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SFA Group –Saniflo UK’s parent company – has been awarded a Bronze Medal for Corporate Social Responsibility from EcoVadis, the world’s most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings. This result places the SFA Group among the top 50% of companies assessed by EcoVadis.

The EcoVadis assessment is built on international sustainability standards, including the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Global Compact, and the ISO 26000, covering 200 spend categories and 160+ countries.

SFA Group was rated based on a sustainability scorecard which illustrates performance across 21 indicators in four main categories of environment, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement.

Saniflo UK Head of Marketing and Product Management, Ann Boardman, says: “At Sanifo UK we uphold the same high standards set by our parent company, SFA Group in France. We pride ourselves on our ongoing commitment to being the best we can be in all ways, always. This Bronze medal is well deserved.”

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Saint-Gobain PAM aims to ease the burden on developers, specifiers and contractors in the early stages of construction by providing two levels of BIM library and supporting elements in Revit for our Ensign Range.  These files will make it easier for early stage specification in BIM and will speed up the whole planning process; this in turn will create measurable cost and time savings for our customers.

Watch the tutorial to see how to use the pre-assembled stack assemblies in Revit.

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Steel Windows – Sustainability meets Style – Edition 4 – ‘The sustainability plusses emphasised by Steel Windows’

Crittall ‘Sustainability’ focussed Podcast Series – Edition 4 – Transcript to support learning

‘Nobody can doubt the strength of steel as a construction material, but its qualities in the field of sustainability are rather less obvious, but no less impressive’ says Russell Ager, Managing Director of Crittall Windows.

And in this special edition series of bite-sized learning podcasts sponsored by Crittall, we discuss The Strength of Steel, The Life Cycle Assessment of Steel, How to protect Steel Building Materials from corrosion and why Windows are one particular building component that emphasises the plusses of sustainability for the material.

In this fourth edition we discuss ‘The sustainability plusses emphasised by Steel Windows’

So, one particular steel building component that emphasises the sustainability plusses of the material are windows. Manufactured under controlled conditions to reap the benefits already enumerated for steel as a material,

Crittall Windows operates within the constraints of ISO 14001:2004; a recognised international environmental management standard that sets targets for solids, liquids, gaseous emissions and waste generation.

But the finished product itself, which is galvanized for enhanced longevity, offers other benefits because of the nature of the material. Because of their inherent strength steel windows have much thinner frames than is possible with other window materials. This lets in more daylight thus reducing the use of artificial lighting in the buildings in which they are installed. Taken over the elevations of a large commercial building this could lead to impressive savings in both energy usage and cost.

Supreme strength and matchless elegance are unusual partners, but they sit side by side in the world’s most recyclable building material. And who said sustainability and good looks could not go hand in hand.

Thank you for listening to the fourth and final edition of this bite-sized learning podcast series. Make sure you listen to all 4 editions to fully understand how with Steel Windows – Sustainability meets Style!

For more information about Crittall steel windows, please go to www.crittall-windows.co.uk

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Steel Windows – Sustainability meets Style – Edition 3.  ‘How Steel Building Materials are Protected from Corrosion’

Crittall ‘Sustainability’ focussed Podcast Series – Edition 3 – Transcript to support learning

‘Nobody can doubt the strength of steel as a construction material, but its qualities in the field of sustainability are rather less obvious, but no less impressive’ says Russell Ager, Managing Director of Crittall Windows.

And in this special edition series of bite-sized learning podcasts sponsored by Crittall, we discuss The Strength of Steel, The Life Cycle Assessment of Steel, How to protect Steel Building Materials from corrosion and why Windows are one particular building component that emphasises the plusses of sustainability for the material.

In this third edition we discuss ‘How Steel Building Materials are Protected from Corrosion’

A key element in the use of steel as a building material is galvanizing providing protection against corrosion. In this process the steel is coated with zinc to prevent it from rusting. The cleaned steel is dipped into molten zinc at around 450 degrees C and a series of zinc-iron alloy layers are built up by a metallurgical reaction between the iron and zinc creating a strong bond between steel and the coating.

The galvanizing process is energy efficient taken as part of a whole life cycle which is the only meaningful way of calculating the impact on such a long-lasting material. It prolongs the life of an already long-life product, and it does not affect recyclability or re-use. Galvanized steel can be thrown into the scrap furnace and steel can easily be re-galvanized.

