Waving the flag for sustainability
Sternfenster’s managing director, Mike Parczuk, explains why he changed his mind about sustainability.
I have been in the window industry for 35 years, and Sternfenster has been in business continually for 50 years. In that time, I have introduced more efficient methods of fabrication, invested heavily in Investors in People (we are a Gold IIP business!), and we have a market-leading rolling new product development programme.
Despite this modern approach to window fabrication, I believed there were things you couldn’t change, including the fact that homeowners bought windows based on price, security, aesthetics, and energy efficiency – usually in that order. I said all the right things about sustainability, because it was good marketing, but I didn’t think it truly mattered.
I have since changed my mind.
In the last five years, I have seen the issue of sustainability rocket up the list of priorities at the point of sale.
When I visited Fensterbau in March, sustainability was a common theme in the discussions we had with suppliers, other window fabricators, and retail companies – not just from the UK, but all across Europe.
I also learned that not only are homeowners and specifiers more interested in sustainability, but it is a great way to differentiate yourselves. All the other window features are still vital, but they are typically standard features in most products, whereas products differ greatly in terms of embodied carbon and their overall impact on the environment.
I know this, because we have undergone a root and branch review of all our procedures since mid-2022, including a £400k investment in photovoltaic panels, which will provide more than a fifth of the energy our manufacturing processes consumes.
Our new PV array will produce 490,000kWh per year, offsetting 115,000kg of carbon in the process, and (with our existing set up) will produce around one third of our electricity needs.
Before the new solar panels were installed, we measured our impact on the environment, and we found that: 100% of our manufacturing waste is recycled; 100% of post-consumer waste is recycled; 24% of our aluminium is recycled; 20% of our current fleet is electric; and we had made a 7% overall reduction in carbon emissions in 2022.
From here, we set ourselves a set of sustainability goals, which included a commitment to: reduce carbon emissions at all stages; completely move to energy efficient lighting and heating; work with sustainable supply partners; increase the use of green energy; increase the use of electric vehicles; promote energy saving products to reduce CO2; and help customers follow a similar sustainable journey.
Since we already work with our suppliers to develop energy efficient, we are developing initiatives with companies like Deceuninck, Smart Systems, Saint-Gobain Glass, and Edgetech to work together to place greater importance on the environment and communicate this to the end user.
Thanks to our retail operation in Lincoln (Starglaze) we have developed a buy-back scheme, where old frames are recycled. This is something we plan to roll out among our wider customer base.
Our new website has a dedicated sustainability landing page, which has been developed to simply and effectively communicate our commitment to sustainability, and which provides the foundation for our continuing sustainability story.
I’m glad I changed my mind on sustainability, because it truly differentiates us as a business, and it is something our customers can use to successfully sell to their customers.
And when I had a homeowner in Lincoln approach me recently to ask if we produced a truly sustainable window, I confidently said “yes, follow me, and let me show you”.
