PVCaware.org talks to the ASA
October 15th 2008
In one corner it is all energy performance certificates and a government trying to make us all eco-warriors, in the other there’s a PVC window company being given a hard time by the Advertising Standards Authority for trying to work towards the same goals.
The company concerned, Eco Windows, in using the term ‘ecological on design’ when referring to PVC windows, was found to have fallen fowl of the ASA’s codes of practice and was this month (October) asked to withdraw the advertisement.
So that no one is put off from making rightful environmental claims about PVC windows in advertising, PVCaware.org has been talking to the ASA to forestall any similar rulings.
To avoid entanglement with the ASA, PVCaware.org advises advertisers to check the code of practice used by the ASA on the Committee of Advertising Practice’s website www.cap.org.uk. Alternatively, they can get the advertisement checked by CAP for free by calling the copy advice service on 020 7492 2100.
Jon Skinner, chair of the BPF Window Group marketing committee that runs PVCaware.org, said: “PVC is one of the most environmentally friendly materials available for window frames. Not only is this a fact, but it is one, using words favoured by the ASA, that can be substantiated, shown to be true and clearly explained.
“If fabricators, who become members of the new BPF group, should get on the wrong side of the ASA, we’d be very happy to offer technical support to back their case.”
GFF to spread word on PVCaware.org
October 3rd 2008
The Glass and Glazing Federation is to add its weight to PVCaware.org, a campaign run by the British Plastics Federation Window Group that spreads positive messages about PVC-U windows to a wide audience.
Practical support will include communications by the GGF to its membership and inclusion in a GGF good practice guide. Members will be encouraged to use the campaign to promote the use of PVC to customers.
Jon Skinner, chair BPF Window Group marketing committee said: “We are very grateful for the practical support being provided by the GGF, which follows up on the words of support given at the launch of PVCaware.org in June. This is very much what the campaign is about, providing an information resource and working with the industry to spread the message to specifiers, consumers and the media so that buying decisions and press comment are based on the facts not ill-founded opinion.
“We will also be talking to the GGF on future initiatives to promote PVC windows.”
Nigel Rees, GGF’s chief executive GGF added: “PVCaware is to be congratulated for giving customers the information they need to make an informed choice, for letting the facts speak for themselves rather than engaging in unhelpful mud slinging. We are very happy to be able to offer our communications resources and access to our members to support the BPF.”
New ad campaign for PVCaware.org sets record straight on PVC’s A+
green rating
September 4th 2008
PVCaware.org, the BPF supported platform to promote PVC window frames, is to launch its first advertising campaign this September.
The campaign is to target the public sector initially with the message that there is no more environmentally friendly material available for window frames than PVC.
While part of the aim is to promote the green credentials of PVC windows, another task is to redress misleading information in advertising by another trade body, says PVCaware.org chairman Jon Skinner.
Jon Skinner said: “One of the very positive things we’ve highlighted in the advertising is that PVC windows are A+ rated in the BRE Green Guide. We’ve done this to put the record straight following misleading advertisements placed by the Wood Window Alliance that attacks competitor materials, not just PVC.
“We’ll also be getting the message across that PVC frames are 100% recyclable and the No 1 choice in homes across the UK.
“Our aim through PVCaware.org is to get the industry behind promoting the very positive aspects of PVC windows and to get the message to end users in the public sector, the wider building industry and to home owners. Advertising is just part of a wider campaign that so far includes website work, editorials, exhibition work, promotional literature and more.”
BPF Windows Group appoints PR for PVC info campaign
July 22nd 2008
The British Plastics Federation Windows Group Marketing Committee has appointed ex Glass and Glazing Federation head of marketing and PR Jan Comer ahead of a strategic drive to promote the benefits of PVC windows in a new way.
Whereas the previous campaign focused on seminars for the trade, from this summer the new campaign is to focus on the media to take key messages to a wider audience.
Advertising, editorials, digital media and sales literature are to be used to communicate why PVC windows are the sensible choice.
Jan, who now works for her own consultancy Aurora PR, said: “I have PVC windows and know from personal experience how well they perform, even in one instance keeping a burglar out. I am looking forward to promoting them.”
Tim Marsden, Industrial Issues Executive at the BPF said: “We need to make information on the benefits of PVC more accessible to everyone interested in windows. Jan will be playing a major role in helping us to do that.”
BPF’s PVCaware.org calls for industry to work together to promote windows
July 15th 2008
Jon Skinner, chairman of the BPF windows group’s marketing committee is calling for the industry to work together to promote PVC windows following the launch of fightingbackwithfacts.com, on 14 July 2008, with a similar agenda to the BPF’s own PVCaware.org initiative.
Jon said: “The passion and determination of fightingbackwithfacts’s Martin Randall of Crystal Direct is to be welcomed. We fully understand his wish to place a stake in the ground for fabricators and installers.
