Eleven of the Wood Window Alliance’s (WWA) 45 members were represented on the organisation’s stand, although several other member companies had individual stands elsewhere at Ecobuild.
The stand set out to dispel some of the myths surrounding timber windows – such as they can’t be double-glazed and they are easy to break into – but also launched major new research by Imperial College, London into service life and whole life costings of timber windows manufactured to WWA standards.
The research reveals that service life can be extended to 80 years – replicating the life expectancy of Edwardian and Victorian wood windows.
Imperial’s research also shows that the extended service life of WWA windows results in a lower whole life cost – from 2-7% less – than the equivalent PVCu windows at 60 years and beyond.
Research by construction consultant Davis Langdon was also highlighted on the stand. It shows that the overall life cycle of a WWA frame is carbon negative and that each WWA frame specified instead of a PVCu window saves around 89kg CO2e over the life of the windows.
