Think Green - DORMA committed to sustainable development
Products that excel in aesthetic elegance, functionality and energy efficiency
 Ennepetal. The issue of sustainability is becoming increasingly important in modern construction planning and architectural design. Active measures to prevent climate change and the introduction of specific technologies to save energy are widely accepted and recognised as necessary by large sections of our society. A good year ago, this field of endeavour was given new international meaning when the American president called for a global coalition to protect the planet. And Barack Obama intends to set a good example in his own country with many public and private buildings to be rendered significantly more energy efficient in the coming years. In Germany too, around one third of primary energy consumption is still attributable to the heating of real estate.
In order to get the energy and CO2 problem under control, new energy-efficiency standards are being defined for buildings. Increasingly, certificates and other documentary proof detailing a property's sustainability credentials have to be provided. In addition to the verification systems already well established in the marketplace, such as LEED (USA) and BREEAM (UK), the sustainability certificate of the DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council), introduced in 2008, has also become widely accepted by the international community.
DORMA has long been a proponent of 'green' thinking. Environmentally sound and manufactured from top-grade materials, DORMA products have always excelled through high quality and the longevity that goes with it. And this is precisely why DORMA products are given such preference by many architects, particularly in building projects aligned to sustainability. The Aldo Leopold Legacy Center in the USA, designed by The Kubal Washatko Architects and completed in 2007, has already won a number of sustainability-related awards and, in garnering 'LEED Platinum', set a record score of 61 out of a possible 69 points which still stands today. The door control products for this building came from DORMA.
In addition, many measures have been introduced at DORMA's various sites around the world in order to conserve resources, not only to help protect the environment but also to enhance cost-efficiency. For example, by optimising goods-in operations alone, the number of truck deliveries has been significantly reduced, cutting the associated CO2 emissions by 36 per cent. In the past, such measures may have gone unnoticed, but the increasing importance of the sustainability issue means that these kinds of achievements also now need to be documented.
DORMA has detailed its commitment to sustainability in a new brochure entitled 'Think Green', written with the expert community in mind. Taking the example of the KT Varioline revolving door and the MOVEO Glass partition system, the publication demonstrates how DORMA is able to offer products that meet the very highest requirements with respect to sustainability. The three and four-wing revolving doors with their highly effective sealing and exclusion capabilities provide tailored integrated solutions to optimising the energy balance of a building. And the flexible MOVEO glass partitioning system too is able to offer building operators innumerable benefits. With a low thermal conductivity coefficient, the system helps cut energy costs. And the possibility of utilising daylight through the transparency of these movable glass walls coupled with good sound insulation also enhances the feeling of well-being engendered in the building’s users.
DORMA's aim is to make the best possible contribution to building sustainability within the company's sphere of influence. All its products, and particularly its new and further developments, are required to satisfy all current demands in this respect. And the door products and systems manufacturer is also about to send out another signal of its commitment to this cause: at its headquarters and main manufacturing centre in Ennepetal, Germany, preparations are now being made to introduce not only an environmental management system compliant with EN ISO 14001 but also an energy management system to EN 16001.
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DORMA's approach to the subject of sustainable development is detailed in the brochure 'Think Green'.
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