Energy efficient platform

Gareth Jones, managing director of Profine UK and the Kömmerling brand, looks at the enhanced energy efficiency credentials of its new outward opening System 76, that also benefits from proEnergyTec and aluminium hybrid technologies.

There’s a realistic limit as to what can be achieved with a typical 70mm PVCU window in terms of energy efficiency, and we’re limited by profile design, platform depth and the commercial realities of glass specifications.

Indeed, our own System 70 has achieved an impressive U_w value of 1.2W/m²k double glazed with full reinforcement, but the market is moving to lower values and any future change in Building Regulations will fully reflect this.

Consumers are faced with daily pressures and media influence to reduce our respective carbon footprints, while all car manufacturers are now in a race to develop electric and hybrid car technologies with a 300 mile range to rival that of Tesla. It also makes budgetary sense to help reduce heating bills with the average gas bill for a three or four-bedroom house at £48 a month, or £572 a year, according to UK Power.

Our new System 76 platform has been designed for today and for the future and is a stand out product in a market that’s saturated with 70mm windows, some of which still rely on dated three and four chambered designs. It’s five and six chambered throughout with pseudo-chambers, and there’s an optional centre seal on the outer frame for improved energy efficiency, along with creating a barrier against wind, rain and noise.

We can achieve typical U_w values of 1.0W/m²k with a double glazed System 76 casement window, and it’s been designed to accommodate triple glazing as standard with a number of glazing bead design options. This new platform also includes a sash design that’s flush inside and out, satisfying the demand for a high performance variant of this opening style, while there is also a fully reversible option in the 76mm platform.

In the tilt and turn variant we have even been able to achieve a U_w value of 0.73W/m²k using pre-foamed proEnergyTec outer frame profiles, and this is reduced further with the externally flush aluminium hybrid option of AluClip Pro, which offers energy efficiency credentials through a U_w value of 0.69W/m²k. These designs and technologies have helped Kömmerling build an outstanding reputation in Europe with architects and building material specifiers.

The product specification of System 76 also includes a complete range of ancillaries, as the platform is used throughout Europe in various guises. We’ve also taken the opportunity to introduce a number of profile colours and woodgrains not available on System 70 along with the introduction of the pioneering surface colouring technology of proCoverTec in 22 colours and four new metallics. This will provide our customers with further unique selling propositions and we’ll be supporting them with a new range of marketing literature.

For the purposes of the UK market and our outward opening window legacy as a nation, System 76 is a marked improvement in profile and system design. We have to consider that we’re now replacing 70mm windows and so the sales opportunity to offer a better performing window is more than just compelling when you add in the other system features.

With a number of our fabricators now starting to manufacture System 76, including the new aluminium hybrid variants, installers now have the opportunity to offer something that is not only genuinely new, but is a platform for the next decade and beyond. It incorporates far better levels of energy efficiency and sound reduction, while offering a number of different design combinations and finishes including new flat foils, dual colours and the proCoverTec surface colouring technology.