Neil Puttock, managing director of Boavista Windows puts forward the case for fibreglass window frames

William Edwards Deming, the eminent American engineer and management guru once said, ‘Innovation comes from the producer, not the customer.’ When it comes to the window industry I couldn’t agree more. After all, what is the incentive for the customer to seek an alternative to a tried, tested and familiar product, such as the UPVC or aluminium window, when these do exactly what is required of them, ie they let light in, enable building occupants to see out and provide adequate security.

But innovation, like evolution, plays a key role in allowing us to adapt to a constantly changing world and develop products and services that significantly improve the lives of those who use them. The launch of Boavista, Europe’s first full range of fibreglass window frames, sets new industry standards in sustainability, durability and performance. It also has the potential to disrupt the current window supply and install model by providing a credible alternative to plastic and aluminium. Furthermore, it allows specifiers to contribute towards reducing the UK’s carbon footprint without compromising on design, function or form.

A green window of opportunity
Fibreglass makes extensive use of silica, an abundant natural resource. Using the latest in pultrusion technology, fibreglass frames are created by pulling resin-soaked glass fibres through heated dies. The process requires only 0.07 kilowatts to produce a linear metre of window frame weighing approximately one kilogram. When fibreglass windows need replacing they can be simply shredded into sections and then mixed with concrete and asphalt to manufacture a strong, lightweight, crack and shrinkage-resistant composite material – a process that requires very little energy.

Designing out compromise
Fibreglass opens up a world of possibilities due to its strength and stability. This allows it to support large areas of glazing, while eschewing the need for structural glass. Fibreglass also expands in line with the glass, removing the need for unsightly gaskets to hold the pane in place. Perhaps the most striking feature of a fibreglass frame is that despite weighing half that of an equivalent aluminium one, it is exceptionally hardwearing, highly rot- and corrosion-resistant, and has a significantly longer lifecycle than either PVC or aluminium. It is these factors that have underpinned the material’s success in parts of Europe and Canada. Many of these countries have been quick to harness the power of fibreglass to counteract the weather-related erosion to which window frames in coastal regions and harsh climates are subject. Reducing the maintenance associated with repainting or even replacing windows in coastal parts of the UK would not only cut costs, but also enhance the local environment, removing the sense of decline that some coastal towns, through no fault of their own, sometimes convey.

Futureproofing the UK
The case for fibreglass is not exclusive to coastal towns, high-specification residences and office blocks; it also applies to the UK’s housing market. A House of Lords report created by the Select Committee on Economic Affairs, entitled ‘Building More Homes’, concluded that the government’s target of one-million new homes by 2020 will not be enough. More importantly, it put forward the case that in order to address the housing crisis, at least 300,000 new homes are needed annually for the foreseeable future. If we are to meet this target, the annual window footprint alone would be considerable and the volume of plastic and aluminium required quite daunting.

Given the renewed focus on sustainability by society as a whole, isn’t it time that the industry embraced new approaches to window frames and considered the role it plays in delivering sustainable environments? The technology exists – the challenge is to overcome the UK’s inherent resistance to change by making fibreglass windows a standard component of the built environment. This will improve the sustainability of today’s buildings while also helping to shape the projects of tomorrow.

Contact Details

For more information visit the Boavista Windows website or contact 01252 415173