Sadleronline

Many organisations from various business sectors are looking to this year’s proposed Green Deal as a key element to boost the home improvement market, which hopefully it will but from what I am learning as I explore this opportunity it is not as straight forward as we might think.

The new meaning for Greenhouse

As a “Double Glazing” man, there is said it out loud, I am one of the many that hope it will give us something to get our teeth into but I think there is a lot more to it than knocking someone’s door and saying “ Want your windows done Mrs the Electric company will pay”.

I draw many similarities to the former Decent Home Scheme where the government stumped up a few quid in order to raise the standard of thousands of homes in the United Kingdom, unfortunately this scheme was scrapped due to cutbacks which left many of us with an empty order book.

This scheme was delivered through partnering which really meant main contractors and procurement agencies orchestrating the schemes not the SME are who actually did the work.

From what I see the products will be controlled into the market by The Green Deal providers who will do the Energy Survey arrange finance and control the supply chain and products into the installation, reading the criteria it appears a little out of reach for the average company.

In addition to this the method for repayment of the loan is measurable savings and meter feed in revenue so to me indicates that the key element of the whole scheme is Solar to provide an easy measurable repayment vehicle, can’t see windows alone doing this because the home owner would need to guarantee a reduction in energy and it may not meet the financial model for repayment.

My advice to my fellow “Double Glaziers” is get your products certified and performing to the best thermal efficiency and security possible our Protherm Windows are available with Secured by Design with a U Value of 0.8W/m2K and our Prodoor Composite Door at 1.0W/m2K and we will continue strive to do better.

Review your own business practices and its carbon footprint because this will play a part in the decision making process by the big boys because it is how they are scored also.

Then get yourself amongst the market leaders and let them know you can offer a good local service because part of the overview will be local sustainability and social impact so don’t ignore it, call me a tree hugger but every application and tender I submit focuses on sustainability and we enforce it throughout our working practices.

If you just focus on being “in the game” with the bigger organisations who provide The Green Deal then I believe you will reap some rewards but don’t wait until October or it might be too late.

Good Luck

Alan Sadler

Protherm Energy Saving Window

With so much of focus on environmental decline and economical pressure its good to have some good news that will go some way to help both issues. Over the last 2 years The Profix Group have been developing a new product range ready for the new challenges our market has to face. With the help from Duraflex, Pilkington, Saintg-Gobain,Edgetech and the BFRC working with BSI we have developed a range of windows that will directly consumers.

Energy Saving Trust Approved

The new “Pro-Therm” window embraces all what is needed for a good Social Housing and Domestic window with added environmental benefits, the specification we have created exceeds current and proposed building regulations but gives added qualities that not only adds value to your product selection but will save you money and reduce Carbon emissions.

Profix have developed the Pro-Therm window range for the social housing specifier and Homeowner which includes ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ rated windows under the UK’s Window Energy Ratings (WERs) scheme and can also boast considerable green credentials too, in addition to this the Pro-Therm range is approved by the Energy Saving Trust.

Run by the British Fenestration Rating Council (BFRC), the WERs form part of the UK’s national system for rating the energy efficiency of windows and is recognised within the Building Regulations. PVCu windows also carry an A+ rating in the new online Green Guide to specification and the Pro-Therm window profiles are also extruded using an environmentally-friendly lead-free compound.

A Rated Window

The installation of Pro-Therm ‘A’ rated windows can help save up to £250 per year on energy billsand around 1.7 tonnes of CO₂ emissions within an average domestic building. For those involved in social housing there could be considerable savings to be made by cutting expensive utility costs and a strong commitment to reducing carbon emissions. 

Pro-Therm windows carry some of the sector’s greenest credentials for a PVCu window along with Profix’s BS EN ISO 14001 Environmental standard, product Kitemarks, Secured by Design accreditations and offer the best value in the long term with an overall life cycle expectancy of 35 years. The windows also offer up to a 2dB reduction in noise and up to 70% less condensation through the use of Super Spacer^®.

The life cycle expectancy is supported by a 15 year profile warranty, 20 year sealed unit warranty and the hardware and fixings have successfully undergone salt spray testing and performs in excess of BS EN 1670 Grade 5 and come with a 15 year warranty. 

Alan Sadler