PrimaLoft is all about turning up the heat—for people, though; not the planet.
The insulation developer began integrated its Produced Using Reduced Emissions (PURE) manufacturing method into production practices, beginning with PrimaLoft’s flagship offering, Gold Insulation, as part of its broader conversion strategy.
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The reason? The “Relentlessly Responsible” producer said PURE’s tech is both environmentally and economically superior to traditional methods—allegedly cutting emissions by 50 percent or more. This advancement, PrimaLoft said, is a fruit of some fossil-fuel-fighting labor. And weather patterns.
“The reason we say 50 percent or greater is because global or seasonal fluctuations, believe it or not, are one of the main influences,” Andrea Paulson, senior vice president of technology and innovation at PrimaLoft, told Sourcing Journal. “Really, PURE is about power and efficiency; the reduced emissions are coming from solar and wind energy production [and] adjustments within the manufacturing and production line.”
PrimaLoft’s trademarked proprietary process—which, essentially, boils down to curing insulation without thermal ovens—doesn’t yield static savings due to the variables and efficiencies of production, considering things like scale and the specific genre of insulation. A third-party audit by SGS North America backed the accuracy of such flexibility.
The former Origins Material collaborator introduced the initial iteration of PURE back in 2019 with Patagonia.
This version was two-fold, considering the utilization of a “patented fiber recipe” that negates the need for “energy-intensive ovens” to “bond the insulation and provide stability.” And it worked, allegedly, as turning off the ovens resulted in an emissions savings of almost 50 percent. Until increased production times led to reduced capacity and increased costs—something the supplier said indicated a need to return to the drawing board for a smarter, scalable solution.
As such, the material tech specialist “pivoted away” from the former to focus on the latter; time is “better spent “enhancing the incumbent product already available,” per Paulson, versus “trying to mold something new.”
“The value is really in the manufacturing philosophy, right,” she continued. “We pivoted and transitioned to really make it a purely—no pun intended—technology offering.”
Following those early hiccups, PrimaLoft’s “purified” 2021 version refined its manufacturing method working to reduce the carbon emissions incurred during synthetic insulation production. And that worked, too, as the revamped approach yielded more manufacturer interest and brand adoption.