Working Together on Warm Edge

Dear Richard

I agree with Andy Jones (Glazine 22nd April). The market for warm edge products is growing quickly as demand for energy efficient windows increases, and we are committed to promoting energy saving windows and raising awareness of Window Energy Ratings (WER). We are keen to work with other leading companies in the UK, like Edgetech, as we have been doing in Europe for 10 years.

Through the Bundesverband Flachglas (Federal Association of Flat Glass) and the IFT working group of Rosenheim we've contributed to technical development and market knowledge to help sealed unit manufacturers and window fabricators get the best performance. We're pleased that Swisspacer V came out on top of all the leading spacer bars tested for Psi values. But one of our advantages is that Swisspacer is designed to deliver the very best performance using existing sealed unit machinery.

We do believe strongly in investing in machinery but sealed unit manufacturers and window fabricators need to think carefully about what they invest in. By all means, invest in the capacity to grow and improve productivity, but why invest and burden your company with debt if it isn't necessary. If they haven't already done so, large companies should think of upgrading to more productive sealed unit machinery regardless of what spacer they use.

Medium sized sealed unit makers need to think more carefully about their return on investment. It will be hard to make the sums add up for smaller companies.

Like Edgetech we've grown significantly and have just opened a second manufacturing site in Europe to cope with soaring demand. We expect UK demand to accelerate too and we are planning to invest in the UK to help sealed unit manufacturers, window fabricators and installers make the most of the opportunities available.

Yours sincerely

Matthias Meissner
Managing Director
Swisspacer