Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC to you and me) is a man-made plastic used in creating thousands of products, from packaging to clothing to building materials. uPVC is widely used in the double glazing industry, as it is strong, stable, and easy and cheap to manufacture.
In recent times, however, uPVC has been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism, with hardwood alternatives being promoted as more environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing.
But is all as it seems? New studies are finding that PVCu can be just as environmentally friendly as hardwood when used in double glazing – in some cases even more so.
You can get free quotes for all types of double glazed, windows doors and conservatories from WindowQuoter.co.uk
BPF’s PVCaware.org committee chairman Jon Skinner says “PVC’s environmental credentials are well proven, but as yet, they are little known, in part because the majority of the tests are relatively new. Equally, few people are aware how recyclable PVC-U is. The double benefit is that it has environmental advantages and is affordable.”
The reason for these green credentials is threefold: firstly, wooden frames require new paint or protective coating every five years or so, and although there are some paint brands who have improved their environmental credentials recently, many paints still contain environmentally damaging chemicals.
PVCu is also more energy efficient than other framing materials, and over the lifetime of the windows can be a net carbon benefit to your home thanks to its greater ability to retain heat.
Thirdly, PVCu is extremely recyclable and reusable. Not only raw plastics can be recycled, entire PVC products can be broken down and recycled to almost original build quality after they’ve reached the end of their life span. They can go through this process up to 10 times (paper can only be recycled 6 times), which means PVC products can have a full lifespan of hundreds of years.
PVCu is not the last word in window frames – hardwood still has the unbeatable looks, for instance, and with proper care can last just as long as their plastic counterparts. Whether you’re willing to pay a little bit more to have hardwood comes down very much to personal preference and priorities. More and more information seems to be emerging, however, to suggest that hardwood and PVC are better matched on environmental terms than most of us have been lead to believe.
And remember, you can get a free, instant online quote for PVCu or Hardwood windows and doors from WindowQuoter.co.uk
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