Firestone Building Products Company, LLC (Firestone), a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas and a global manufacturer of commercial roofing and building solutions, announced the opening of its first greenfield plant in Heinsberg, Germany. The facility, which broke ground in March 2017, employs a workforce of approximately twenty and is located in the Dremmen District of Heinsberg, Germany.

The new facility represents an opportunity to supplement Firestone insulation production in North America in order to meet growing demand for complete roofing solutions in a global market. Firestone currently operates fifteen manufacturing plants worldwide and sells approximately 90 million square meters of insulation materials per year all over the world.

“Investing in global production capabilities allows us to better serve our customers in key locations around the world,” said Philip Moors, managing director of Europe and Asia for Firestone. “Demand for building products continues to grow in Germany and throughout Europe, and we look forward to partnering with our customers in the local market and beyond to provide industry-leading roofing solutions.”

The facility’s location in Germany now allows contractors to purchase Firestone RESISTA insulation that can be used in conjunction with EPDM and TPO membranes to install a complete Firestone roofing system in every Firestone market in Europe. The production and sales of Firestone polyiso (PIR) insulation boards started first week of May.

“We couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome,” said Wolfgang Dieder, the mayor of Heinsberg, “The establishment of a production facility that manufactures high performance insulation materials is a big win for our town. We’re thrilled that ‘Made in Heinsberg’ Firestone products are soon to be used all over Europe. Our collaboration with all of those responsible at Firestone was perfect from day one.”

Panattoni Europe, a leading project developer specializing in industrial and logistics-related real estate, was responsible for the planning and implementation of the project. Goldbeck International acted as the prime contractor during construction.