Guest post by Roger Hartshorne in response to Martin Randall’s recent post
I agree with all of your comments and sentiments, and congratulations on your new appointment within the GGF. I have read this website over the last 12 months and noted the comments without a response, however I think now is the time to make one or two points.
One of the major developments in recent times must be Lead Free Profile. Some system companies have either avoided the change or just chose not to do it. Lead Free petrol was launched to reduce pollution, everyone who buys petrol now buys lead free because its the right thing to do, some systems companies still supply lead stabilised window profiles, why?????. The only reason can be commercial gain for short term profit. Just imagine if you had to put the green skull and crossbones on your adverts for windows and imagine the conversations to explain this to Joe Public.
The systems companies have been guilty of not supplying new products over the last 3 or 4 years due to the constraints of reccession. Innovation has stalled, but this has been fed by the fabricators just wanting to buy cheap. I have met numerous fabricators who know that the system they fabricate is outdated, lead stabilised, restricted in terms of thermal performance, but cheap. This just allows the system companies to avoid expensive change of either tools, raw materials or both. Ultimately, who will lose out?
If you look at other industries then change and improvement is driven by the customer, everyone now accepts that their new fridge has an energy rating, every one accepts that your new fridge is fully recyclable without any nasty gases inside, yet why oh why do some fabricators keep knocking old outdated windows with no energy rating, made with soon to be illegal metal inside? Come on lads rather than moan about the market, look forward and embrace change and help push it forward rather than being dragged along.
Regards
Roger Hartshorne
http://liniar.co.uk/
Tags: lead free uPVC, lead free window profile, lead-free windows, liniar profile, liniar windows, roger hartshorne
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Sounds like you are trying to sell your product to me. Customers buy energy rated fridges because they have no other option, if they did have that option and it was cheaper what percentage would by energy rated fridges then.
There is a clear but unintentional linkage between the thrust of this article and the seriously mis-informed ‘Dia’ who in a linked article a couple of days ago, implied that upvc sent for landfill was bad for the environment because it leached noxious substances and even affected his breathing!
What ever the technical merits of unleaded over leaded stabilizers people within the industry should be more responsible and not over state their case for purely commercial reasons .
Scaremongering the public ,who by and large are not best informed to make detailed technical judgments runs the risk of rubbishing ALL upvc by association. Such confusion will be readily exploited by others such as the timber lobby for their own ends.
If the analogy with unleaded petrol is pursued then it must be realized that all exhaust fumes are ultimately bad for you what ever the fuel!!
I haven’t really folllowed the argument about lead in profiles ,I understand the car issue , as millions of people living near roads end up breathing the lead (and lots of other) fumes, I am not sure where the issues are in window frames, maybe if we didn’t all lick our windows clean we wouldn’t be so exposed to it
. As for the energy rating issue , well we are all having the p**s taken out of on that one. Any argument that promotes the current WER system has one major flaw………. an assumption that the WER scheme is actually based on facts!!!.
Have I gone back in time? “One of the major developments in recent times must be Lead Free Profile” I guess that depends on what you class as recent… Overlooking the fact that the BPF member PVC-U Systems Companies have worked extremely hard in recent years to improve the sustainability credential of PVC-U through working on recycling initiatives, BRE Green Guide, responsible spourcing to name but a few, and like them or loathe them BFRC WER’s have had a far greater industry impact than lead free profile.
Lead free… The BPF member PVC-U Systems Companies subscribed to the Vinyl 2010 Commitment long ago and as a result The audited results show that 194,950 tonnes of PVC were recycled in 2008, a year-on-year 30% increase on the levels for post-consumer PVC recycling. The replacement of lead-based stabilisers surpassed 50 percent, two years ahead of its 2010 commitment.
Whilst it is commendable that you are extruding ‘lead free’ profile to imply that by doing so Liniar are single saving the world is misguided at best, I would add to this that far from innovation stalling, there have been more technological advances in the industry over the last 4-5 years than ever before.
The Issue of lead free profile is insignificant when compared to the importance of utilising first generation PVC-U windows and improving the sustainable credentials of PVC-U as a material using the stabiliser argument could be counter productive and damaging to the industry as a whole.
There seems to be contradictory policies. We’re drilling holes in energy efficient windows for trickle vents and fitting lead free conservatories and flashing them with lead