The Center for the Polyurethanes Industry today announced Carbon’s EPU 44, DuPont’s Thermax Non-Halogen Insulation and The Chemours Company’s Opteon 1150 as the finalists for this year’s Polyurethane Innovation Award. The annual honor recognizes inventive new commercial technologies within the polyurethanes industry. These finalists made striking innovations in the polyurethanes industry that will address challenges in several industries.

The award will be presented to the winner during the 64th Polyurethanes Technical Conference, Oct. 3-5, in National Harbor, Maryland.

“The Polyurethane Innovation Award provides an opportunity to recognize visionary and ground-breaking achievements within the polyurethane industry,” said Lee Salamone, senior director at CPI. “This award spotlights our industry’s commitment to encouraging and advancing technologies that enhance our lives through sustainable practices. CPI congratulates Carbon, Chemours and DuPont on being named the three finalists, and we look forward to recognizing and showcasing these companies’ achievements during the Polyurethanes Technical Conference’s Opening Session.”

The finalists’ descriptions of their innovations follow:

Carbon’s EPU 44: EPU 44 is a 40% bio-based production-grade elastomeric 3D printing resin especially well-suited for lattices where high resiliency is needed. It has superior latticing performance, prints faster, uses less material and has higher green strength which protects delicate designs. EPU 44 proves it’s possible to have highly sustainable materials without sacrificing performance.

DuPont’s Thermax Non-Halogen Insulation: DuPont’s new Thermax Brand Non-Halogen Insulation series is a best-in-class, safer-by-design product with exceptional performance to support the needs of architects, contractors and occupants in high-performance, energy-efficient buildings. With this reformulation, DuPont is the first polyisocyanurate wall insulation manufacturer to offer Class A products without the halogenated flame retardants commonly used in building insulation polyurethane foams, while meeting the stringent wall building code requirement.

The Chemours Company’s Opteon 1150: Chemours commercialized Opteon 1150, also referred to as HFO-1336mzzE, a next-generation HFO foam blowing agent with a unique boiling point, superior thermal performance and remarkable stability. A solution for an industry ready for a transition to a sustainable future, meeting and exceeding regulatory standards.

The winner of the Polyurethane Innovation Award is voted on by attendees of the Polyurethanes Technical Conference following the finalists’ presentations at the Opening Session. The winner will be announced during the Awards Luncheon on the conference’s last day.