Big things are happening in South Yorkshire! Following on from the news that Doncaster, the home of our main manufacturing facility, has officially become a city, we’ve also been expanding with the opening of our new facility in Rotherham. As the UK’s largest privately owned aluminium fenestration systems house, we design and produce all our products right here in ‘God’s own county’ and in our latest blog, we look at some of the new innovations we’ve put into place to improve the success, and sustainability, of our manufacturing expertise.
Increasing capacity:
Giving our customers what they want, when they want it, has been our company motto for over thirty years. To keep true to this ethos, we have invested in our manufacturing, storage and distribution services so that we can make sure that our aluminium fenestration systems not only meet performance requirements but help our customers meet their project deadlines too.
The launch of our new manufacturing and storage facility in Rotherham has given us an extra 90,000 square feet – bringing our total UK facility’s manufacturing capacity to 220,000 square feet. Looking ahead to 2023, this puts us in a stronger position to meet the increasing demand for our high-performance low U-value aluminium windows, doors and curtain wall solutions.
Our distribution centre in Livingston, Scotland, is continuing helping to support our Yorkshire sites and alongside our fleet of five-star electric eco vehicles, we can offer a nationwide delivery service that is both flexible and responsive.
Reducing carbon:
Keeping everything in-house and in the UK is key to us managing the embedded carbon produced during the manufacture and distribution of our products. It also helps reduce the risk to our clients by eliminating the need for multiple links within the supply chain. All of our products are manufactured at our Yorkshire site and we have even invested in our own state of the art PUR processing line to create the thermal barrier for our patented low U-value PURe® aluminium window and door system. As well as dedicated machinery to create our other market-leading products, such as our Ali range of slimline doors and windows, our popular SF52 aluminium curtain wall system and our bespoke SF62 system, we have also invested in one of the world’s most environmentally efficient powder coating system. This allows us to offer our clients better guarantees and a quicker turnaround and is also helping to reduce the amount of waste product sent to landfill each year – the average saving is over 22 tonnes.
We’re constantly looking at other ways to improve efficiency, whether this is by installing a more efficient grey water system to recycle water used in the manufacturing process or using waste timber from packaging to fuel the Bio Mass boiler which heats the factory.
Closed-loop recycling:
We have long championed the benefits of using aluminium as a building material and we have done plenty of work behind the scenes to ensure that all our products are as sustainable as possible. This includes our compliance with BRE Global’s BES 6001 standard, which recognises the responsible and sustainable sourcing of our aluminium extrusions. We are also working closely with industry suppliers to minimise the embedded carbon in the extrusion process by utilise low carbon recycled aluminium made from post-consumer scrap materials across our full product range. All of our aluminium fenestration systems are also fully recyclable at the end of their life – which is over 40 years – including the PUR thermal barrier used in our PURe® range which can be reused for other products.
Embracing innovation:
We are committed to reducing the embedded carbon of our products during their manufacture as well as ensuring that they only make a positive environmental impact when installed. We’ve done this by investing heavily in the design and testing of all our products to ensure that they meet all the required British Standards as well as exceeding the requirements of the newly updated Building regulations including Part L. Our technical team are always on hand to help devise the most effective specification for your project so that further carbon savings can be made. Even our most technologically advanced products can be fabricated and installed without the need for any special tooling or laborious processes. So, whether you are considering our PURe® window range, which is available in multiple styles, or our PURe® Commercial door, our strongest and largest door to date, you can be confident that efficiency has been ‘designed in’ from the earliest opportunity.
To discover more about how Senior can help you create sustainable fenestration designs that are built to last, contact our technical advisory team contact us.