“However, the message to improve the understanding of why PVC is the number one choice for windows will be more powerful if it is delivered by one voice – the voice of the trade body that represents the industry - rather than by individual companies.
“We’ve spoken with Martin and believe there is scope for working together.
“Under the BPF, we are now making great progress to promote PVC windows. Fortuitously this includes a new associate members category for fabricators as well as in recent months the BRE Green Guide, the British Fenestration Rating Council’s Window Energy Rating and, last week, the agreement of members of the industry to work together to promote PVC windows under the PVCaware.org banner. One company acting by itself would find all this very difficult to achieve and may even confuse the message.”
BPF members join to promote PVCaware.org
July 11th 2008
Members of the BPF Windows Group have agreed to join together to develop the PVCaware.org campaign launched by Epwin and VEKA plc to promote the benefits of PVC to a wider audience for the benefit of the windows industry.
At a meeting of the BPF marketing committee on Thursday (10/7/08) it was agreed that the objectives of PVCaware.org mirrored those of other BPF members and that the campaign would be delivered more strongly through the industry body under the PVCaware.org banner.
In a joint statement Jim Rawson, chairman, the Epwin Group and Dave Jones, managing director, VEKA, said: “Sustainability has never been more important and it is vital that we as an industry make sure that we don’t merely pay lip service to the green agenda but embrace it in full.
“PVCaware.org has been developed with as a first step forward in this process and to deliver a simple message – PVC is low maintenance, energy efficient and fully recyclable material and as such, hugely sustainable.
“We are delighted that the BPF has adopted the campaign and will now take it forward. As members of the BPF we will give it our full support in making PVCaware.org a success.”
Jon Skinner, chairman of the BPF windows group marketing group said: “The originators of PVCaware.org are to be congratulated for moving so quickly to respond to a need to supply accurate information on PVC, in particular PVC and the environment.
“We are pleased to be able to develop this initiative through the BPF with the help of a revised structure, that includes a new independent PR resource.”
Ownership of the campaign passes from the Epwin Group and VEKA with immediate effect. This includes the campaign website, logo and associated marketing material.
Green Guide climate change claim ‘missing the point’
July 9th 2008
Recent claims by the timber lobby on Green Guide ratings and the sustainability of PVC do little to support the construction sector in making an informed choice on material sustainability.
The BRE Green Guide was published last month to support construction professionals select materials with strong environmental credentials.
PVC windows have achieved the top ratings with an ‘A+’ rating for commercial Windows and ‘A’ rating for domestic windows. Energy efficient, low maintenance and fully recyclable, the Guide recognizes that PVC products can play an important part alongside other materials in modern construction.
Naturally manufacturers in each material have been keen to promote the sustainability of their products, however, PVCAware.org has warned that ‘marketing spin’ currently promoted by the timber sector risks undermining the very ethos behind the Guide.
“The market is clearly competitive and all material manufacturers will aim to secure maximum commercial advantage from the opportunities that exist - it’s what business is about”, said a spokesman for PVCAware.org.
“But claim and counter claim by materials manufacturers do little to support informed choice, especially where claims are presented in a format that could be misinterpreted by the reader.
“Recent advertising campaigns by the Wood Window Alliance suggesting wood has an ‘A’ rating compared to PVC and aluminium’s respective ‘D’ ratings run a very real risk of misleading their audience.
“A small footnote reference clarifies that this relates to a single ‘climate change indicator’ - not the overall rating.
“This is damaging on two fronts. First it is misleads the reader giving them the incorrect impression that PVC does not achieve as highly as timber in the overall Guide rating.
“Second, it undermines the BRE’s ambition to create an easily understood system that can be used by the construction sector to make an informed choice on material type.
“At best ‘tit for tat’ campaigns are a distraction from business - where they mislead they pose a far greater threat for the building products industry and sustainable construction as a whole.”
PVCAware.org was launched by the Epwin Group and VEKA plc last month to promote sustainable manufacture within the PVC building products industry. It also aims to support individual companies and industry organisations in promoting the positive benefits of PVC as a building material to social and consumer audiences.
A spokesman for PVCAware.org continued: “PVC is a hugely sustainable material. Innovation means that we have closed the loop on the recycling process, taking old early generation frames out and reprocessing and recycling them for use in a new generation of advanced, low maintenance and energy efficient products - something that has been recognised by the BRE in its A+ and A rating.
“Our aim is to give the industry, social and consumer audiences straight forward information on the plusses of PVC as a building material - not pedaling ‘disinformation’ about alternative materials which can only serve to undermine informed material choice in construction.
Open letter to the industry
June 10th 2008
Sustainability is today a fundamental part of doing business. From the high street to high rise
development, no company can afford to ignore the
'green' agenda.
And the window and building products industries are no exception. Going forward and in many
cases already depending on sector, you have to be able to demonstrate that your products can
contribute towards
sustainable construction.
The environmental performance of not only products but your individual business, should as a consequence, sit at the top of the agenda.
