New windows. Sustainability for the people and the environment.
Sustainable activities follow the principle that future generations have the same prospects of a life with many opportunities as we do. This can only be reached when environmental protection, the economy, and society achieve a global equilibrium because they all interact with each other. The contributions from KBE take the form of energy efficient window systems, lead-free stabilisers in virgin material, and intelligent recycling concepts.
Our products fulfill all of the requirements for thermal insulation and the associated energy efficiency. In figures, therefore: Our customers manufacture about 13 million window units each year, helping to save about 300 million litres of fuel oil. This also saves about 750 million kilograms of CO2 that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere – equivalent to the quantity absorbed by a forested area the size of 80,000 football fields! Moreover, there is less draw on valuable resources like fossil fuels, which remain preserved for future generations.
In 2004, we completely eliminated the heavy metal lead in the virgin material for all of our windows, using since then stabilisers based on calcium and zinc. We therefore reduce the annual extraction and consumption of lead by 6,500 tonnes – equivalent to over 160 truckloads. Of course, windows produced free of lead exhibit all of the classical cost-effective advantages of the material PVC-U, including durability, low maintenance, high cost effectiveness, and extremely good thermal insulation.
We recycle our old windows, reintroducing them to our material cycle where they are again used as regrinds in our profiles. Supported by this specific knowhow, we create products that represent the efficient use of resources and hence responsible activities. The recycled material in our profiles constitutes on average a 90% reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions otherwise associated with conventional PVC-U. As a founding member of the nationwide recycling initiative Rewindo, we also ensure that old PVC-U windows are reused in a closed cycle.
With the aim of optimising further the value created for windows our engineers are developing the latest product generations with less material, but with improved engineering properties. Intelligent chamber systems and static structural attributes on the one hand serve to minimise the draw on resources, and on the other culminate in extraordinarily competitive products.
For it is our aim to provide our partner companies and their customers with economically and ecologically perfected system solutions that justify the decisions they make in good faith. Sensible and responsible – our commitment to sustainability.
