Fake Facts! – ‘wood you believe it?’
25th July 2017

The Wood Window Alliance has hit back at what it calls ‘fake facts’ from the PVC-U industry with a campaign dubbed #woodyoubelieveit to “stamp out some of the ‘truth twisting’ in the wood vs plastic debate”, with a campaign focused on providing consumers with the real facts of the matter.

TheAliance says the campaign is to help home-owners and industry stakeholders distinguish the facts from the fiction, and is designed to “encourage consumers to think carefully about competing sales messages and about the impact of their choices on their health, homes and the planet.”

Chairman Tony Pell explained: “At a time when transparency is arguably in short supply, it seems that fake facts are not restricted to the world of politics, but are creeping into all manner of communications. We want to distinguish the ‘window dressing’ and ‘plastic promises’ put about by some PVC-u companies from the truth – that wood is good. In short, it’s time for true transparency in the world of windows.

“The British public has been, and continues to be, misled about double-glazing. We cannot stand by and watch people installing PVC-u lookalikes in the belief that wood is a poor alternative to PVC-u. It is not. It is the only environmentally-friendly choice, one that will deliver a lifetime of beauty and energy-efficiency whilst also caring for the health of people and planet.”

Among its rebuttals of what it calls ‘plastic promises’ are, in its own words:
“PVC-u windows are eco-friendly’ - Not true. PVC is made from Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM), a Class 1 human carcinogen.

“PVC-u windows are resistant to fire’ - Misleading. In a fire it melts and gives off dioxins and hydrogen chloride that can cause permanent respiratory disease. 

“PVC-u windows are more energy-efficient’ - Not true. Energy-efficiency depends primarily on the glazing unit, not the frame. In fact, wood is a slightly better insulator than PVC-u, and it takes less energy to produce a wood window with lower Global Warming Potential. Every wood window you choose instead of PVC-u saves around 160kgs CO2e.

“PVC-u windows are more weather resistant’ - Not true. All Wood Window Alliance member windows are tested to meet BS 6375 parts 1 & 2 to ensure weather tightness against air and water leakage, and compliance is third-party certified.”

www.woodwindowalliance.com