Sustainability
Modern and future-proof
Decades ago, VEKA recognised that the construction industry holds great potential for sustainability. As pioneers in PVC recycling, we are already excellently positioned to open up new environmental horizons with our products: high recycled content without compromising on quality, a circular economy in practice, and independent certification that goes far beyond the legal requirements.
Product development
A product’s sustainability is determined as early as the development phase. That is why we take potential environmental impacts into account right from the start when developing new profiles: we minimise emissions during manufacture as much as possible and optimise the carbon footprint across the entire life cycle of a window or profile.
Our top priority here is the ‘Design for Recycling’ principle. It aims to design products from the outset in such a way that their materials and components are easily recyclable after use, in order to keep resources in circulation and thus protect the environment. Three principles therefore apply to our PVC-U profiles: they must be capable of incorporating recycled material, be recyclable themselves, and meet the quality expectations of both fabricators and end-users in order to guarantee the longest possible service life.
VEKA quality plays a decisive role in meeting these quality requirements – from processing and installation right through to the entire service life of the product – thereby ensuring exceptional durability. The longer a product remains in use, the more favourable its carbon footprint becomes.
Sustainability, certified and guaranteed
In Germany, the stated aim is to make the existing building stock more sustainable. To speed up this process, funding guidelines have been amended alongside legal requirements. The ‘Sustainable Building’ (QNG) quality seal plays a key role in this, as it is a prerequisite for particularly generous funding from KfW. With your windows made from VEKA profiles, you can, of course, enable your customers to obtain this sought-after certification – and we’ll support you right from the start in providing the necessary evidence.
As a comprehensive certification, the ‘Sustainable Building’ quality seal (QNG) is becoming increasingly important for us in the window industry. After all, both developers and buyers of QNG-certified buildings can receive more attractive KfW funding than for buildings without certification. Furthermore, the QNG sets requirements – for example, regarding the carbon footprint – which are not yet legally binding but which, according to experts, are likely to become so in the short to medium term. Anyone who builds or buys a building with QNG certification can therefore be sure that they will not have to carry out retrofitting work in just a few years’ time.
Service for the construction industry
The PVC-U window is the only building product with a controlled cycle in which old windows become new ones again. This is not only an important argument for the PVC-U window as a sustainable product, but also a necessity due to stricter regulations for the disposal of construction waste.
More than 1,500 window fabricators and disposal companies already dispose of old windows and production waste professionally via VEKA Umwelttechnik. We provide all the necessary infrastructure and logistics and take care of everything else.
We also advise architects and planners individually on renovation projects involving old windows: