Quiet please

We’ve had Energy Ratings, Secured by Design and a handful of other standards and accreditations pointing to this and that quality of a window …and now joining them is the Quiet Mark. The tag itself has been around for some time and is now worn with pride by many big names from airlines to vacuum cleaners but now it has been awarded to a PVC-U window and we imagine many more will be quietly planning to follow suit.
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Also this week, VinylPlus is shouting that all EU countries have now completely eliminated lead-based stabilisers in PVC. While the majority of systems houses had seen off the controversial additive some time ago, the final all-clear is still to be applauded. Read Story.

Elsewhere, some of the big noises in building, Government and investment have got together to tackle the housing crisis with a plan for 10,000 new homes in the next five years.
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Whatever your choice of news, we hope you will find something to shout about in this week’s issue.

Chris Church Editor

Please send all your news stories to news@the-glazine.com

This Week's News

Shhh… first window awarded Quiet Mark tag

A new quality accreditation has quietly crept into the window industry alongside energy, security and other labels with the award of the first ever Quiet Mark label in the sector.

The milestone is claimed by Glasgow-based CMS Window Systems which joins Dyson, Virgin Atlantic, Lexus and many other major brands that have been awarded the label by the Noise Abatement Society.

The CMS Silent-Therm, developed in conjunction with sealed unit manufacturer Glassolutions and independently tested at Aerotech Laboratories, is said to be able to reduce sound travel into a room by 5db. It is made with Stadip Silence acoustic glass and low-e Planitherm Total+ from Saint-Gobain Glass with Sheerframe PVC-U window profiles. It is available in six window types including casement, reversible, and tilt & turn. The result is A-Rated for energy efficiency and also carries the Secured by Design tag.

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Lead stabilisers now eliminated in EU - VinylPlus

All lead-based stabilisers have now been replaced in PVC production throughout the 28 countries of the EU, delegates heard at the VinylPlus4th Vinyl Sustainability Forum 2016 in Vienna last week.

The announcement, along with the news that Europe recycled over half a million tonnes of PVC in 2015, was made to more than 130 stakeholders from academia, government bodies, the UN, the European Commission, specifiers, designers, architects and all sectors of the PVC industry.

VinylPlus General Manager Brigitte Dero, presenting the 2015 results, said lead-based stabiliser replacement was “a historic achievement.

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New partnership plans 10,000 homes in five years

Kier Living, the homebuilding arm of the Kier Group has announced a new consortium with Lloyds Banking Group, the Homes & Communities Agency and the Cheyne Social Property Impact Fund that aims to deliver 10,000 new homes on local authority land in the next five years.

The New Communities Partnership, a public-private alliance supported by the HCA, will provide local authorities and housing associations with an innovative delivery model for building new homes on their own land, giving them the option to choose between sale and/or rental developments, and offers significant scope for affordable development.
Working with the Partnership, public sector organisations will be able to determine the appropriate mix of tenure for their site, including rental homes and homes for sale, in a model designed to meet the needs of their specific communities, without the need for grant funding.

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Fensa scheme installers will ask their fabs to join
up - survey

Nearly 40% of the first 300 installers to opt into the Fensa Window and Doorset Energy Ratings scheme say they will be persuading their existing fabricators to become BFRC licensed.

 Fensa managing director Chris Mayne said: “Fensa has been inundated with opt-in enquiries at the FIT Show from certified installers wanting to sign up to free Fensa Window and Doorset Energy Ratings. It’s a simple process for Fensa installers – the only requirement being that they are supplied by BFRC licensed fabricators.  Those that aren’t can persuade their existing fabricator to sign up to BFRC.”

“Fensa will work with installers to get their fabricators on board. 

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Lords’ amendments could stifle housing delivery, says FMB

The Federation of Master Builders has warned that House of Lords amendments to the Housing and Planning Bill, could stifle the supply of new homes at a time when they are needed most because they would target small development sites for expensive affordable housing contributions and increase regulations and taxes on small builders.

Chief Executive Brian Berry said: “We understand the need for more affordable homes in rural areas and Government policy must address this need but the intention to hit all small scale housing developments will be counterproductive.

Up until relatively recently, including under a Labour Government, we had a national threshold for affordable housing requirements set at 15 units. This was part of a longstanding recognition that it is not appropriate to place the same demands on the smallest sites and the smallest firms, as it is on major developments and multi-national companies.

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TrustMark teams up for fire safety

TrustMark has teamed up with CFOA Blue Watch, the Chief Fire Officers’ home safety scheme to promote the use of safe products and features in private and rented homes.

The two bodies aim to reduce the devastation and cost of fires and carbon monoxide poisoning in UK homes, by helping homeowners and landlords to provide safer places to live for their families and tenants. Together the two schemes will raise awareness of these dangers and risks by advising and signposting households to use TrustMark-registered firms to carry out work in and around their properties.

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