8 | OCTOBER 2019
News
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
Shelforce plays part in
Birmingham’s first modular home
A leading window and door manufacturer in Birmingham
has played a part in a housing first for the city.
Shelforce, based in
THE IMPORTANCE OF
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
From helping your customers save
money on energy bills, to growing your
business, it’s surprising the benefits that
energy efficient windows and doors can
offer. Here, Nick Cowley, managing director
of PVCu windows and doors expert Eura-
max Solutions, discusses the importance of
energy efficiency.
According to The Energy Saving Trust UK,
up to 20 per cent of a home’s heat loss is
caused by inefficient windows and doors.
However, installing energy efficient products
can ensure that people live comfortably, save
money and reduce their carbon footprint.
In addition, energy efficient windows and
doors are beneficial to the environment.
The Governed British Fenestration Ratings
Council rates the quality of energy effi-
ciency between a scale of A to G, with an
A rating demonstrating the highest energy
efficiency performance. The higher the
performance, the more heat that is retained,
therefore reducing the need to use energy
provided from central heating.
Providing energy efficiency
Supplying what your customers want will
benefit your business. People want to save
money wherever they can, so by providing
a product that can do this is a huge selling
point.
With the demand for energy efficient
products increasing, it’s important that cus-
tomers can rely on a contractor to provide
them with a solution for increasing energy
efficiency and reducing energy costs. By
supplying and installing energy efficient
products, not only will it increase sales, but
it also positions your business as trustwor-
thy and environmentally friendly, which
helps retain customer loyalty.
High efficiency, low costs
From the start of the supply chain to the
end user, energy efficiency is important. For
homeowners, the biggest benefit of choosing
energy efficient products is the potential cost
savings. Therefore, suppliers and installers
should consider every aspect of the products
they select — everything from the panes
and frames to the sealants being used. For
instance, new build homeowners can poten-
tially save up to £700 a year on energy bills
if the houses are fitted with energy efficient
A and B rated windows and doors.
On top of providing energy efficient
products, another way to increase sales and
position your business as trustworthy and
reliable is offering a bespoke service. This
can be particularly helpful for customers
living in older homes that may not have
standard size or shape window or door
openings, meaning that off-the-shelf prod-
ucts just won’t fit.
www.euramax-direct.co.uk
Erdington, manufactured all
the aluminium windows for
Birmingham City Council’s
first ever modular home,
which was unveiled in
Hockley in June.
The property was manu-
factured by Just Solutions
after the company recog-
nised the national need
for affordable housing as
well as the need to utilise
brownfield sites.
Birmingham City Coun-
cil’s housing arm Birming-
ham Municipal Housing
Trust (BMHT) chose to
partner with Just Solutions
to deliver their first ‘Mod-
Pod.’
And as Shelforce is the
Council’s chosen manufac-
turer and supplier of choice
having worked on a huge
number of local authority
projects in the past, they
were perfect.
“The new ‘ModPod’ looks
great and for Shelforce to
be playing a part in such a
worthwhile project for the
city is brilliant,” commented
Howard Trotter, Shelforce’s
Business manager.
“Shelforce has always
been about making a real
difference for our commu-
nities and these modular
homes will hopefully meet
the housing demand in
Birmingham.”
The ‘ModPod’ comes in
two units - the ground floor
and first floor - both of
which are essentially steel
frames with the necessary
insulated walls and custom-
izable facades.
It features a 4mm thick
Acrylic brick finish on the
bottom and a corrugated
Aluminium exterior on the
top.
Sleeping up to four peo-
ple, it has everything ex-
pected of a modern home,
including an upstairs and
downstairs bathroom, while
the master bedroom boasts
a balcony.
The unit took an hour
to crane into place on a
pre-prepared site and was
available for tenants to oc-
cupy on the same day.
It took around 20 weeks
to build, however on a live
production line Just Solu-
tions have said this could
be shortened to just two
weeks.
BMHT already have
council approval to build
a further 54 units across
six sites over the next 12
months, subject to plan-
ning consent, and aim to
deliver that in two years
before conducting a review
of the modular homes pro-
gramme.
Howard added: “If this
pioneering programme is a
success then it will not only
be great for our city but
also for Shelforce.”
For more information
call Shelforce on
0121 603 5262 or visit
www.shelforce.com