Owens Corning, Toledo, Ohio, has announced it will invest $36 million to add a nonwoven glass fiber
mat production line at its Aiken, S.C., facility, with the expectation of adding 24 jobs. The line
will manufacture materials for use in industrial and construction applications, and is scheduled to
be operational in mid-2012.

January/February 2011

Sattler AG, Austria, has acquired the Outdura® brand of solution-dyed acrylic canvas fabrics for
outdoor furniture, marine and awning applications from Shuford Mills LLC, Hickory, N.C., for an
undisclosed price. The deal includes Shuford Mills’ manufacturing operation and distribution center
in Hudson, N.C. Outdura is Shuford Mills’ sole product line. Sattler plans to invest $4.56 million
in the operation, now known as Outdura Corp., and will retain Shuford Mills’ current 60 employees
while expanding the operation’s facility and manufacturing systems, and adding 12 or more positions
over the next three years.

Prior to the Outdura acquisition, Sattler employed approximately 540 people globally and
annually produced more than 20 million square meters of fabric including membrane solutions for
architectural and industrial applications; sun-protective fabrics for tents and awnings, boat
covers, and other applications; and technical textiles for truck tarpaulins, advertising, hall and
booth, and other applications. The company’s headquarters and two other manufacturing operations
are located in Austria; and its Ceno Tec textile architecture subsidiary is located in Germany.

January/February 2011

The Hohenstein Institute and ITCF Denkendorf, the Institute for Textile Chemistry and Chemical
Fibers, both based in Germany, have developed a textile treatment that effectively screens out both
electromagnetic (EM) and infrared (IR) radiation. The treatment uses indium tin oxide (ITO), which
is integrated into or coated onto man-made fibers to provide the screening effect. Tests conducted
by researchers have shown the treatment is not biologically harmful, and that the treated textiles
are comfortable as well as wash-, abrasion- and weathering-resistant.

“These novel materials are not only extremely effective at screening radiation but they also
conduct electricity so they are anti-static,” said Dr. Edith Classen, project leader. “This makes
them ideal for use in Personal Protection Equipment for firemen, workers in foundries and welding
workshops, in the semiconductor industry or for maintenance staff working on telecommunications
systems.”

Classen also anticipates potential domestic and technical textile applications. “For example,
you could imagine making roller blinds which not only screen out solar radiation in summer to keep
the room cool, but at the same time also offer protection from the electromagnetic radiation from
mobile phone masts in the vicinity,” she said. ITO-treated textiles in military uniforms could make
the wearer invisible to IR cameras as well as provide protection from EM radiation.

In other news, Hohenstein Institute researchers have teamed with the Germany-based Institute
for Wood Technology and Research Institute of Leather and Plastic Sheeting to develop new types of
upholstery for use on public transport, car seats, easy chairs and mattresses that would offer
improved hygiene. The groups are studying the link between moisture accumulation and the
colonization of bacteria or fungi, and plan to create guidelines for material selection and
structural designs that would help transport moisture out of the upholstery.

January/February 2011