Kömmerling: Lead-free since 2001

Environmental issues which are very much at the forefront for social housing specifiers at the moment, include energy efficiency of the installed window, and green aspects of its entire lifecycle covering manufacture and recyclability.

For example, the fact that all Kömmerling window profile in the UK has been totally lead-free since 2001, has been a dominant factor in a high proportion of enquiries to Kömmerling from local authorities keen to install the most environmentally-sound PVC-U windows available during the last four years, according to National Sales and Marketing Manager Dan Whalley.

The environmental aspects of lead stabilisers have long been critically questioned.

As a result, Kömmerling – a LAPFAG ‘Approved Supplier’ – carried out research for several years to find a formula that meets the performance of lead, while being environmentally sound; and introduced lead-free profile into the UK in 2001 – nine years ahead of the Vinyl 2010 requirements regarding lead stabilisers, and ahead of other system suppliers in the UK.

And since Kömmerling first brought lead-free windows to the UK, many of its fabricators have signed up to the brand’s unique GreenLine Convention, as a mark of their commitment to environmental protection. GreenLine – a registered Kömmerling trademark – is the name given to the brand’s lead-free PVC-U window profile, guaranteeing a high degree of environmental responsibility.

‘It’s self-imposed responsibility, which is the most effective means of environmental protection. Windows carrying the GreenLine symbol show that both Kömmerling and the fabricator have voluntarily met strict green guidelines, starting with extrusion, going right through to installation,’ says Dan Whalley.

Recycling

Underlying this convention is a contract stipulating the conditions that must be met by fabricators in order to use the GreenLine trademark. It provides specifiers, contractors and end-users with written confirmation that the windows cause the absolute minimum environmental impact.

The GreenLine Convention has been particularly useful in helping to secure contracts with environmentally-aware organisations such as local authorities and housing associations. ‘And installers say a lot more of their retail customers are becoming much more environmentally aware when making buying choices.’

Local authorities have been fitting lead-free windows for four years

As a thermo-plastic, PVC-U can be easily and effectively recycled, which is another target of Vinyl 2010. Window profile recycling is a reality throughout Europe with several companies operating recycling plants.

At the moment, however, there are only small quantities of PVC-U windows available for recycling – generally obtained when a building is demolished.

But as we’re now starting to see a trend of replacing the replacements, thanks to modern developments in window and security technology, and changes in design, fashion and taste, PVC-U windows are now being replaced before the natural end of their life. This means that the UK industry could soon have an abundance of old windows for recycling.

More local authority specifiers are now coming to understand that PVC-U has 50 years of clear success behind it, and that time and time again more detailed examination of some of the extreme claims made against it by environmentalists prove them to be exaggerated or based on misconception.

U values

In fact, PVC-U windows are actually helping to safeguard the environment, because of their good thermal properties that easily achieve the U-value of 2.0 W/m2K stipulated in the Building Regulations, their readily-available raw materials, and the fact that their manufacture consumes only a small amount of energy.

And some PVC-U systems are now achieving even greater energy efficiency than that laid down in the Building Regulations. Independent testing showed that Kömmerling’s Connoisseur system achieved a whole window U-value of 1.8 W/m2K utilising Pilkington K Glass.

With Building Regulations stipulating a u-value of 2.0 W/m2K or lower in England and Wales, u-values in Scotland have already been reduced to 1.8 W/m2K – a move which Kömmerling believes may well be copied in England and Wales within the next few years.