Leading the charge to Net Zero
By Gary Driscoll, sales and commercial director at Eurocell.
This year marks 25 years for the UK to achieve its Net Zero targets and the pressure is rising on all sectors to play their part in reducing carbon emissions to meet them.
We know the fenestration industry has a big role to play and there’s a real opportunity to build momentum this year.
The industry and homeowners are on the same page, though there are many big challenges ahead to make sustainable practice in the design, manufacture and the recycling of old home improvement products, the industry norm. These challenges include access to materials, the associated costs and finding the right skills – so innovation is going to be absolutely key to overcoming these.
Research shows that sustainability is an increasing priority for 75% of homeowners, 24% ranked ‘responsible sourcing’ as the most important factor when making home improvements and 15% are prioritising longevity or buying locally. There is certainly a desire from the market to meet these expectations through the innovations that are coming forward.
Introducing Neovyn to Modus
At the end of 2024, we became the first systems house to incorporate Neovyn, a low-carbon PVC resin, into our premium window system, Modus, underscoring our commitment to sustainability.
Neovyn’s GHG (greenhouse gas) footprint is set at 1.3 kg CO2 eq/kg PVC, 37% lower than the EU industry average, directly reducing scope 3 emissions for customers who supply and install our Modus system.
This new material not only reflects Eurocell’s commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of our products and advancing innovations in sustainable building products, but also marks an important milestone towards meeting both our, and our customers’, legal obligations in sustainable building practices.
Cost, as mentioned, is a notable challenge associated with more sustainable practice, which is why we absorbed the increased costs associated with Neovyn’s introduction, ensuring that these benefits come at zero cost to our fabricators, so we can support them, their installers and the wider supply market.
Modus is well known for its energy-efficient profiles with U-values as low as 0.76 W/m²K, which makes it an ideal choice for new build, commercial sectors and for retrofitting. With its exceptional performance, our continued efforts to make its manufacture more sustainable, alongside our commitment to recycling, means installers have a major opportunity to sell the benefits of Modus and PVC-U to conscious homeowners.
When you look at the colour foil options available, the performance and longevity of PVC-U, you can see why it still holds the crown for the best material for windows and doors and why a system like Modus ticks all the boxes for homeowners.
Recycling PVC-U is more important than ever
The addition of Neovyn into the manufacturing materials doesn’t alter our ability to recycle the PVC-U profile at end of life either – this was crucial for us, as we have an extensive and leading PVC-U recycling program.
PVC-U can be repurposed up to 10 times without compromising the quality, so we operate a closed-loop process, ultimately giving much of the PVC-U material we use a lifespan of up to 350 years. Through our recycling initiatives, in 2023 alone, we are able to save the equivalent of approximately 3 million window frames from landfill. The business operates a closed-loop recycling system to ensure that waste PVC-U can be reused, significantly reducing environmental impact.
We are also continuing to innovate in recycling best practice too, to support the industry with its sustainability efforts. Through a recent partnership with Biffa waste management services, we successfully trialled a domestic PVC-U collection service, simplifying the recycling process and ensuring even more materials are repurposed into new products through our closed-loop process. We expect to roll out further trials this year.
The challenge ahead to meet Net Zero
Nearly a third of all carbon emissions are emitted from homes and workspaces in the UK, with energy inefficiency a significant contributor to this. The scale of the issue is laid bare when we look at EPC data with 56.78% of UK households falling into EPC D or under, and an additional 30.93% rated C; meaning potentially over 21 million homes in the UK fall below modern higher energy efficiency standards.
Our customers are in a unique position to promote the sustainability of products, like Modus, to support homeowners’ desire for more energy efficient homes and more sustainable products. In the years to come, high-performing, sustainable products will likely become the products of choice, especially within those market segments with higher disposable income.
As an industry, there is a clear desire to make the design and manufacture of windows and doors more sustainable and we know the products to improve the energy performance of the UK housing stock already exist. We look forward to seeing further innovations in sustainability come to the market in 2025.