Building: a core part of our business

Sharing Experience: Edward Stobart, IDSystems

Being so heavily involved in the high-end residential construction market for the past 20 years has meant that ‘building’ has always been a core part of IDSystems’ business, whether that is building the company from a start-up to an industry-leader, or building a portfolio of impressive finished projects across the country.

For now though the focus is building a product range of doors and windows that comply, not only with the most recent changes to Building Regulations, but also with the Future Homes Standard which is planned for 2025. The aim of the Future Homes Standard is that homes built in the future will produce 75-80% less carbon than houses built under current regulations, and this will mean a fundamental change to the way that houses are designed and built.

From a glazing perspective, this presents considerable challenges.

Historically windows and doors have been one of the least efficient elements of any home design, which has led to previous generations of ‘eco-houses’ featuring less glass than a typical home. The challenge is that home design over the past 10 years has gone the opposite way, with more and more glass featuring on projects, from large sets of sliding doors connecting open plan living spaces to the garden, or double (or triple) height entrance halls filled with light thanks to glass curtain walling.

The goal then for IDSystems and where our focus lies, is to build a range of ultra-efficient aluminium glazing products that don’t just look good, they perform to the standards required.

We are open about the challenge seeing this as the biggest change to how homes are designed and built in a very long time. it will impact our customers who are undertaking individual custom-built homes most substantially, because there is no existing template. Everything is being designed from scratch and the finished home is completely bespoke.

A versatile product range

Our design team have worked with suppliers across Europe to build a product range that gives us far more flexibility and options than the rest of the industry. Our SUNFLEX bifold doors include the SF75eco, a Passivhaus standard system that is the most thermally efficient aluminium bifold available, whilst our award-winning vistaline slide & turn door system from Switzerland, comes triple glazed as standard and already meets the performance likely to be required by Future Homes Standard.

So can you build an ultra-efficient house that is as impressive both in how it looks and how it performs? The answer is ‘yes you can,’ but it needs more careful planning than ever before.

Where we have led the way is through building relationships with architects and developers building high-end homes. Being able to be part of the discussions around the design from the early stages has enabled us to offer advice and ideas on what can be achieved, before a project even leaves the drawing board.