Johns Manville

Johns Manville is a Denver-based maker of insulation, commercial roofing systems and engineered products, and it’s been a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary since 2001. The company traces its history to 1858, when Henry Ward Johns started making roofing in the basement of a New York City tenement. It now runs 44 manufacturing plants across North America and Europe and sells into more than 80 countries. Product lines include building, mechanical, HVAC and industrial insulation, TPO, PVC, EPDM and modified bitumen roofing, and glass fibers and nonwovens. On Jan. 11, 2027, JM is raising prices on its mechanical, HVAC and industrial insulation by 5% to 12%, with fiberglass pipe insulation and duct liner up 10%, and it says it may limit orders placed ahead of the increase.

Johns Manville runs three distinct businesses, and which one you are dealing with changes the conversation entirely.

Insulation is the largest. It splits into building insulation (residential, commercial, metal building and Canadian lines), mechanical and HVAC insulation, industrial insulation, and OEM insulation sold into other manufacturers’ products. The OEM segments are specific: aerospace, appliance, HVAC equipment, office interiors, transportation, specialty and facings. GoBoard tile backer board sits alongside these as a finished building product rather than an insulation line.

Commercial roofing is the second. The membrane range covers TPO, PVC, EPDM, SBS, APP, built-up and liquid-applied systems, and the supporting catalogue extends to roof insulation and cover boards, fasteners and plates, coatings and specialty products. For contractors, the relevant programme is JM Peak Advantage, the company’s contractor programme; for designers and specifiers there is a separate BURSI continuing education track, along with submittal, spec and detail libraries and a Codes Corner.

Engineered products is the third and least visible. Nonwovens, reinforcement fiberglass and filtration and separation media end up inside carpet tiles, ceiling tiles, gypsum board, LVT and other resilient flooring, roofing shingles and lead-acid batteries, as well as in wind energy and waterproofing applications. A recent addition, StarStran 642, is aimed at durability and weather resistance in polyethylene composites.

Leadership is changing. The company announced that Bob Wamboldt will retire and John Vasuta becomes president and CEO effective August 1, 2026.

Two further notes for buyers. Federal and federally funded work often turns on domestic sourcing, and JM runs a Build America, Buy America request process plus a product certification page to support it. And for anyone sourcing by location rather than catalogue, the company publishes separate insulation and commercial roofing locators alongside its plant list. Its stated core values are People, Passion, Perform and Protect, with careers posted across North America, Germany and Slovakia.