Today for tomorrow
Kömmerling’s re-brand is now 12 months old, and the strapline ‘Today for Tomorrow’ has never been so pertinent, as Robert Thiroff, managing director of Profine UK and executive director international markets explains.
Our global brand was a radical change to the traditional branding for Kömmerling that had served so well for decades.
Gone are the safe colours of deep blue and silver, replaced by those earthy tones inspired by the sun and sea and so this new identity is one for ‘today and for tomorrow’ too.
Much has changed over the last few years at Profine UK with our Kömmerling and other associated brands, including Greenline and Warmcore. We continue to invest heavily at our Huthwaite facility including the recent opening of the design centre.
The site has undergone a multi-million pound investment programme, with more to come thanks to the considerable resources of Profine Group.
Our commitment to the environment and the world at large grows at a pace too and our Better World Stiftung foundation continues to support community events and projects from across the world. Our Ukraine relief campaign, that has involved the entire Profine family of colleagues, partners, customers and suppliers, has donated a total of 589,000 euros so far, an incredible achievement.
While we were the first main PVC-U systems company to go lead-free back in 2002, with our exclusive Greenline compound, we followed this up by becoming the first company in the window industry to receive ‘Zero Pellet Loss’ certification in 2018. Initiated by the pro-K industry association, this programme and ‘Operation Clean Sweep’ are part of the plastic industry’s global effort to keep plastic out of the ocean.
We have implemented numerous technical measures and process changes to minimise or prevent pellets from our production facilities getting into the wastewater and thus the oceans.
The use of energy has also been something that’s been under consideration by the group for some time, and so Profine Energy was launched back in 2022.
The task of Profine Energy is to make the 29 locations of the Profine Group in 23 countries largely independent of electricity price fluctuations and the large energy companies that implement them, through our own photovoltaic systems, and we’ve already plans in place to transform the Huthwaite site to this effect in the years to come.
Today for Tomorrow also fully reflects our product range and thought process with future technologies and design principles.
We were well ahead of the curve when we launched Kömmerling 76 back in 2019 in the UK, with a PVC-U system that was designed to accommodate triple glazing right from the outset. Chambered legs, a centre seal and 5/6 chambers in the frame, transom and sash have all added to the energy efficiency credentials of this next generation platform with the casement window variant achieving a U-value of 0.80 W/(m2K) with a standard 48mm IGU.
Sharing the same platform as our European systems we also have an incredible array of ancillaries too.
Warmcore is also a platform for the future, again designed with triple glazing in mind with the window variants achieving a U-value of 0.80 W/(m2K) with a standard 48mm IGU. As a business we’re investing ‘today for tomorrow’ and for our important customer partners that means they have complete confidence that whatever the changes in building regulations, we’ll be ready far quicker than most.
With legislation for The Future Homes Standard likely to be passed next year prior to becoming law in 2025 for all new housing, the suggestion is that this will cascade down to the replacement and domestic markets thereafter. We’re ready, but what of the other systems companies?
Ultimately what we do today will influence what happens tomorrow and our brand mantra has never rung so true. From what we do from a corporate and social responsibility perspective to our sustainability, resource and material efficiencies and through to our product platforms, Kömmerling and other associated brands is doing today what is most important to our stakeholders for tomorrow.
