2019-10-29

Poland’s Windows and Doors Industry Ready for the Eco Revolution!

These days, windows not only serve to save energy in our homes. They can also produce it by making use of the sun. Moreover, they yield it in forms which include warmth, light and motion. Thanks to the efforts of Polish manufacturers, our country’s windows and doors industry is stepping beyond the construction materials sector and taking the building energy management sector by storm.

A Revolution for the Home

At present, single-family buildings constitute half of all the residential buildings in Poland. An entire seventy per cent of them are extremely energy inefficient, with high annual energy requirements. Increasing awareness of their impact on both the natural environment and people’s health has led the construction industry to turn towards sustainable building. State-of-the-art construction materials mean that developers no longer perceive passive, energy-efficient homes as costly and unattractive. In addition, their distinctive designs are capturing the hearts of future owners. In 2017, the Don’t Waste Energy campaign compiled a report entitled Energy-Efficient Building in the Eyes of the Poles. It showed that eighty-eight per cent of the respondents would now decide on this kind of building.

Bożena Ryszka, Marketing and PR Director for ALUPROF S.A., a leading manufacturer of aluminium systems for the construction industry, explains that:

The evolution of Polish window and door systems is increasingly being driven by developers’ demands in terms of ecology and technology. We make every effort to react to that kind of signal from the market as and when it occurs. For years now, Aluprof’s engineers have been developing window, door and roller blind systems that are better suited to user requirements for functionality and design and, at the same time, are environmentally friendly. Windows and doors based on our aluminium systems make it possible to build glass structures on a massive scale and featuring not only an exceptional appearance but, above all, superb parameters. Combining them with ventilation and photovoltaic systems, for instance, in passive, energy-efficient houses, facilitates more or less ideal heating energy management.

The Polish Windows and Doors Industry

The emphasis that Polish window and door manufacturers place on innovative technological solutions is what lies behind the fact that the sector is outgrowing the category of construction materials. State-of-the-art windows and doors are now making their mark in the building energy management sector. One example of this is the Future Energy Line window, which was developed by the Petecki company in collaboration with ML System S.A. It is the first window fitted with transparent, photovoltaic glass, thanks to which, it will produce electricity for our homes. At the 1st Polish Innovation Exhibition, which took place on 3rd October during this year’s Warsaw Build Fair, the window won the vote of the attendees as the most innovative product. The window solution created with the ALUPROF MB-86 system was also a focus of the sector’s appreciation.

The unique nature of the exhibition is borne out by the fact that the organisers succeeded in bringing together the market’s most important players, who are blazing a trail for the joinery sector with their implementation of innovative products and technologies. The event was designed to promote the most spectacular, cutting-edge joinery products. The innovative solutions on show included a window which closes automatically during unfavourable weather conditions, a window that will heat a room up to thirty-five degrees Centigrade and a gate featuring panels of changeable translucency.

All these products are a response to trends connected with green building and SMART technology. Homes packed with these kinds of solutions are investments which will pay back their costs in just a few years.

Bożena Ryszka explains that:

As of 2021, every newly built house will have to meet energy-efficient standards. Thanks to our many years of experience in exporting to several dozen countries around the world and to our accomplishments on really huge developments such as office buildings in the USA and public buildings in Great Britain, ALUPROF offers solutions that stand out on the market for their parameters and design alike. We’re also open to the individual requirements of architects and developers and they value us for our readiness to create things that are revolutionary. As a manufacturer of aluminium profiles for windows and doors, we’ve outdistanced the legal regulations and we’re now offering our clients innovative solutions. We’re precursors in the sector because we don't only respond to current trends. We also create them. Here’s one example. Our MB-Skyline system was premiered at the exhibition. It’s designed for use in building types that include single-family homes. The system’s sliding doors with invisible frames are a perfect fit with the prevailing trend for large panes of glass and subtle profiles and they’re intended for clients who care not only about quality and functionality, but also about exceptional aesthetic values. So using this kind of solution in a building doesn’t only make it possible to achieve a better heating balance, but also raises the status of the development itself.

The Unquestioned Market Leader

Another event which took place at the Warsaw Build Fair on 3rd October was the 2nd Ogólnopolskie Forum Stolarki (Polish Joinery Forum). It was attended by almost four hundred representatives of more than two hundred businesses in the sector. This year’s forum came to an end with the Joinery Market Leaders gala awards ceremony. A report provided by construction market research agency Centrum Analiz Branżowych (Sectoral Analysis Centre) provided the basis for identifying the companies which have achieved the best results in their sector over the past season. ALUPROF was singled out in two supplier categories; aluminium systems and roller shutter systems. The company’s annual turnover places it at the 1.2 billion level and its aim for 2020 is to exceed 1.5 billion zloty in sales.