|
home » corporate
responsibility: sustainability » the case for
doorsets »
Taking
a wider view
The case for doorsets
There are a number of clear environmental benefits to using
performance doorsets rather than on-site
‘assemblies’. Traditional door assemblies consist of
a door leaf, frame, architraves, glazing, decorative finishes,
seals, intumescents, ironmongery and furniture – usually
from several different sources requiring extra transportation.
These need full assembly and finishing on site, generally
involving various trades at different stages with inevitable
environmental and financial waste in materials, energy and
manpower.
In contrast, the performance doorset is a fully finished,
engineered element from a single supplier comprising frame,
pre-hung door leaf (incorporating any vision
panels) and
essential ironmongery, all matched and pre-assembled in the
factory. This is delivered to site for simple fixing by one
installer late in the contract.
Doorsets are designed as complete, engineered units to meet
specific performance requirements and manufactured to exacting
standards from established components
under controlled
factory conditions where environmental performance is closely
monitored. Leaderflush Shapland strives to create doorsets in
the most environmentally friendly manner and as such, will
wherever possible, use water based or low VOC finishes.
Leaderflush Shapland also recycles a large proportion of its
off-cut/waste timber into the boilers to produce energy in the
form of steam, this is used to heat the factories and the large
presses. This minimises wasteful intervention on-site, ensuing
both fitness for purpose and straightforward replication of
certified test conditions within the building.
Through our BN EN ISO 9001: 2004 and BS EN ISO 14001: 2004
systems and using our supply chain profiler system, we
continually challenge and work with our key suppliers. This
ensures that our key suppliers' performance meets our ethical
and sustainable requirements and that they are procuring
materials in a responsible manner throughout the supply chain.
Doors and doorsets for sustainable
buildings
Most environmental building programmes, such as BREEAM, and
guidelines on sustainability, such as the BRE ‘Green Guide
to Specification’, concentrate on material sourcing,
manufacturing, delivery, installation and eventually demolition
– focusing on the impact of construction upon global
warming.
Leaderflush Shapland has recently introduced guidance
information regarding the embodied carbon production within each
of our products, this information is now automatically included
within our quotations and may be used by specifiers to make
choices based on the Green Hoses Gases (GHG) environmental
impact. In addition to this important issue, Leaderflush
Shapland also encourages specifiers to consider the positive
impacts that performance doors and doorsets can have in use,
even though these are sometimes difficult to quantify. It is
expected that the government's 'Code for Sustainable Buildings'
will take a similar. wider view by considering aspects such as
security, accessibility, enhanced sound-proofing and maintenance
of performance, as well as sustainable timber sourcing, not
currently acknowledged by most environmental building
programmes.
For example, fire resistant doors are often required under
Building Regulations to save lives but they can also protect
property from the spread of fire – avoiding the
environmental cost of additional materials, energy and resources
needed for reconstruction. Doors offering better security
prevent vandalism and theft with similar environmental savings
on replacing lost or damaged property but they can also provide
the personal safety to make challenging living environments
sustainable. There are now many examples of the transformation
of so called ‘sink estates’ into
lively,
sustainable communities where installation of secure entrance
doors has galvanised action by local residents, driving out drug
dealers, burglars and vandals.
Noise pollution is another serious issue for urban living,
particularly with the higher housing densities now required by
the government for sustainable communities. Here, Part E of the
Building Regulations largely fails to recognise the acoustic
capabilities of today’s doorsets both within homes and for
entrances to improve living conditions. Finally, of course,
external doors and those separating different sections of
buildings are essential for energy conservation, particularly
fully engineered doorsets that ensure a close fit with the frame
incorporating draft seals.
By working closely with Leaderflush Shapland you can be sure
of developing the best, most sustainable door and doorset
solutions to meet the widest range of sustainability demands.
|
