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IMPROVING SUSTAINABILITY: REFORMULATED DULUX TRADE DIAMOND MATT

Building Products Index Ltd Paint Leave a Comment

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Visit the Deluxe Trade website

Dulux Trade Diamond Matt has been reformulated in line with customer feedback to deliver improved features and sustainability credentials, helping the industry move towards a more sustainable future. Available now, architects and specifiers can be confident that Dulux Trade Diamond Matt meets key industry standards – including BREEAM, LEED and WELL – and will provide their clients with quality results for years to come.

Sustainability

Sustainability is critical to Dulux Trade and integral to everything it does as a business. It regularly reviews its product portfolio to ensure sustainability is improved wherever possible – and the upgraded Dulux Trade Diamond Matt is testament to that. It is 99.9% VOC (volatile organic compound) free[1], so it has lower impact on indoor air quality and the overall carbon footprint of a project when compared with the previous formulation. For added reassurance, it is also compliant with green building accreditations BREEAM[2], LEED[3] and WELL. When specified, the paint will therefore help drive more sustainable building design.

How did we get to 99.9% VOC free?

The previous Dulux Trade Diamond Matt formulation included semi-VOCs to form a strong film and deliver quick drying times at a range of temperatures. However, the upgraded product uses innovative binder technology that forms a film even at very low temperatures, without the addition of semi-VOCs. The paint also includes a new latex that doesn’t require coalescing solvents and has switched to completely VOC-free versions of additives. As a result, Dulux Trade Diamond Matt is now proudly 99.9% VOC-free.

Peter Rhodes, National Sector Manager for Building Design at AkzoNobel, said: “Our reformulated Dulux Trade Diamond Matt offers superior benefits that architects and specifiers can trust. The fact that Dulux Trade Diamond Matt is compliant with BREEAM, LEED and WELL environmental standards, is 99.9% VOC free and long-lasting means it’s the clear sustainable choice for a diverse range of projects. We’re confident these enhancements will reassure architects and specifiers that Diamond Matt should be the go-to durable, sustainable paint option that will provide winning results for their customers.”

 A durable choice        

 Furthering its sustainability benefits, Dulux Trade Diamond Matt is also highly durable and designed for high traffic areas. This means that the new formula will help to extend maintenance cycles further with walls that stay looking newer and cleaner for longer – driving down emissions over a building’s life cycle.

Dulux Trade Diamond Matt is compliant with BS EN ISO 11998 Class 1 and BS 7719 Class C and can withstand 10,000 scrubs (the equivalent of five hours non-stop scrubbing). It can therefore be repeatedly cleaned and scrubbed, ensuring that unwanted stains can be easily removed by clients without damaging the paint film on the wall – making the professional finish last even longer.

Dulux Trade Diamond Matt also delivers great opacity and is now available in 150 additional extra deep colours, providing reassurance that it can achieve strong aesthetics that will last the test of time.

Tested & Approved

To showcase its commitment to quality, Dulux Trade Diamond Matt now comes with a ‘Tested and Approved by Professional Decorators’ seal of approval (find out more about the process at www.duluxtrade.co.uk/testedandapproved). This showcases the rigorous three-stage testing process carried out by experienced professional decorators to ensure Dulux Trade Diamond Matt delivers on durability, as well as improved opacity and sustainability.

Hannah Beeke, R&D Team Leader at AkzoNobel explains: “Our ‘Tested & Approved’ process is designed to truly put products to the test and we do this by working closely with experienced professionals. Their opinions help to ensure we are delivering the highest quality products, and ultimately, the best results for the end user.

“With the new Dulux Trade Diamond Matt, we worked with our expert decorators to trial the product and we used their feedback to make further improvements to the formula. We then took the range into field trials where it was tested under external conditions – enabling us to see how it will perform for our wider customer base. This ongoing rigorous process means that we are confident the new Diamond Matt range is the best it can be and will genuinely deliver the durability and sustainability benefits architects and specifiers are looking for.”

For more information on Dulux Trade Diamond Matt, see here: www.duluxtrade.co.uk/diamondmatt.

[1] Based on in-can VOC content, measured in accordance with ISO 11890-2:2013

[2] Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology

[3] Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

 

BENEFITS OF EUROCELL’S LOGIK WINDOW SOLUTION CLEAR TO SEE IN THE STUDENT ACCOMMODATION SECTOR

Building Products Index Ltd PVC-U, Windows Leave a Comment

View the Eurocell entry on BPindex

Visit the Eurocell website

Eurocell’s Logik PVC-U window solution has been specified across a number of schemes being developed by student accommodation provider, Study Inn. As an aesthetically pleasing and high performing alternative to aluminium frames, Logik is also delivering sustainability and cost efficiency benefits.

