Congratulations to NorDan UK

The judges’ comments said that NorDan had: ‘Considered the whole life impact of its product – from manufacturing, operation and maintenance, to end of life’ as well as praising us for ‘good-quality data’.

This must be very satisfying for Alex Brown and his team, as these are some of the strongest messages that they have been working to communicate to the market.

As Group CEO it is also very pleasing to see NorDan UK’s success supported so ably by our manufacturing facility in Poland and by our Group EPD Competence Centre. This has been a genuine team effort.

Exceptional growth

I think it is also significant that the CIBSE award was achieved in a period of exceptional growth for NorDan UK.

What this clearly says to me is that sustainability and growth can go hand in hand, and that the UK is increasingly embracing the three pillars of sustainability: ecological, economic, and social, with more industry decision makers sharing our long-term perception of value.

What is also exciting is that there are a lot more opportunities for growth in the UK for NorDan, be that organic growth or via acquisition.

We now have in place the people, organisation and processes that can support sustainable growth and success, along with the right product offering and documentation and the data needed to increase our share of what is a very big market.

NorDan’s success is also being aided by increasing building standards, plus the fact that the UK has traditionally been a heavy user of uPVC and aluminium over the years. This has provided a lot of opportunities for existing windows to be replaced with high-performing and longer lasting alu-clad composite windows.

The strength of the UK is also significant as dark economic clouds are gathering over some European markets: it is unrealistic to expect growth in all markets at all times. It is just not possible.

That said, the long-term forecast for the NorDan Group looks good, and I’m sure the forthcoming Energy Performance of Buildings Directive will promote sustainability values that benefit NorDan’s products and approach.

My priorities moving forward are to support growth whilst continuing to develop our products and lead our company towards higher levels of sustainability, in partnership with our customers and suppliers.

We have a company-wide approach to sustainability that embraces our employees, and we are always considering how we can further contribute to the green economy.

This also includes actively working on improvement projects aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Dynamic EPDs

I’ve been a strong advocate of NorDan’s investment in Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and we will soon be the first window and door manufacturer to deliver Dynamic EPDs.

Dynamic EPDs consider the size and configurations of a three-dimensional product as opposed to a product reference, again putting us at the innovation forefront of our industry.

We must strive to ensure that customers have an accurate picture of the environmental impact and performance of our products, so they can then include that data in their calculations and documentation from an embryonic project stage to as-built.

Reducing the whole life carbon of buildings must start with accurate measurement of embodied and operational emissions.

So, we are excited to launch Dynamic EPDs, and I am also encouraged to see more big business and governments across Europe taking the situation more seriously, motivated in part by the energy crisis.

A bright future

I’ll be very interested to see how Governments, both national and the EU, encourage and fund change, because we will only hit ambitious C02 reduction targets if we reduce energy consumption in buildings and the whole life carbon impact of constructing new buildings and retrofitting the old.

Finally, focusing back on the UK, I think there is much to be optimistic about.

There has been so much positive change in the UK construction industry over the last decade, and I’m very encouraged and impressed by the way in which developments, big and small, are increasingly influenced by a need for long-term energy efficiency and sustainability.

My aim is to make sure that NorDan UK’s name is increasingly synonymous with this trend.

Dag Kroslid is the Group CEO of NorDan.

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