A NEW BENCHMARK FOR ENERGY EFFICIENT ENTRANCE DOORS

APEER HAS DRAWN A NEW LINE IN THE SAND FOR THERMAL PERFORMANCE WITH THE RESIDENCE DOOR COLLECTION

0.51 W/m2K. There has never been a clearer statement of intent than presented by this figure when describing The Residence Door Collection by Apeer, a new range of residential entrance doors launched at this year’s FIT Show in May. For it sets out the parameters by which the doors were designed and manufactured: ‘better’ was never

Let’s put this figure in context: the current requirement of Approved Document L of the Building Regulations for composite resi-doors is a U value of 1.4 W/m2K, whilst the Passive House Institute sets 0.89 W/m2K or better. Although there is considerable speculation about what the next round of changes to the Building Regulations might bring under the Future Homes project in two years’ time, it is unlikely to be that low. Either way, Apeer and its partner The Residence Collection, with whom this range of doors was developed, should feel quietly confident that they are ahead of the game. Way ahead of the game.

The target market for The Residence Door Collection by Apeer is defined very well by the brand: Residence Collection windows are upmarket, chosen by homeowners that are prepared to spend considerably more on their generally, upmarket homes. And that sector expects high quality and of course, high performance from the products they choose. But when asked to develop a high-performance door for The Residence Collection, Apeer had already completed much of the development work, as Sarah Hitchings, sales and marketing director of The Residence Collection explained: “Asa McGillian, managing director at Apeer parent company New World Developments, described it as an opportunity to put their long-held ambition into practice –that of commercially producing a door that exceeded Passive House thermal performance standards. They had produced prototypes and knew that they could produce such a product and when we began talking, it was clear that we could provide a distinct outlet for such a product.”

The upshot, to the best of Sarah’s knowledge, is the most energy efficient door commercially available to the British and Irish home improvement markets: “There are doors out there that may meet this extraordinarily low U value, but none amongst traditionally-styled residential doors or that are commercially and widely available,” explained Sarah.

Offered to Residence Collection approved installers but also available to Apeer’s customers to top up the firm’s existing and highly popular Apeer44 and Apeer70 ranges, twenty door styles are immediately available, including traditional, contemporary and stable designs, with 78mm quadruple sealed glass units standard where relevant. GRP skins sandwich a high-density moisture-resistant PU core, reinforced with aluminium anti-cut through security mesh, resulting in an exceptional 120mm front-to-back format which offers exceptional feel and ‘heft’ in operation. Performance is further enhanced by weather deflectors, and Stormguard thresholds.

The standard set by the thermal performance is matched by finish and installed options - nine standard colours (seven grained and two smooth), and full sidelights and top lights now, with half lights and others to follow. High quality hardware and furniture will reflect the construction of the doors, whilst extra touches such as Ultion KeyTag-equipped, ‘Apple Find My’ trackable keys also adding to a comprehensive standard specification. And an indicator of the attention to detail is the option of a hidden ‘no more nails’ magnetic decorative wreath holder built into the door.

Every door, including skins and glass units, is manufactured by Apeer at its 120,000 feet2 Ballymena factory which of course, is the domain of Asa McGillian, who explains why the partnership with The Residence Collection, is the answer to so many of his personal aspirations: “Whilst we have been manufacturing composite doors for more than twenty years I have always found the Passive House Institute fascinating both for the standards that it sets and in those, the challenge that it set me for the windows and doors that we produce,” he explained. “But producing doors and windows to such standards of performance tends to be very specialised, expensive and limited to rarefied architectural application.

“The partnership with The Residence Collection offers us the opportunity to build such a door but one that has a clear and relatively large potential clearly defined market. We have what we believe to be the most energy efficient, traditional residential entrance door ever manufactured; and it’s available now, through normal channels. I am very proud of that.” www.apeer.co.uk