Scarborough-based SWC Trade Frames has signed a supply deal with Deceuninck Aluminium to fabricate the Decalu88 Aluminium Bi-fold and the Decalu163 Lift-and-Slide Door.
“We couldn’t meet all Part L requirements through our previous system,” sales director Mark Catchpole explained, “So energy-efficiency and compliance with Part L was a major driver for us.
“Particularly because the Decalu88 bi-fold achieves a u-value of as low as 1.2W/m2k, giving it reach into new build without having to go up to a triple-glazed unit, which no installer wants to do.
“We were also really keen on the knock-in glazing bead which we could see would deliver immediate benefits to our customers.”
Last month’s changes to Part L bring in a notional u-value for newbuild sector of a minimum of 1.2W/m2k for windows and the same for doors with more than a 60% glazed area.
For the home improvement market, the minimum requirement for replacement windows is now 1.4W/m2k or WER Band B, and replacement doors with more than a 60% glazed area have to be able to achieve 1.4W/m2k or DER Band C. U-Values on the Decalu88Bifold are as low as 0.68W/m2k triple-glazed or 1.2W/m2k double-glazed.
Decalu 88 also includes the use of pre-inserted co-extruded gasket and knock-in glazing bead, cutting glazing time to less than four minutes per leaf, but also eliminating shrinkage.
The Decalu163 Lift-and-Slide Door offers u-values as low as 0.8W/m2k.
Allowing individual sash weights of up to 400kg and highly engineered, it can accommodate individual sash size of up to 3900mm by 3500mm.
SWC will also manufacture a triple-track option. In common with the rest of Decalu window and door range, both are supplied in a marine grade finish as standard.