Why wait to sell better products?
Asa McGillian, managing director of New World Developments and manufacturer of Apeer residential doors, discusses the responsibility of window and door manufacturers to step up to the plate and manufacture better performing products before regulations demand it of us, not after.
Prior to the publication of the Future Homes Standard, the window and door industry had high hopes that the required U-value would be changed to elevate industry performance.
Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and following on from this disappointment there is currently no revision of Approved Document L heading our way either. So, according to the regulations that govern us, we can carry on as we are for the foreseeable future, with no required uplift in U-values for windows and doors.
However, that’s not to say the industry should stop improving. Why wait for a change in regulations to offer better products? Why not manufacture the best we are able to now and deliver what we know homeowners need?
Of course, there are commercial realities that need to be observed when developing products but there is a tendency in large sections of the residential door industry to ‘stack em high, sell em cheap’ to first and foremost move large volumes of products.
The trouble is, this not only defines prices, but also performance. These products are produced to satisfy the minimum regulated performance levels, although research that we have carried out, suggests that even these minimum levels are not being met. It’s a shame we’re not doing better considering that it has always been within our means to produce windows and doors that perform better than the minimum regulations. This is especially true for residential doors in which the glass areas are generally smaller than for windows.
It’s a sad thing to say of an industry I’m a part of, but I don’t believe the sector is acting in the best interests of the homeowner and the only reason these companies are getting away with it is because consumers don’t realise there are far better performing doors available.
We have always taken a different approach at Apeer and instead of looking to Building Regulations to guide the performance of our products, we have instead looked to the best framework available. We believe this to be the sustainable design standards for buildings laid out by the PassivHaus Intitut.
It sets 0.89 W/m2K or better for residential doors which is the U-value I have always used to guide the performance of the windows and doors that we design and manufacture. We have managed to meet and even exceed those standards in products that offer excellent thermal performance in addition to being aesthetically attractive and at various price points.
It hasn’t always been easy and sometimes it could be argued this approach stood in the way of commercial realities, but we are now able to offer products that are so far over and above the performance of the rest of the market, our customers can genuinely stand out in a sea of mediocrity.
Last year we launched the Residence Door Collection by Apeer which offers an impressive 0.51 W/m2K for its solid doors, proving just what is possible now. And our Kärben Hybrid Aluminium Entrance Door Collection, believed to be the first residential entrance doors ever to use carbon fibre in its construction, offers a u-value of 1.1 W/m2K.
We want to send a message to the market, loud and clear, that higher performing products than the required 1.4 W/m2K are not only possible, but they are also available and affordable. We have worked hard to ensure we have higher performing options at every price point under the Apeer brand, with each of our performance options being guaranteed to provide the stated performance.
I’m pleased to say that I believe we are now able to combine the idealism of PassivHaus with commercial reality and have options for our installers to cater for a variety of requirements and price points, without compromising on quality or performance. Our philosophy is to give homeowners a choice because in my experience they will always choose better.
