More than just energy efficient
Stephen Nadin, MD of Endurance Doors, highlights the importance of the wider sustainability agenda and climate change when it comes to energy efficient entrance doors.
We’re a business that takes the whole sustainability agenda seriously given that we have a zero-landfill standard and effective from the beginning of 2021, an independently verified carbon balanced business thanks to our partnership with the World Land Trust.
We’re the only business in the door sector that has achieved these important standards and yet it’s part of a wider group remit to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Energy efficiency is part of our drive to achieve our lofty 2030 goals, while our doors are considerably more energy efficient than the first generation PVC-U and timber doors that they often replace. But to assess the performance of a door merely by U-value though is a misguided approach given that GRP composite doors for example carry a huge carbon footprint due to manufacturing processes, materials used and the impact of delivery via overseas container from the Far East.
An EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) for these imports would prove particularly unfavourable in contrast to an Endurance door with the solid timber core sourced from northern Finnish forests.
Furthermore, while a GRP door may have a slightly better headline U-value, it would realise a saving of just £7 a year against a modern timber door when the calculations are made based on an 80% efficient boiler. These statistics are part of a more in-depth study from the BWF (British Woodworking Federation).
When we consider the long-term relationship with Metsä Wood for the engineered timber door blanks, we know we are dealing with a world-class business that puts the climate first, given their Finnish origins. To put that into perspective, Metsä is committed to a sustainable future and will look to use only fossil-free raw materials by 2030 – it is already running at 97%.
Its timber is sourced from sustainably managed northern forests in Finland where growth exceeds use and most of the wood used comes from forests owned by Metsä Group’s 100,000 owner-members. Given that timber is a carbon sink, the amount of it that remains sequestered in the forests of the cooperative owners is around eight million tonnes a year, a positive environmental message.
In 2021, Metsä Group delivered approximately 35 million seedlings to Finnish forest owners – four seedlings are planted per each harvested tree in regeneration fellings. Passed in 1886, the Finnish Forestry Act is one of the oldest forest laws in the world and from the very beginning it has been founded on an obligation for forest renewal after felling.
They use every part of the tree from the stump to the top for the highest added value products and the efficient use of resources steers their operations. They process high value logs into engineered wood products, such as Kerto LVL which we use in all Endurance doors, including the ultra-premium Avantal range. All the used wood is also fully traceable and comes from certified or controlled forests.
Finnish forests also have a wider ecological role to play in the environment. The amount of decaying wood in a forest is actively increased by both the retention of decaying trees already there and the creation of new ones. Since 2020, forest owners have been encouraged to leave four high biodiversity stumps per hectare in all fellings. Since late 2016, all types of felling operations carried out by Metsä Group have included the creation of high biodiversity stumps. A high biodiversity stump starts decaying after a few years, benefiting fungi, insects and several forest-dwelling birds.
Our sustainability story and that of our timber partner Metsä Wood is part of the bigger picture and so the small energy efficiency differentials between doors has little meaning. Long-term performance, appearance, security and a wider sustainability programme are the key drivers for door sales today and also for tomorrow’s environmentally conscious consumer.
