Listening to customer needs. 'We keep the heat out!'

Duco is growing with the changing times regarding new regulations such as BENG and TOjuli. The focus is now on bringing attention to heat stress and the best solutions for it.

Originally, Duco focused on the facade industry. In recent years, however, this has been joined by a new customer group. "Seven years ago we entered the installation world, which asked for a different approach," he says. The company is also focusing even more on providing advice (also by organizing webinars) such as on the new BENG (Nearly Energy Neutral Buildings) regulations and the accompanying comfort requirement TOjuli. 

The energy performance issue is changing

These increasingly stringent requirements and modern building styles with large windows are shifting the energy performance issue from winter to summer. Geraerts: "A large number of houses are being built in my hometown, with a lot of attention paid to ventilation and good insulation. Yet I already know that it will get much too hot in the summer. Because of the maximum insulation and thorough airtightness, the heat cannot escape. How can we prevent that?" To solve this problem, TOjuli was devised. These regulations should reduce the risk of overheating in new construction homes, but which solution is the best? 

Many people opt for air conditioning when heat stress sets in. According to Geraerts, this is not a real solution: "Some friends candidly told me how much their air conditioning had cost. I then asked them how much it was going to cost to use that air conditioning to cool your house for a summer. They hadn't thought about that at all. A small air conditioner already creates an additional consumption of 700 kWh per year." It's a paradox, good insulation should save energy in the winter, but at the same time air conditioners end up blowing in the summer.

Passive cooling

Geraerts: "We are convinced that the solution starts with the Trias Energetica: make sure the heat doesn't get inside. We advocate a combination of good shading, smart ventilation and efficient summer night ventilation. In homes where exterior shading is coupled with ventilative cooling, the indoor climate is naturally controllable." 

This "passive cooling" with fabric shading or architectural shading, according to Geraerts, reduces cooling loads by as much as 63% and leads to a substantial temperature drop (12% on average) indoors.

"It's about making choices that are actually quite logical," Geraerts says. Yet he says architects often don't think about this yet. That's why Duco is doing a lot of consulting. "We as a company have always liked to think along, preferably as early as possible in the process. After all, the right solution for one home is often not the same as the one for the neighbor. In our opinion, this is also the core of the advice we give: don't just talk about your products, but listen to the customer's needs. Together with natural day ventilation, intensive (night) ventilation and solar shading are essential components in Duco's total concepts, which embrace both residential and commercial construction.'"