46
EXTERNAL ENVELOPE
Senior calls for greater clarity over low carbon aluminium claims
A
s part of its What You See Is What You Spec campaign,
Senior
Architectural Systems is reinforcing the clarity of its environmental information and calling on the wider fenestration industry to move beyond top-line fi gures and also adopt the same transparent, evidence-based approach.
The call to action follows Senior’s publication of a suite of product-specifi c Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for its aluminium doors, windows and curtain wall systems which challenge the traditional format to provide more accurate data to specifi ers.
As part of this unprecedented move,
Senior’s EPDs include the environmental impact of all system components, including thermal breaks, gaskets, and fi xings, as well as fabrication and delivery to site via Senior’s fabricator network.
The energy-intensive
extrusion process is also accounted for, but importantly the glazing has been omitted. This is because glazing, which is not typically supplied by system houses, can artifi cially lower the carbon fi gure for the aluminium system. Senior argues that for complete accuracy, glazing should always be reported separately through its own EPD. Senior’s campaign is focused on the belief that specifi ers should only be given accurate and useful information and is being headed up by the manufacturer’s dedicated UK sustainability lead Luke Osborne. Under Luke’s stewardship, Senior is reframing the way it communicates information about its low carbon aluminium to provide more detail and context so that specifi ers are empowered to challenge some of the bolder claims that are often made. A key part of this is Senior’s desire to see the industry move away from the over reliance of quoting carbon fi gures relating to aluminium billets in isolation as this doesn’t account for the extrusion and profi ling process and therefore doesn’t refl ect the products that are actually installed on site.
For its part, Senior is keen to provide greater clarity around its own aluminium extrusion processes and how that affects the billet fi gure that is so often quoted. Senior currently offers two options – its standard aluminium, known as ReAl 4.0 and its lower carbon option which is available on
request, ReAl 2.0. Senior’s standard ReAl 4.0 aluminium has a billet fi gure of 3.5 kg CO2 extrusion fi gure of 0.75 kg CO2
kg for mill fi nish aluminium profi les. ReAl 2.0 has a billet carbon footprint of 1.61 kg CO2 CO2
an overall carbon footprint of 4.25 kg CO2 an overall fi gure of 2.36 kg CO2
e/kg, which when added to the 0.75 kg e/kg fi gure for extrusion process, gives e/kg for mill
fi nish aluminium profi les. Commenting, Senior Architectural Systems’ UK sustainability lead Luke Osborne said: “As carbon fi gures relating to aluminium billets alone don’t give an accurate picture of the products installed on site, the extrusion process must be factored in to any carbon calculations as well as all the individual components that make up the specifi c system. Otherwise, there are signifi cant discrepancies in terms of what has been claimed, and what
e/kg and an e/kg to give e/
is true in reality. With many public sector projects now engaging with carbon auditors to check for this very issue, the need for full transparency is not only an ethical matter but also a commercial one. “We have developed our EPDs specifi cally to address this widespread problem and to hopefully buck the trend to create a more accurate benchmark for how the environmental performance of aluminium fenestration systems is positioned and communicated. I fi rmly believe that EPDs should be open to interrogation, audit, and robust scrutiny, making them a useful resource for specifi ers rather than simply a marketing or sales tool.” Senior’s full range of EPDs are available to download via the website.
01709 772600
www.seniorarchitecturalsystems.co.uk
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
ADF JULY/AUGUST 2026
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78
