NorDan UK Ltd has built itself a reputation as the preferred manufacturer of high-performance timber windows and doors, and that reputation is only set to grow. In 2022 the company announced a 34 per cent increase in turnover. While this figure is a record for the company, it is not an isolated spike in growth either. NorDan’s sales have been growing year-on-year since 2016, amounting to a total growth of more than 85 per cent over the last five years.
This pattern of sustained growth covers customers across both the public and private sectors, but more than that, it is illustrative of a trend across the construction industry. Priorities are changing, and more and more construction projects are focusing on carbon reduction across the whole life of a building and the longevity of those buildings.
These are priorities that NorDan’s products are well-suited for. The company’s products were originally developed to withstand the harsh climate of a Nordic maritime winter. But now contractors, architects and specifiers are all seeking out products that can meet the demands of more climate-conscious customers, and those precise qualities make them perfectly adapted for the job.
And now the pressure on the construction industry is set to increase, with the Future Homes Standard set to come into force in 2025. NorDan has been guided by that standard in its own products, 
making it an ideal choice for big social landlords and local authorities. NorDan’s customers already include names like Reading Council and Clarion Housing Group, as well as others who specify and build to the Future Homes Standard.
The reason NorDan’s products are ideal for meeting the needs of this standard is that they take into account the carbon footprint of the entire lifespan of their products. That includes embodies carbon emissions generated when the products are manufactured, transported, installed and, eventually, disposed of. Perhaps surprisingly, the timber NorDan uses is perfectly suited to bringing carbon down.
On Trend
NorDan’s leadership is pleased, but not surprised by the way these concerns have fueled the company’s growth.
“Last year’s record growth is obviously very pleasing, but 100% consistent with the wider direction of travel in construction and the built environment,” says Alex Brown, NorDan UK Managing Director. “People have long known that NorDan’s timber products are carbon negative and offer a 60-year lifespan but have maybe in the past needed a reason to specify what were perceived premium windows or doors.”
As low carbon, durability, and high thermal performance become the new mainstream, NorDan’s quality timber products and products like them will be in high demand.
“Architects and developers are now seeking incremental gains across buildings to meet raising industry standards, as well as the expectations of the public, and NorDan can give them the low-carbon, high-performance guarantees sought,” Brown points out.
Customers that have appreciated NorDan’s products included contractor Henry Boot Construction, one of many firms that have made reducing the whole-life carbon impact of building an increasing priority in recent years.
“As a result, we are increasing the amount of timber we use in our construction projects, and this has made NorDan a natural choice, as it places sustainability at the heart of its operations and products,” says Mat Clarke, Contracts Manager at Henry Boot Construction.
A recent example of this can be found at Henry Boot Construction’s marquee development at The Cocoa Works in York, where NorDan’s products have the specification to achieve a high environmental and energy performance.
Meanwhile, social landlord Clarion Housing Group has seen material costs and embodied carbon calculations play an increasingly central role in its decision-making processes, while its familiarity with the timber products on the market, and the vast increase in testing data compared to previous years, have made NorDan a natural partner.
“As a development business, we’re now benchmarking our embodied carbon for development and construction activities for the second year running, so we can set reduction targets for ourselves and our supply chain,” says Ayo Allu, Director of Design, Technical & Innovation at Clarion Housing Group.
Award-Winning Performance
NorDan has received recognition for the quality of its work, with the company recently receiving the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Embodied Carbon Award for Manufacturers & Suppliers. The award was given in recognition of NorDan’s long-term commitment to tracking and reducing the embodied carbon in its timber frame windows and doors, allowing it to provide products that are carbon neutral at the point of installation.
It all comes down to the products themselves. NorDan’s products are not just made from timber, they are made from sustainably grown, sustainably harvested timber. Those raw materials are then put through a process of state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques to create window frames. This includes the addition of an ultra-thin layer of aluminium that offers market-leading insulation levels and a projected lifespan of up to 60 years.
This all reduces embodies carbon to a minimum, and as well as winning awards NorDan’s products have received third-party validation in the form of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). 
EDPs are awarded following an auditing process that covers all embodied and operational carbon in its products. It provides giving architects and specifiers the sort of transparent data necessary for making choices that lead to low-carbon, high-performance construction projects.
The CIBSE judges applauded NorDan’s “holistic approach to the design of buildings, including envelope elements.” They admired the way NorDan considers the whole-life impact of its products, from manufacturing, operation, and maintenance, to end of life – and praised its award entry for including “good-quality data.”
But while NorDan is successfully riding the trend towards addressing embodied carbon, Brown argues it is a change that has been a long time coming.
“For too long embodied carbon has been the emissions elephant in the room for the industry, and there’s still a long way to go, but NorDan is working with more and more customers who take suppressing embodied carbon seriously, and we will continue to do our part to work collaboratively to offer measurable sustainability and high performance,” Brown says. “Looking ahead, NorDan UK’s priority is to continue developing its people and infrastructure to maintain anticipated accelerated growth over the coming years.”