 

Summary

  • Over 3,500 Logik windows specified across five refurbishment and conversion schemes
  • Tangible cost efficiencies using PVC-U alternative compared to aluminium specification
  • Fit for purpose, stylish and Logik PVC-U windows delivering strong thermal performance
  • Greener product choice using PVC-U profile that is sustainably manufactured

Study Inn specialises in the development and design of high-quality student accommodation projects, creating the living spaces that students want to live in at locations that suit them.

Doncaster-based window system designer and installer, Nu Openings Ltd has been working with Study Inn on a series of building refurbishments and conversions that have transformed existing office spaces into attractive, highly specified student accommodation solutions in Nottingham, Exeter, and Loughborough, with new developments currently underway in Leeds.

The right solution

Central to the service Nu Openings offers is its long-term commercial relationship with Eurocell which has been in place for the past decade. With strong knowledge of the performance, aesthetic, and sustainability merits of the Logik window solution, Nu Openings had no hesitation in recommending its specification for the exciting Study Inn schemes.

Gary Driscoll, Sales & Commercial Director at Eurocell, commented: “As a national business, Eurocell can ensure product supply, which helps with planning and timescales.  We also work with a UK-wide network of fabricators, so can provide access to conveniently located resources close to the development sites.  This has ensured operational efficiencies are maximised as the schemes have progressed.”

Steve Carvell, Managing Director for Nu Openings, added: “We have a long-term working relationship with Eurocell and have used many solutions from its extensive product range over the years. They are specified widely in the commercial market and once we were approached to become involved in supporting the build ambitions of the Study Inn projects, we recognised that Eurocell’s Logik PVC-U windows would be ideal for a number of reasons.”

Many architects specify commercial work for student accommodation schemes in aluminium when it comes to the window solutions. This tendency is something Steve and the Nu Openings team worked hard to reverse for the Study Inn schemes. He continues: “We do come across initial concerns from architects and specifiers who opt to choose aluminium for the window frames. However, thanks to our knowledge of the Eurocell solution we strongly advocate the range of benefits clients can access if they convert to a PVC-U alternative. It is fit for purpose, looks stylish, delivers strong thermal performance, and provides the finish they are seeking, whilst the client can also enjoy tangible cost efficiencies when compared to aluminium specification.”

Over 3,500 Eurocell Logik PVC-U windows have now been specified across the five Study Inn refurbishment and conversion schemes and Eurocell’s ability to assist with good lead supply times is helpful in keeping the construction timetables on track.

Leading the way

With sustainability credentials now an increasingly key factor in building material specification, Eurocell’s commitment to delivering product solutions that support a greener future resonates with clients such as Nu Openings and Study Inn.

Thanks to a market-leading recycling operation that enables the company to transform old plastic window and door frame waste into new PVC-U extrusions for the manufacture of attractive and sustainable products, clients who specify a PVC-U product from Eurocell can feel confident about its sustainable approach.

Steve Carvell concludes: “We continue to enjoy an effective collaboration with Eurocell and the success of the student accommodation schemes for Study Inn is an example of the strength of the ongoing partnership within the student accommodation build sector. Aside from the aesthetic, thermal, sustainability, and cost benefits that products such as the Logik window delivers, we also value the all-round support and technical expertise we can call upon from Eurocell when required.”

For more information about Eurocell please visit www.Eurocell.co.uk or call the team on 03301 737 159

Learning with Eurocell

Building Products Index Ltd Doors, PVC-U, PVC-U, Windows Leave a Comment

View the Eurocell entry on BPindex

Visit the Eurocell website

NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN: THE BENEFITS OF CPD

Since its establishment 40 years ago, employees and organisations across industry have committed personal time and company resources to accessing the benefits delivered by continuing professional development – better known as CPD.

Using a structured, practical, methodical, and proactive approach to lifetime learning is enabling thousands of professionals to enhance their skills, identify knowledge gaps, grow individual expertise, and keep abreast of the myriad changes that constantly influence their industry.

Organisations who see the value of CPD and provide staff with the time and access to continuous learning opportunities, find themselves better able to retain key employees and are in a stronger position to support them as they focus on developing the skills necessary to maintain a sustainable and competitive advantage.