Thank you for listening to the third edition of this bite-sized learning podcast series. Make sure you listen to all 4 editions to fully understand how with Steel Windows – Sustainability meets Style!

In the next edition we discuss ”The sustainability plusses emphasised by Steel Windows’

For more information about Crittall steel windows, please go to www.crittall-windows.co.uk

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Steel Windows – Sustainability meets Style – Edition 2.  ‘The Life Cycle Assessment of Steel’ 

Crittall ‘Sustainability’ focussed Podcast Series – Edition 2 – Transcript to support learning

‘Nobody can doubt the strength of steel as a construction material, but its qualities in the field of sustainability are rather less obvious, but no less impressive’ says Russell Ager, Managing Director of Crittall Windows.

And in this special edition series of bite-sized learning podcasts sponsored by Crittall, we discuss The Strength of Steel, The Life Cycle Assessment of Steel, How to protect Steel Building Materials from corrosion and why Windows are one particular building component that emphasises the plusses of sustainability for the material.

In this second edition we explore ‘The Life Cycle Assessment of Steel’

Produced using iron, the most abundant element on the planet, steel manufacturing impact is calculated by the World Steel Association using what

is called the ‘system expansion’ method of life cycle assessment. This looks at steel to be part of a global system of supply and demand and takes account of co-products used in the manufacturing processes that save energy or reduce emissions. One example is waste gases from the process being re-used to generate electricity for the process.

The full life calculation, which also takes account of steel’s high strength-to-weight ratio (meaning less achieves more) means that overall CO2 emissions associated with a steel building – from component manufacture through its life in use – will be lower than for other materials.

Moving away from the mathematics the nature of steel and its construction also augments its sustainability tally. All the fabrication process, the testing and the certification takes place in a controlled and monitored factory environment. This ensures adherence to consistently high standards and quality. This in turn leads to quicker, safer and more predictable outcomes on-site. Construction processes can therefore be more efficient, not to mention more cost-effective.

Thank you for listening to the second edition of this bite-sized learning podcast series. Make sure you listen to all 4 editions to fully understand how with Steel Windows – Sustainability meets Style!

In the next edition we discuss ‘How Steel Building Materials are Protected from Corrosion’

For more information about Crittall steel windows, please go to www.crittall-windows.co.uk

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Steel Windows – Sustainability meets Style – Edition 1.  ‘The Strength of Steel’

Crittall ‘Sustainability’ focussed Podcast Series – Edition 1 – Transcript to support learning

‘Nobody can doubt the strength of steel as a construction material, but its qualities in the field of sustainability are rather less obvious, but no less impressive’ says Russell Ager, Managing Director of Crittall Windows.

And in this special edition series of bite-sized learning podcasts sponsored by Crittall, we discuss The Strength of Steel, The Life Cycle Assessment of Steel, How to protect Steel Building Materials from corrosion and why Windows are one particular building component that emphasises the plusses of sustainability for the material.

In this first edition we explore the ‘The Strength of Steel’

It is the strength of steel that contributes to its credentials as a sustainable, environmentally sound and cost-effective choice. Quite simply, it can be recycled or re-used continually without deterioration of its fundamental properties. This translates into a high value placed on the product throughout its long life.

Steel components have been recovered for many years and the process for recycling is therefore highly developed. Current rates of recovery from demolition sites in Great Britain are an astonishing 99% for structural steel and 94% for all types of steel construction. These percentages leave far behind all other types of building material.

Currently some 86% of steel gathered as scrap is returned to the furnace while 13% is dismantled for direct re-use. This leaves just 1% that is lost to rust or landfill.

On a worldwide basis some 40% of all steel produced is based on the use of recycled scrap, that’s 500 million tonnes per year or the equivalent of 180 Eiffel Towers per day. For the UK market, that could be translated into 25 Forth Rail Bridges!

Of course, sustainability is more than just re-use and recycling and other important considerations include the environmental cost of manufacture.

Thank you for listening to the first edition of this bite-sized learning podcast series. Make sure you listen to all 4 editions to fully understand how with Steel Windows – Sustainability meets Style!

In the next edition we explore ‘The Life Cycle Assessment of Steel’

For more information about Crittall steel windows, please go to www.crittall-windows.co.uk

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