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Sustainability through modern PVC-U windows

Sustainability through modern PVC-U windows

Sustainability is a keyword that has been cropping up more and more in recent years. But what does sustainability mean, and what does it mean specifically with respect to PVC-U windows? Sustainability is generally understood to be responsible activities with respect to resources, including the regenerative capabilities of the environment.

KBE is deliberately building on this issue, and years ago it formed a three-part pillar system of sustainability in the form of its “greenline” maxim. The most important aspect was, and still is today, to discontinue poisoning the environment and people with toxic substances.

KBE is one of the first companies to produce with its own lead- and cadmium-free stabilisers. Even today 26 million people are exposed to this global poison, losing nine million years of life as a result. KBE was among the first to recognise that there can be no alternative other than doing away with lead and cadmium.

The second pillar: Recycling. KBE is the founding member and associate of the window recycling initiative REWINDO. The REWINDO  programme Vinyl 2010 and currently VinylPlus recycled alone in 2014 over 480,000 tonnes of PVC. But this recycled PVC must in turn be recycled, and here KBE has delivered an impressive performance. In 2010, KBE was honoured for its System_88mm with the SolVin Award for PVC Innovation for the recycling category. The essential reason was the connection between ecological and economic properties. KBE had developed a passive house window system with regrinds making up 50 %. This works only because PVC-U properties do not deteriorate, but even tend to improve after several recycling processes.

Resource conscious handling of PVC-U for energy savings is the third pillar. This involves making sure that KBE profiles are reinforced only where necessary, a procedure known from the automotive industry. Conversely, this means that the profile does not swallow mindless amounts of material, but are specially reinforced at the places where the forces act the most. And, of course, window profiles are made for energy savings and sustainability. After all, no other component can help to save costs so quickly and easily as high thermal insulation windows.

Sustainability
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