Owens Corning and AGY Recipients of JEC Infrastructure Award

PARIS, France, 11, April 2002– Owens Corning Telecommunication Solutions, in conjunction with AGY, will receive the Infrastructure Award from the JEC Composites Show at its award ceremony during the 2002 JEC Expo, in Paris, France

Owens Corning and AGY, Advanced Glassfiber Yarns, LLC, which is a joint venture of Owens Corning and Groupe Porcher Industries, have collaborated in developing the award winning design. The cost-effective pultruded central strength member is an application for Fiber Optic Cabling and utilizes a new high-performance glass called “VeTron”. This new glass uses a proprietary Boron-free composition that is environmentally friendly, and provides better mechanical properties than other glass fibers. Owens Corning and AGY’s new production technology allows splice-free length up to 30km, with higher fiber contents and consistent diameter along the length.

“The novel central strength member not only meets the traditional needs for tensile and anti-buckling requirements, but delivers significantly more strength per unit cross sectional area, relative to existing

E-glass rods,” said Raymund Trost, vice president and general manager, OC™ Telecommunication Solutions, Owens Corning. “This new rod allows the total cable diameter to be significantly reduced, enabling the cable installer to lower installation costs by utilizing existing underground ducts where traditionally designed cables cannot be installed.”

OCTM Telecommunication Solutions is one of the leading global suppliers of reinforcement systems for telecommunications cables. In addition to central strength members, product offerings also include reinforcements for drop wire, optical cable and premises cable applications.

Owens Corning is a world leader in building materials systems and composites systems. Founded in 1938, the company had sales of $4.8 billion in 2001 and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. Additional information is available on Owens Corning’s Web site at www.owenscorning.com or by calling the company’s toll-free General Information line: 1-800-GETPINK.

Advanced Glassfiber Yarns, LLC (AGY) is an independent joint venture, established by Owens Corning and Groupe Porcher Industries in 1998. AGY provides the best quality, highest performance fiberglass yarns to a wide variety of markets and end uses.