Sustainability is stepping up – are you ready?
Sustainability is a popular ‘buzzword’, but, according to the participants of a roundtable held by Deceuninck, it’s currently secondary to delivery and cost. But is the tide about to turn – and will the window and door industry be ready?
For some years now, ‘sustainability’ has been the defining theme of the construction space – but is it as vital to winning commercial work as we’ve been led to believe?
According to the participants of a recent roundtable, organised by PVC-U systems house Deceuninck, the answer, perhaps surprisingly, is ‘no’.
Instead, price and lead times are identified as the main pressure points currently applied to fabricators by commercial clients, as Paul Moody, commercial director at Nottingham window and door manufacturer, Fastframe UK, explains.
“You’ve got to meet compliance, but generally when we’re approaching [clients] with tenders, the first question we get back is ‘what are the options to value engineer and get the price down?’,” he says.
For Kerry Taylor, managing director at Hull-based modular building component manufacturer, CB Solutions, lead time is “absolutely critical”.
“Lead time is huge for us at the moment,” she confirms. “Every question before price is, ‘how soon can you deliver?’.”
The participants agree that while sustainability is a key “buzzword” in the commercial space, delivery and cost currently take precedent.
For Joe Hague, international business development director at machinery supplier, Forel UK & Ireland, the prioritisation of sustainability will require a straightforward and cost-considered approach:
“The industry just needs to be ready to provide an energy-related product that can meet the demands of the consumer, the legislation, not make it too onerous in manufacturing, and make sure that the cost envelope doesn’t go beyond the level that is punitive to everybody involved,” he says.
While for Kerry, public awareness is key – “I think there needs to be an education to the end-user to get them on board and accept a lower U-value and the cost increase associated with that,” she says – Paul highlights awareness among the commercial sector itself:
“We’ve got to try and get the message across to the developers that sustainability is as important as cost and specification,” he says. “Because at the moment, everybody’s just considering today; cost today, deliver it today, and we’re all okay.
“We’re not thinking about the future. And that’s what we’ve got to try to do.”
But are things about to change? Kerry suggests, with anecdotal evidence, that they could be.
“The [sustainability] buzzword has always been there,” she says. “[But] recently people have started to ask for the data and show an interest.
“It is literally because people have been scrambling to win the work that has been ready to go [following the backlog and subsequent release of Gateway 2 projects], and they’ve had to go that little bit further to try and get it.”
With early stakeholder engagement a strong element of Deceuninck’s commercial proposition, roundtable chair and Deceuninck’s UK head of commercial and cpecification Sales, Peter Dyer, also believes that the tide is turning:
“I was with a local authority a few weeks ago and I was told directly by the head of procurement that sustainability will play a massive part, going forward,” he says.
“Fabricators and installers who can balance compliance, cost and delivery with sustainability will be in the strongest position to win the work, and at Deceuninck, we are looking at our strategy to make sure that we’re future-proof.”
Backed by structured commercial support to help fabricators not only compete today but also prepare for tomorrow’s demands, Deceuninck offers cost-effective, sustainable products via a reliable and trusted supply chain.
This includes Elegant, its ultra energy-efficient tilt-and-turn window system designed specifically for the commercial market. Achieving U-values as low as 0.7W/m2K, Elegant exceeds current building regulations to future-proof commercial projects.
With the Government aiming to build 1.5 million new homes in England over five years, the opportunities are there for fabricators and installers who offer the right products. But with red tape, including the backlog of Gateway 2 applications, holding up proceedings, the exasperation is clear.
“We need Gateway 2 to release a few projects,” says Jay Patel, director at London-based window and door fabricator, Everglade Windows.
“And I hope I’m wrong, but I think there’s another problem coming eventually with Gateway 3. Just to give you one example, we supplied a block of flats in London and handed over the building 12 months ago. They still have not had their Gateway 3 approval.
“So it’s an unoccupied building because they’re waiting for someone in Government to sign a piece of paper. Now, that piece of paper is very important, but come on. This is just crazy.”
When it comes to skills, or lack of, the roundtable participants agree that Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) will also be key to the viability of the Government’s ambitious housing pledge.
“MMC is obviously highly automated, so less skill is needed, which in some instances is a bit of a shame to see a lot of those traditional skills go out the window,” says Kerry.
“But we’ve got to meet demand. If we’re going to have a chance of hitting some of these numbers, then MMC is the way forward,” she adds.
With many challenges facing the sector, fabricators need reliable partners who can help them navigate regulation, maintain competitiveness, and deliver products that meet both current cost and time pressures and future sustainability requirements.
“Deceuninck has gone down the right route,” confirms Paul. “They’ve spent a lot of money and invested a lot in sustainability.
“We need to just keep pushing the message out there – and those who are on board will eventually benefit from that,” he concludes.
