Community retrofit

PVC-U profile producer, Spectus Window Systems, and window fabrication and installation partner, Worsley Glass, are helping to transform a Manchester community in partnership with Manchester City Council, Miller Homes and framework contractor GB Building Solutions.
 
Over 160 properties across four streets in the Moss Side area of Manchester are being completely refurbished with a view to them achieving an EcoHomes rating of Very Good, as part of a £17m council-funded regeneration project.
 
The environmental retrofitting project, which began in mid-2010 and is due for completion at the end of this year, has seen council-owned, part-owned and owner-occupied properties receive insulated render systems to the rear of the buildings, roof replacements and loft insulation, facelift work to the front in the form of repointing, repairs and cleaning, and new front and back doors – all contributing to huge improvements in the buildings’ thermal efficiency.

Spectus supplied its Elite 70 U-PVC windows through its fabricator, Worsley Glass, which also installed new timber doors and aluminum windows at the properties.
 
Spectus’ Elite 70 system has a multi-chambered profile, which can achieve a Windows Energy Rating of Band A.  An additional factor that led to Spectus Elite 70 being specified by Manchester City Council’s architect was the fact that Spectus offers its profiles in over 60 coloured finishes as part of its Spectrum foiling range, meaning they deliver on aesthetics as well as performance. Manchester City Council specified Spectus’ Elite 70 in a grey 7016 foil to complement the aluminium composite windows at the front of the properties.
 
GB Building Solutions’ Joseph Smith said: “It’s important that residents and prospective buyers know they’re not only getting an attractive property, but one that performs on an environmental level as well as delivering warmth and security. And it’s important to us as the framework contractor that we undertake work that’s both cost-effective and timely. The Spectus windows delivered on all of these accounts. They look good, protect against thermal heat loss, which in turn reduces carbon emissions and residents’ heating bills, and contribute towards resident safety.”
 
Sixty-four of the properties on the project have also received full internal makeovers, and the streets themselves have benefitted from work including new street lighting and extensive landscaping. House prices in the area have risen by an average of £20k.
 
www.spectus.co.uk
www.worsleyglass.co.uk