Kingspan Light + Air North America’s innovations are reshaping architecture and sustainability
Driven by innovation, sustainability, and customer-centric service, Kingspan Light + Air North America (KLA) brings fresh design and functionality to life in the lighting and ventilation sectors. Based in Lake Forest, Illinois, KLA leverages the global reach of its parent company, Kingspan Group, while maintaining strong local customer service and accessibility. Alongside its brand partner, Solatube International, KLA specializes in optimizing the integration of natural daylight and air into building design to enhance occupant well-being by producing high-performance daylighting, ventilation, and roof safety systems.
We take a deep dive into the company’s journey with Richard Gunn, President of KLA’s fenestration division. 
“At the very top of our business structure is Kingspan Group, a major global business headquartered in Ireland that has grown significantly over the years. Originally, Kingspan Group focused on insulation and insulated panels and later ventured into various markets, including what KLA North America now covers. KLA was established through a series of strategic acquisitions, starting with Bristolite Daylighting Systems in 2016, one of the largest commercial and industrial skylight providers in the U.S. This was followed by the acquisition of CPI Daylighting in 2017, SKYCO Skylights in 2019 and Major Industries in 2021, a Wisconsin-based company specializing in translucent daylighting systems and skylights.
“As a result, KLA now consists of three main divisions: the fenestration business, which I currently manage; the skylight division, focusing on modular and standard, smaller skylights; and the Solatube International division, also acquired in 2021. In other terms, KLA is an amalgamation of these acquisitions, which we are now unifying into a single cohesive business by synchronizing processes and integrating it into the broader Kingspan family,” he enlightens.
Flexible options
Equipped with the various product portfolios from its three units, KLA currently provides a broad range of products to customers in North America.
“Within our fenestration arm, we offer translucent panels, canopies, translucent walls, and monumental skylights. The latter are large translucent panel systems that can be found in shopping centers and span across the entirety of the building. What sets our fenestration business apart from competitors is that we provide three different material types – fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP), polycarbonate, and glass – that can be used in canopies, walls, and skylights, allowing clients to choose from these flexible options.
“The Solatube International division features its Tubular Daylighting Devices (TDDs), an incredible product that is often underutilized and underrecognized in the market. Effectively, TDDs serve as a troubleshooter for bringing natural daylight into various types of properties, namely residential, commercial and educational, offering a multitude of opportunities. These tubular daylighting systems (also known as tubular skylights) capture daylight on the roof and tunnel it down through tubing made of the world’s most reflective material to provide daylight to areas beyond the reach of windows, doors, or traditional skylights. Additionally, TDDs are designed to easily maneuver around obstructions – and can tunnel sunlight to different floors of a building without the need for structural changes,” he continues.
“Our skylight division offers unit skylights with polycarbonate and acrylic glazing as well as smoke vents for commercial and industrial applications such as manufacturing plants. These skylights are standardized, more compact, and delivered fully pre-made and pre-assembled for quick installation. In contrast, our fenestration division focuses on large, made-to-order products,” Richard elaborates.
Innovative product
A recent addition to this already vast product range is KLA’s KlearSky glass skylights, which Richard tells us about.
“KlearSky, which has earned numerous prestigious industry awards over the past months, is an innovation released within our fenestration business. It’s an aesthetically pleasing, premium product, the kind that customers are typically willing to pay more for. It is made of high-performance glass, either low-emissivity or laminated, and boasts a variety of features such as internal guttering that proactively manages moisture and condensation in buildings. In contrast to polycarbonate or FRP systems, which are translucent and feature structural support as part of the panels, KlearSky glass glazing offers fewer visual interruptions and clear views of the sky.
“Still, the most revolutionary aspect of KlearSky for our customers is the QuickLink purlin connection it contains. This component significantly reduces the need for fasteners, consequently speeding up the installation time. Architects love KlearSky from an aesthetic standpoint while installers benefit from easier installation than any other similar product on the market, which is what makes it so unique. Recently, we have invested in a pre-assembled option that’s delivered ready to install, whereas our custom systems are assembled on site,” he informs.
Turning to the vital topic of sustainability, Richard sheds light on KLA’s internal sustainability initiatives.
“I am proud of the level of investment we continue to dedicate to sustainability. Undeniably, not all initiatives provide high returns because our primary focus is minimizing our environmental impact. For instance, our fleet of vehicles consists entirely of electric vehicles (EVs), which are not always the least expensive. Additionally, our most significant investment, totaling millions of dollars, was in installing solar panels on the roofs of our plants in Wausau, Wisconsin and Lake Forest, Illinois.
“When it comes to day-to-day operations, we consider the environmental aspects of our full supply chain. There is a growing emphasis on sustainability, particularly among architects, who carefully consider the environmental impact of products when selecting materials, seeking environmental product declarations (EPDs), and accurate information about the source of materials and their origin.
“As a whole Group, Kingspan is committed to Planet Passionate, our 10-year sustainability program aimed at positively impacting climate change, circularity and nature protection. Through Planet Passionate, we are determined to reduce our manufacturing carbon emissions (CO2e) to as close to zero as technically possible, ultimately helping us to deliver products with lower embodied carbon (LEC) to the construction industry.
“At KLA, we have been using EPDs to help identify areas where we can reduce our products’ environmental footprint – such as selecting more sustainable raw materials, optimizing supply chains, and improving waste management practices,” Richard concludes.