven primary markets: power and energy, housing, water distribution, industrial, transportation, consumer, and aerospace/military. Such end-use applications include pipe, roofing shingles, sporting goods, computers, telecommunications cables, boats, aircraft, defense, automotive, industrial containers, and wind-energy. The company’s products are manufactured and sold worldwide, to parts molders and fabricators. Within the building and construction market, the Composites segment sells glass fiber and/or glass mat directly to a small number of major shingle manufacturers, including our own Roofing business.
Owens Corning’s Reinforcements business manufactures, fabricates, and sells glass reinforcements in the form of fiber. Within the Downstream business, the company manufactures and sells glass-fiber products in the form of fabrics, mat, veil, and other specialized products.
Demand for composites is driven by general global economic activity and, more specifically, by the increasing replacement of traditional materials such as aluminum, wood, and steel. Composites offer lighter weight, improved strength, lack of conductivity, and corrosion resistance advantages over traditional materials. It is estimated that over the last 15 years, on average, annual global demand for composite materials grew at about 1.5 times to 2 times global GDP.
Owens Corning competes with composite manufacturers worldwide. According to various industry reports and company estimates, the company is a world leader in the production of glass-fiber reinforcement materials.
Building Materials
Insulation
Owens Corning’s Insulation business includes insulating products, Building Materials Europe and Construction Services.
The company’s insulating products help customers conserve energy, provide improved acoustical performance, and offer convenience of installation and use, making them a preferred insulating product for new home construction and remodeling. These products include thermal and acoustical batts, loose fill insulation, foam sheathing, and accessories, and are sold under well-recognized brand names and trademarks. Owens Corning sells insulation products primarily to insulation installers, home centers, lumberyards, retailers, and distributors in the United States and Canada.
Demand for Owens Corning's insulating products is driven by new residential construction, remodeling and repair activity, commercial and industrial construction activity, increasingly stringent building codes, and the growing need for energy efficiency.
Owens Corning’s insulation business competes primarily with manufacturers in the United States. According to various industry reports and company estimates, Owens Corning is North America's largest producer of residential, commercial, and industrial insulation, and the second-largest producer of extruded polystyrene foam insulation.
Roofing
Owens Corning’s primary products in the Roofing business are laminate and strip asphalt roofing shingles. Other products include oxidized asphalt and roofing accessories.
The Roofing business competes primarily with manufacturers in the United States. According to various industry reports and company estimates, Owens Corning's Roofing business is the second-largest producer of asphalt roofing shingles in the United States.
Other
Other includes the North America Masonry Products business ("Masonry Products"). On December 31, 2010, the company sold Masonry Products to Boral Industries Ltd. ("Boral"). Through Masonry Products, Owens Corning manufactured and sold manufactured stone and brick veneers used in residential and commercial new construction and remodeling under a number of brand names including Cultured Stone® and ProStone®. Manufactured stone veneer replicates the texture and colors of natural stone while offering improved features such as reduced weight, ease of installation, and cost efficiency.
