Why should you choose aluminium by Freedom Bespoke
Why aluminium?People are quick to think that metal must not be environmentally friendly. We often associate metal with big machinery and big machinery with a negative cogitation to the environment. Rest assured, many metals are naturally occurring and extremely recyclable.
Did you know Aluminium is one of the most environmentally friendly metals on the planet? It can be recycled infinitely to make the same product, for example, 75% of the 1 billion tons of aluminium produced in the last 100 years is still in use today. Hence why it’s considered one of the most valuable items in your recycling bin and ultimately the most recyclable industrial material.
Aluminium in constructionAluminium is up there with one of the most frequently used metal in the world; it’s extremely versatile, lightweight, durable and 100% recyclable, making it a highly sought-after material in the construction industry. According to the source ‘World Aluminium’, up to 85% of building materials used in construction are made from aluminium and is also used in approximately 74% of residential buildings, making it not just commercial properties that are benefiting from aluminium.
The Empire State Building was the first architectural construction where aluminium was used for many of its major structures because of aluminium’s innate strength and resilience to corrosion. Since then, many modern skyscrapers have been made using aluminium for the same reasons. Similarly, all the steel window frames that were fitted in almost all Manhattan skyscrapers were later swapped out with aluminium to make the buildings more thermally efficient. With the flexibility that aluminium offers, architects were able to be more creative with their designs knowing that their structures would be robust and could be easily recycled in future should it need to be.
The environmental impactsAccording to Architecture and Design, timber is used in approximately 24% of residential properties, while aluminium is used in approximately 74%. While the timber look can work effectively to complement traditional properties, the reality is it’s much less environmentally friendly than aluminium, which can achieve the same timber look through powder coating.
Richardson from Architecture and Design comments, “Timber not only involves cutting down native forests, but also uses a lot of energy in the cutting, transporting, re-working, transporting again, manufacturing and transporting again that occurs”.
Additionally, timber requires a lot of maintenance, especially if it has been stained or exposed to harsh weather conditions. It defiantly has added benefits depending on climate, especially when living in the UK. Rain can cause timber to rot and become infested with mites and harsh sun can cause timber to discolour or warp and flex. Aluminium is usually more versatile than timber and can be used for more modern and stylish designs on a larger scale.
In Conclusion…The owners of Origin Leisure decided to start their own aluminium bi-fold door and window company, offering only the highest quality aluminium that is built to last. The benefits of aluminium far outweighed that of uPVC and seemed like the logical choice; aluminium is strong; resilient to corrosion, warping and flexing; thermally efficient with the polyamide thermal break; environmentally friendly; and offered a longer guarantee than many uPVC doors. They knew that premium grade aluminium was the only way forward for durable doors and windows but struggled to find a reliable supplier in the UK. And so, Origin Frames was born.
