Increasingly, more Australians are making the switch from common aluminium and timber windows to uPVC (Unplasticised Polyvinylchloride) due to the material’s durability and cost-efficient attributes. However, many Australians are still unaware of the positive environmental impact installing Double Glazed uPVC windows can have compared to more traditional windows.

We believe it’s more important than ever to be doing as much as we can to minimise and prevent harm to our beautiful country. In this blog, we’ll be diving deeper into how installing uPVC windows into your next building project or renovation is a greener window solution for your project and the planet.

Energy Efficiency

The first actionable step we can make towards building a greener home is to reduce your energy bills. A win for the planet and a win for our pockets. This can be done by sourcing more energy-efficient products like heaters and air conditioning units. However, there isn’t much point in investing in energy-efficient home appliances if that cool or warm air is escaping through ineffective windows. What many Australians don’t know is that uPVC is a much more thermal-efficient material than aluminium or timber, as Double Glazed uPVC is a natural insulator with low conductivity of heat. Up to 50% of heat can be lost through badly insulated or single glazed aluminium and timber windows. Simply replacing timber and aluminium windows with uPVC windows can save you up to 40% on your heating and cooling bills. uPVC windows naturally insulate your home, keeping the warm or cool air sealed tightly within your home, allowing you to conserve more energy and money spent on fossil fuel energy production.

Eco-Friendly

Common window materials like timber and aluminium have been known to negatively impact the environment. Trees naturally clean the air that we breathe and with the photosynthesis process turning carbon monoxide into oxygen, they’re one of the most important living plants on our planet. With timber requiring the trees for its production creating forestry issues and aluminium’s high energy consumption during production combined with the dangerous pollutants released, contributing to the production of these materials is doing more harm than good. uPVC however, is an eco-friendly material, partly derived from the renewable resource, salt. The production process also produces less energy and in the long-term uPVC will outlast timber and aluminium, producing less waste while eliminating the need for additional energy requirements.

Recyclable 

uPVC is an ideal polymer for recycling as the life span of this material is 40–80 years. Because of the polymer structure, this material is not only long-lasting but it can also be recycled up to 6 times to be reused in not only new windows but many other architectural applications. This means that they don’t have to get manufactured again. This is important as recycling uPVC provides us with alternatives to landfill, crucial for reducing energy production and landfill costs.

Making wiser decisions about our environmental impact is becoming more valued in Australians lives. Choosing uPVC windows is the greener choice for you to make for your next renovation or building project because when you choose uPVC for your windows, you’re choosing a recyclable, eco-friendly and energy-efficient solution.