With the increasing industrialization and urbanization rates in several countries, the demand for industrial and residential insulation is rising sharply across the world. In the manufacturing industry, thermal and acoustic insulation is extensively required in stacks, boilers, turbines, exhausts, and incinerators. This is why the expansion of the manufacturing sector, especially in the developing nations of APAC such as India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines, is positively impacting the demand for insulation.

Besides, the surging investments being made in infrastructural development projects in developing countries such as India, China, Russia, and Brazil are creating lucrative growth opportunities for insulation producers across the world. In addition to this, the governments of many countries are taking measures for reducing the escalating energy costs and promoting energy efficiency, which is, in turn, pushing up the demand for insulation products in residential and industrial buildings, thereby causing the expansion of the global insulation market.

According to a study conducted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the installation of an insulation system in a building can cause up to 18% reduction in heating and cooling loads, so that less energy is needed for heating and cooling the building. Because of this reason, the U.S. federal government is providing tax credits on the purchase of insulation products. These measures have massively raised awareness among the masses about the benefits of insulation in buildings.

Depending on product, the market is classified into expanded polystyrene (EPS), extruded polystyrene (XPS), mineral wool, and glass wool. Out of these, the EPS category held the largest share in the market in 2017. This was credited to the large-scale usage of EPS wool in various acoustic and thermal insulation applications, because of its fire retardancy, durability, and low weight. When application is taken into consideration, the insulation market is divided into residential, non-residential, industrial, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

Out of these, the residential category dominated the market in 2017, primarily due to the extensive usage of insulation products in construction activities, which are soaring rapidly, because of the booming population across the world. Geographically, the insulation market will exhibit the fastest growth in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in the forthcoming years, as per the estimates of the market research company, P&S Intelligence. This will be because of the increasing industrialization rate, launch of energy conservation initiatives by governments of many APAC countries, and rapid economic progress of several regional countries.

Hence, the demand for insulation is certain to surge in the coming years, primarily because of the surging urbanization and industrialization rates and the increasing implementation of energy conservation policies by various governments across the globe.