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AUGUST 2014 PRO INSTALLER
PRO REGS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
BRE – Recognised Authority on
Research, Testing and Standards
for the building industry
BRE has been around for over 90 years and in that time has become a nationally
and internationally recognised, renowned and trusted brand set up to improve the
UK’s building and homes, through research, testing and development of standards.
John Warburton was recently
appointed to the role of ‘Sector Manager’ for Windows
and Doors and Pro Installer
Magazine has invited John
to give our readers a regular
in-sight into the importance
and impact British Standards
and other Building Regulations on builders and installers.
The History of BRE
Dating back to the early 1920’s,
some of BRE’s earliest work
focussed on the behaviour of
reinforced concrete in floors and
the development of the British
Standard for bricks – the UK’s first
standard for construction materials.
In 1997, like many other
Government-funded research
laboratories, BRE was privatised.
The organisation now consists
of three main companies; BRE
Expert, offers impartial research,
knowledge and advice for the
built environment sector, BRE
Global ensure that fire, security,
environmental and other products
and services provide the quality
of performance and protection
that they should and BRE Venture
brings together innovators, networks and funding streams, all of
which are owned by the parent
company BRE Trust, a registered
charity.
Profits made by the BRE companies are gift-aided to the BRE
Trust, who in turn invest in built
environment related research
and education for public benefit.
The Trust has a network of six
university centres of excellence it
supports (five in the UK and one
in Brazil), including the funding
of PhD studentships.
These university centres carry
out research related to the signifi-
cant challenges faced by the built
environment, for example; how
we adapt our buildings to the
effects of climate change, how we
drive down carbon emissions and
how we reduce the amount of
waste that goes to landfill.
Based on a 70-acre site in Watford with a number of specialist
testing facilities and world leading experts, BRE has the capability and infrastructure to offer
all manner of function testing
for windows and doors (security,
weather, fire, acoustic, thermal).
Its sister company BRE Global
also offer certification services
under the LPCB fire and security
brand and other schemes.
In 2005, BRE created an ‘Innovation Park’ at their site, a
mini-demonstration community of
homes and buildings developed
to trial and test out futuristic, sustainable and innovative designs,
products and materials. Some of
the first triple glazed windows
were trialled on these buildings
(almost ten years ago), along with
innovations like evacuated glass.
BRE Today
BRE’s sustainable products team
also provide a variety of profiling
and modelling services to help
companies understand how they
might improve the environmental
performance of their products.
These Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA) methodologies support the
BREEAM environmental standard
for buildings.
BRE also developed BES 6001
the responsible sourcing standard which provides a holistic
approach to managing a product
from the point at which component materials are mined or harvested, through manufacture and
processing. It addresses aspects
such as stakeholder engagement,
labour practices and the management of supply chains serving
materials sectors upstream of the
manufacturer.
After disasters like the collapse
of the Bangladeshi clothing factory, customers want to know about
the ethics of the product they are
investing in. BRE can help the
fenestration industry look at the
whole range of issues from performance through to responsible
sourcing. Our mission is to help
our clients build a better world for
the future.
For more information contact
John Warburton 0333 3218811.
www.bre.co.uk
Next Month Article Issue
John will report on ‘Fire
Escape and how Building
Regulations affect us’