Non-Energy Efficient Homes worse than Air travel says GGF Chief Executive at CBI Conference The Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) attended the CBI Conference & Exhibition this week in London where the UK's top business leaders and the Prime Minister and other Government Ministers gathered to discuss business and economic issues. In addition, this year the subject of sustainability was a focussed upon very intently. On the first day of business the CBI launched its eagerly awaited report Climate Change: Everyone's Business. The report brought together for the first time representatives from every major sector of British Business to assess the challenges posed by Climate Change and how to tackle it. It highlighted the fact that what was required was a sustainable ...

EnergiClear from SolaglasThe core of the EnergiClear range is based on the new SGG Planitherm Total, which has improved Window Energy Rating (WER) performance due to substantial R&D investment in the UK driven by our six state-of-the-art Solaglas DGU manufacturing facilities. With the solar factor of the new SGG Planitherm Total increased by 2% to 0.66, this high performance low-emissivity glass allows for maximum double glazed unit flexibility. Using the basic EnergiClear configuration of new SGG Planitherm Total and clear float glass, argon gas and aluminium spacer bar, will offer the opportunity to deliver a C Window Energy Rating in most standard frames. This in turn means that ...

Sir, The Chancellor of the Exchequer has a unique opportunity in his first Budget tomorrow to improve the lives of millions and make a lasting contribution to making Britain a greener, more energy-efficient country by cutting VAT from 17.5 per cent to five per cent on all building repair and maintenance work. Such a move would have wider benefits than just improving this country’s housing stock. It would directly benefit the millions of people living in “non-decent” housing — according to the Government’s own figures, there are seven million homes classed as “non-decent” in England alone — and the four million families who struggle to heat their homes. The current high rate of VAT on building repair and maintenance work ...

SGG Planitherm Ultra N - Another Breakthrough from SGG With the arrival of CE marking of IGUs (EN1279) on March 1st, it has been agreed that thermally insulating glass units should now state U-values with 90% argon-gas filling. This means that the declared optimum centre-pane U-value of IGUs incorporating many existing high performance low-emissivity (low-E) products, such as SGG PLANITHERM TOTAL, will subsequently round down to 1.2 W/m2K. It is important to note that the performance of the component products themselves has not changed. With this in mind, SAINT-GOBAIN GLASS UK has launched its most advanced low-E glass yet, SGG PLANITHERM ULTRA N. SGG PLANITHERM ULTRA N is already considered to be the benchmark low-E product on the continent. It represents ...

SGG Planitherm®, Clearly the Way Forward The consultation period for amendments to Building Regulations part L is now closed, so what are the likely outcomes for future legislation? The BFRC Window Energy Rating system is now unlikely to be included in its proposed form and average whole window U-values may yet be lowered to 1.8 W/m2 K for the window replacement market. Certainly at present, high performance low-E products like SGG Planitherm® Total and SGG Planitherm® Futur N from Saint-Gobain Glass enable a wider range of frame types to comply with current regulations, affording greater flexibility for designs and specifications to architects and fabricators. In the not so distant future, the superior thermal insulation performance of these products will be the minimum ...