CPD benefits

Construction-related CPD seminars and training courses offer numerous benefits to employees and companies. Staff can proactively expand their understanding of the industry and keep up-to-date with the latest regulation changes and newly emerging product developments and solutions.

For their part, smart organisations can use CPD initiatives to ensure standards across the company remain consistently high, staff potential is maximised, and a strong environment of support and learning-based development is fostered.

Many construction institutions require that members undertake CPD as a condition of continued membership (examples include RIBA, CIOB, RICS, RTPI, CIAT, ICE, IStructE), and for some professions, it is a statutory requirement.

To maintain membership of their designated professional body, members must demonstrate they have engaged in a set number of hours of educational participation aimed at improving their knowledge and skill. The activities in which they partake are then CPD-rated and CPD certificates, or ‘Points’, are issued for each activity.

As an example, the annual CPD obligations as a RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Chartered Member, include undertaking at least 35 hours of learning per annum; that half the CPD is structured with learning aims and outcomes, and is taught, face-to-face, online or by distance learning; 20 of the 35 hours must cover the ten mandatory RIBA core curriculum CPD topics; members acquire at least 100 learning points and that they record and keep track of CPD activities.

Specifiers and CPD

Change is often the driving force behind the evolution of an industry. As new techniques and product solutions are exposed to the market, it is important that pivotal roles such as specifiers – charged with recommending and selecting material and product choices that drive project efficiencies, value, and the design vision – are constantly making informed selections based on up-to-date market knowledge.

CPD enables this to happen and is a vital tool in educating specifying professionals and for developing relationships across the supply chain.  Continuous learning provides opportunities to demonstrate how innovating products can deliver value added solutions to design, legislation, sustainability, logistic and on-site challenges that the majority of construction projects face.

The old adage says it’s never too late to learn.  CPD is at the forefront of driving up industry standards, helping professionals to develop enhanced expertise on a continuous basis and delivering the highly skilled workforce the construction industry and the nation requires.

Eurocell CPDs

We offer 3 face-to-face or webinar-based seminars to help support the construction industry understand more about PVC-U fenestration solutions and sustainability:

  1. The past, present and future of PVC-U windows
  2. Value engineering and sustainability
  3. Sustainable use of PVC-U windows to maximise ROI

To find out more or to book, please visit https://www.eurocell.co.uk/specifiers/resource-hub/cpd

 

Setting the record straight on PVC-U’s sustainability credentials

Building Products Index Ltd Doors, PVC-U, PVC-U, Windows Leave a Comment

View the Eurocell entry on BPindex

Visit the Eurocell website

Sustainability e-Book imageWith so much negative press around plastic dominating the headlines, there is a risk that all plastic gets tarred with the same brush. This assumption that all plastics are as bad for the environment as single use ones runs the risk of opportunities for a more sustainable future being missed. Because putting it simply, not all plastics are made equal.

This is particularly true when it comes to PVC-U, which is used as a durable building product for everything from window frames to conservatories. The common misconception is that like many plastics, PVC-U is non-recyclable. However this couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, PVC-U is actually a construction material that can have its lifetime significantly extended to help reduce waste. But, no doubt you are wondering, how can this be possible when everything you hear about plastic is so negative? The answer to this can be found in science.

Getting to know PVC-U

PVC-U is made of two core ingredients; polyvinyl chloride and ethylene. The polyvinyl chloride comes directly from salt while ethylene is a by-product of oil. This is unplasticized, meaning that it doesn’t contain plasticized chemicals. Instead, to make it hard and durable, impact modifiers and filers are used.

As a result of these modifiers, the scientific behaviour of the plastic changes, meaning that for the first 4-5 times PVC-U is recycled, it actually gets stronger by up to 6%.

This means that PVC-U can be re-processed and used to manufacture products of equal quality, creating an ‘upstream’ recycling process. This recycling process is one that every PVC-U product can go through up to ten times, meaning that the lifespan of the average PVC-U product can be extended from 35 years to 350.

Not all plastics are equal

As a result of this recyclability, tarnishing PVC-U with the same brush as the single-use plastics that pollute our oceans, is likely to undermine attempts to improve sustainability across the construction sector. And by dispelling this myth we will be better positioned to ensure that the 5.6million PVC-U window frames that end up in landfill every year are recycled instead!

To find out more about PVC-U’s sustainability credentials you can download our latest eBook: ‘Sorting It: A guide to PVC-U Sustainability – Separating fact from fiction’ here.

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