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DOORS&WINDOWS
Has the window revolution arrived?
By Neil Puttock, Managing Director at Boavista Windows UK Ltd
» » AN AMERICAN ENGINEER
and professor by the name of
William Edwards Deming once
said, “Innovation comes from the
producer – not the customer.”
When it comes to the window
industry I couldn’t agree more.
After all, what is the incentive
for the customer to seek an
alternative to a tried, tested
and familiar products – and in
this context, I mean PVCu and
aluminium windows – when
those products do exactly what
is required of them: they let light
in, enable those inside to see out
and provide an adequate level of
security.
However innovation, like
evolution, plays a key role in not
only enabling us to adapt to the
constant changes and demands of
a continually changing world, but
also pre-empting those changes
and demands by developing
products and services that
significantly improve the lives of
those who use them.
The launch of Boavista,
Europe’s first full range of
fibreglass window frames that
set new industry standards in
sustainability, durability and
performance, is a perfect example
of this.
It is also a move that I believe
has the potential to disrupt the
current window supply and
install model by providing a
credible alternative to plastic and
aluminium. An alternative that
offers those who choose them
the opportunity to contribute
towards reducing the UK’s carbon
footprint without compromising
on design, function or form.
A GREEN WINDOW
OF OPPORTUNITY
From a sustainability
standpoint, fibreglass is far
superior than its PVC and
aluminium counterparts due to
its reliance on silica, which is
naturally found in abundance,
for its production compared with
the fossil fuels used to make PVC
windows - a resource that is both
heavily polluting and finite.
A Trend Monitor report,
entitled Five Key Trends which
will impact on the UK home
improvement industry in 2016,
highlighted how the millennial
consumer now looks beyond the
cost of a purchase, and is more
inclined to favour products that
are based on a circular business
model, use a minimal amount
of the earth’s valuable resources
and that are manufactured in a
such a way that designs out waste
throughout the lifecycle of the
product.
Using the latest in pultrusion
technology, fibreglass frames are
created by pulling resin-soaked
glass fibres through heated dies,
which only consumes 0.07
kilowatt to produce a linear
metre of window frame weighing
approximately 1kg.
96 » M AY 2017 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
At the point whereby the
windows need replacing, they can
simply be shredded into sections
and then mixed with concrete and
asphalt to deliver a lightweight,
stronger and crack and shrinkage-
resistant composite material – a
process that requires very low
energy to carry out.
DESIGNING OUT
COMPROMISE
In terms of design, fibreglass
opens up a world of possibilities
due to its strength and stability,
which enable it to hold large
surface areas of glass, bypassing
the need to produce and fit
specialist, structural glass.
From the perspective of an
architect or homeowner, fibreglass
frames support more adventurous
designs that would previously
have been prohibitive due to the
cost associated with incorporating
bespoke glazing solutions. Not
only that, but fibreglass also
expands in line with window
glass, removing the need for
unsightly gaskets to hold the pane
in place, adding aesthetic value to
a building.
Perhaps one of the most
striking features of a fibreglass
frame is that, despite weighing
half that of aluminium, it is
exceptionally hardwearing, highly
rot and corrosion resistant and
delivers a much longer lifecycle
than PVC and aluminium.
In fact, it is these factors that
have underpinned the material’s
success in parts of Europe and
Canada, countries that were quick
to harness the power of fibreglass
to counteract the weather-related
erosion that window frames in
coastal regions and harsh climates
are subject to.
Reducing the maintenance
associated with repainting – or
even replacing – windows in these
parts of the UK would not only
cut costs but also enhance the
local environments.
FUTUREPROOFING
THE UK
A House of Lords report
created by the Select Committee
on Economic Affairs entitled
Building More Homes concluded
that the government’s target
of one million new homes by
2020 will not be enough. More
importantly, it put forward the
case that in order to address the
housing crisis, at least 300,000
new homes are needed annually
for the foreseeable future.
This is by no means an
insignificant amount. If we are to
meet this target, then the annual
window footprint alone would be
considerable and the volume of
plastic and aluminium required
quite daunting.