Where would you start if you wanted to specify a modern window system that was simply the best at meeting all of the many criteria required of it today?

Being impervious to all of our weather conditions, including ice, rain, sun, salt/sea spray, would probably be a good start, perhaps followed by an extra-long lifespan, and maintenance-free at all times. The wider color gamut would also be vital. However, considering the damage and wear and tear any window could take, the option of having it easily repaired and/or painted at any point in its life would also seem like a sensible precaution, on this idealistic priority list, but avoiding the need for have repeat it if you think not. A wide range of window design options would of course be essential, in a variety of narrow and standard profiles.

In terms of our social and sustainability obligations, we must also insist that the window exceed the strictest environmental standards by coming from a benign recycled source and being able to be recycled at the end of its life. In addition, the highest standards of thermal and acoustic insulation must be essential, as well as the highest resistance factor and safety credentials, to provide complete peace of mind and confidence for the specifier and the owner. Ultimately, of course, this package, while desirable, must also be affordable and competitive in every way, and must also represent “best value” in the long run.

Is this a reality, or are we dreaming?

Surprisingly perhaps, this is an absolute reality, thanks to the technological wonder of pultruded FRP Fiberglass. Pultrusion is the manufacturing development that has made it possible to manufacture GRP fiberglass in the long continuous profiles essential for window frames. So now that it’s available, it unleashes the many material benefits of this amazingly strong, tough and durable composite to the UK window market, as has already been done with greater success in the US. climate has already been achieved, helped in part , by pultruded fiberglass windows.

So, to summarize the advantages that can be expected from GRP windows:

* High energy efficiency: “U” values ​​of 0.9 – 1.5 on the total of the window, including the leaves.
* High acoustic performance: Rw 38 achieved with a modest glass specification (4/16/6.4), reducing both weight and cost.
* Meets inner city regulations – where high standards of thermal and acoustic performance are required – now available with Rw 41 and 1.4U value in the same unit. (Normally technically incompatible)
* Independently certified and accredited by a UKAS Test House
* 65% glass content, of which at least 30% is from a recycled source.
* BREEAM/CfSH compliant, providing additional credits, which can be verified.
* 50 – 75 years of useful life + 25 years of minimum guarantee
* “Best Value” proven even over PVC based on total cost of life analysis, and even against softwood.
Competitive in price with aluminum and aluminum-wood composite windows – ‘Super’ competitive when U-values ​​are similar.
* Any RAL color (200 options) – repair and/or refinish is easy.
* Assured by Accredited Design – Font Preferred Specification.
* The most sustainable, best value and low maintenance option in the long term.
* Manufactured in the UK to minimize CO2 emissions from excessive road transport.
* Rugged: Meets MOD-DE “DMG2 Normal” Anti-Terrorist Glazing Specification, and is used in “Secure Units for Young Mental Offenders”

Architects, contractors and clients from the largest and most prestigious developments (Celtic Manor Hotel and Golf Complex, home of the Ryder Cup in 2010) and Birmingham University’s Masons Hall for students) to the most modest residential projects, both private and social housing, new construction or rehabilitation. The popularity of GRP fiberglass windows is increasing exponentially.

Fiberglass windows are now the fastest growing option in the US commercial market and also the preferred option for the most demanding residential customers. This popularity is now spreading to the UK, where fiberglass is already specified in many major school projects across the country, as well as nursing homes, apartment blocks, community centres, health and hospital projects and many more. .

At the very time that a superior window material is required to help us achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions and an increase in the sustainability of buildings, GRP fiberglass has come along to help significantly in this important area.