Windows and doors

With increasing pressure to specify building systems offering clearly defined sustainability, the use of materials that embody recycling as an inherent feature is becoming increasingly significant. Aluminium as a key building component is now used across a wide range of sectors and, as a matter of interest, is still very much the most valuable item in our recycling collection. From an emissions perspective, the use of pre and post-use aluminium greatly reduces energy consumption and adds tangible value to the economics of production. To put this into perspective, it saves around 95% of the energy consumed in the 'primary' production process.
For those specifying metal window and door systems, there is, therefore, a clear incentive to use a raw material that can be reused on an infinite basis. In terms of enabling building designs to achieve the highest level of BREEAM certification, aluminium can also provide tangible benefits when calculating an asset’s environmental, social and economic sustainability through the use of standards developed by BRE. In addition, it enhances specific aspects of technical performance such as thermal, acoustic and energy efficiency.

Leading distributor of window and door hardware, Carl F Groupco, is proud to announce the launch of their new website. Carl F Groupco, based in Peterborough with depots in Cumbernauld, provides premium window and door fittings to fabricators across the UK, and a new fully responsive and bespoke website will allow for enhanced customer support for well-known hardware brands, such as FUHR, Roto, and Yale.
The new website combines all three of Carl F Groupco’s brands into one easy-to-access database, making the entire product portfolio available at the simple touch of a button. In addition to the core Carl F Groupco hardware range, access to both Carl F direct, a direct mail and e-commerce tool business, and SmartSecure, leaders in electronic multipoint door locking systems, means that finding your perfect hardware solution is hassle- and stress-free, from enquiry right through to completion.

Environmental issues have never been as ingrained into the national and global consciousness as they are right now, and Scotland is leading the way in instigating and inspiring real change in how we tackle climate change.
Scotland hosts the United Nation’s 26th climate change conference from 31st October to the 12th November 2021, with world leaders coming together to discuss the planet’s ecological predicament.

Leading hardware distributor, Carl F Groupco, is celebrating 20 years of supplying the market leading fully reversible Roto FRH UNI window hardware in the UK. During the past two decades, the FRH UNI range has become the most successful window product range in Carl F Groupco’s portfolio, owing its success to the functionality provided and the strong reputation of the UNI brand in the UK market.

FRH UNI hardware is designed to suit traditional reversible window profiles, including PVCu, timber, aluminium and timber/aluminium composite windows. It’s a robust hardware system designed for situations where safe control of the window opening is necessary: including high-rise applications where wind and height issues are of concern. Safety features such as integral child restrictors and reverse catches provide ultimate protection.

The Cairngorm Group tasked leading window and door fittings distributor Carl F Groupco with managing their hardware transition during a recent PVCu profile changeover. Putting trust in their 16-year partnership, the two-month project was delivered by the multiskilled team at Carl F Groupco headed by Pamela Wilson, Regional Sales Manager for Scotland who has worked closely with the Cairngorm team throughout the longstanding partnership.
The profile changeover was time-sensitive, and the transition needed to be smooth to ensure business saw no detrimental effects. Throughout the supply chain, the project required meticulous planning and cooperation, allowing for the efficient switch to the new profile.

Noise pollution can have a significant impact on resident quality of life, so should housing associations and commercial contractors be doing more? HA Magazine reports...

Noise pollution was recently listed as second only to air pollution by the UK’s Chief Medical Officer for its negative impact on public health. Studies show that exposure to unwanted noise can contribute to sleep disturbance, hypertension and even diabetes and heart disease.

So, given this, should housing associations and their supply partners be re-thinking their approach to move beyond requirements in Approved Document E to deliver a step-change in acoustic performance - particularly in future developments?

Despite reports of shortages of some raw materials in the window and door industry, Rapierstar’s deep UK stocks of specialist fasteners and 30 years of sourcing and supply chain experience has enabled it to guarantee supplies of fasteners to its fabricator customers and support the industry as it recovers from lockdown.
The company continues to hold £4m of window screw and fixings stock and more than one billion items at its 100,000 sq. ft. warehouse and distribution centre in Cheshire, from where it serves window and door manufacturers across Great Britain and Ireland, as well as growing exports across mainland Europe. By holding many months of stock, the warehouse absorbs the short term impacts of disrupted global trade of the kind caused by the pandemic.