And while many within the industry have taken positive steps forward, others still need to buy-in to the sustainability message, something that in many cases fabricators and installers manufacturing and fitting in other materials have already embraced.
Sustainability offers the PVC building products industry a huge opportunity. PVC is energy efficient, low maintenance and critically fully recyclable - something that going forward should be promoted.
This can only be achieved if the industry puts its house in order first. We need commitment at every level of the industry to sustainable business practices. Second we need to communicate this message to consumer, social and new build audiences and in particular to counter the raft of 'eco-disinformation' that exists across market places.
We can do this through our own businesses individually but we can do it much more effectively if we work together.
We are launching a new industry communication campaign, PVCaware.org, aimed in the first instance at generating support within the industry and equipping individual businesses with the tools and messages that they need to set the record straight.
The initiative is being promoted in the first instance by Epwin and VEKA following our experiences at the Ecobuild Show earlier this year and in response to the groundswell of opinion within the industry that collectively it must do more to promote PVC as a wholly sustainable material.
Initially we are inviting the industry to pledge its support to drive forward sustainability within the PVC window and building products industry by signing the campaign Charter online at www.pvcaware.org. Fabricators and installers can also access online information on PVC as a sustainable material and download the campaign logo and 'green' toolkits. We will follow this up with a rolling education and internal industry communication campaign.
This is meant as a first step only, dedicated social specification and consumer campaigns will be needed if the campaign is to be a success. How these will be delivered and where we go next will be up to the response that we receive from you, the industry.
To help us gauge this we're also inviting you to fill out our online questionnaire as to how the industry should move forward and through what channels.
Where we go next will ultimately be up to you.
Press Release: PVCaware. Are You?
June 10th 2008
A new communication campaign has been launched by the PVC window, door and building products sector to promote sustainability within the industry and advantages of the material to external audiences.
Set up by the Epwin Group and VEKA with the aim of extending that partnership to all within the industry, PVCaware.org has been developed to provide the industry with the basic tools it needs to push the ‘green’ message.
This includes encouraging the industry to ‘buy-in’ to more sustainable modes of manufacture and also the recovery and reprocessing of ‘waste’ post-consumer and post-industrial PVC building materials.
In a joint statement Jim Rawson, chairman, the Epwin Group and Dave Jones, Managing Director, VEKA said: “The challenge to the PVC window and building products industry is clear - we must take responsibility for the impact our industry has on the environment but moreover we have a responsibility to develop and deliver innovative new products that can actively contribute to a more sustainable future.
“Progress has and is being made. Epwin through Dekura, and VEKA through VEKA Recycling have closed the loop on the recycling process, bringing old end of life post-consumer material back into use. This and the advanced generation of energy efficient products offered by leading systems companies and fabricators give the industry a strong message.
“But we also need to do more. To do more within the industry to ensure buy-in at each and every level, to make sure that no PVC goes to landfill. And we need to do more to communicate the sustainability of PVC building products to the consumer and specifier.
“We hope that through PVCaware.org we can support this process, first by supporting and encouraging the industry to recycle and to commit to more sustainable modes of manufacture and the delivery of more sustainable products. Second to give it the basic tools and messages that it needs to communicate effectively.”
Launched at the National Self-build & Renovation Centre, the initiative comes following Epwin and VEKA’s experience at the Ecobuild Show earlier this year and in response to the groundswell of opinion within the industry that collectively it must do more to promote PVC as a wholly sustainable material.
Initially the industry is being invited to pledge its support to drive forward sustainability within the PVC window and building products industry by signing the campaign charter online at www.PVCaware.org Fabricators and installers can also access online information on PVC as a sustainable material and download the campaign logo and ‘green’ toolkits. This will be followed up with a rolling education and internal industry communication campaign.
PVCaware.org has also secured support from the organisers of Glassex 2009 and will have a presence at the show.
This is meant as a first step only, dedicated social specification and consumer campaigns will be needed if PVCaware.org is to be a success. How these will be delivered and where the campaign will go next will be up to the response that it receives from the industry.
To this end PVCaware.org is asking the industry how it believes the second tiers of the campaign can be best delivered. A questionnaire available online invites visitors to support one of three options:
- Should the consumer and specifier/social campaigns be delivered through existing industry organisations?
- Should they be delivered by PVCaware.org (this would need a funding commitment by all within the industry)?
- Should the industry continue to promote the sustainability message on a company by company basis?
The findings of the survey will be made available through industry media and at a follow-up forum planned for later in the year.
Continuing their joint statement Jim Rawson and Dave Jones said: “Sustainability offers the PVC building products industry a huge opportunity. PVC is energy efficient, low maintenance and critically fully recyclable – something that going forward should be promoted.
“We can do this through our own businesses individually but we can do it much more effectively if we work together.
“Epwin and VEKA have committed to deliver the first stage of this communication campaign. What happens next will depend on the response we receive from the industry. We do, however, believe that PVCaware.org and our meeting today represents at the very least, a step forward.“
