Our commitment to
Sustainability Sustainability Our commitment to
A P L S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y 2 0 2 6
Contents Year in review................................................................................................................... 3 About APL......................................................................................................................... 4 About Profile Group.......................................................................................................... 5 Goals ................................................................................................................................. 6 Design out Waste............................................................................................................ 9 Close the Loop............................................................................................................... 14 Regenerate Nature........................................................................................................ 19 The importance of ThermalHeart+® ............................................................................. 22 Accreditations.................................................................................................................23
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Year in review
2025
Sustainability is not a new initiative for APL, it’s
We are also proud to remain a New Zealand
embedded in the way we run our operations and
manufacturer in a rapidly changing market. Local
work with our partners across the building industry.
design and production allow us to deliver products
Over the past year we have continued to turn this
that are tested for New Zealand’s unique conditions,
commitment into practical, measurable outcomes.
while maintaining close partnerships with our
One of our most significant milestones in 2025 was reinventing our packaging system. Designed for return and reuse through reverse logistics, the new system is already delivering strong results across our network. In its first year, it’s on track to eliminate
fabricators, builders and communities. Over the past year, we have shared more of these stories through our ‘Made here, for you’ podcast series, connecting with industry experts and builder partners to highlight the craft, care and accountability behind what we do.
more than one million kilograms of single-use timber
The journey to where we are today reflects the
going to landfill annually, while 278 tonnes of waste
commitment of our people, our partners and our
was diverted from landfill overall - around 4 out of
wider manufacturing network. While there is still
every 5 kilograms of waste generated.
much to do, the work across APL demonstrates that
This progress reflects a broader shift in how we think about materials, logistics and product stewardship. As a large-scale manufacturer, we recognise the
practical, measurable change is possible, and that sustainability is becoming an integral part of how our industry operates.
responsibility we carry to continually improve how we operate and to support a more sustainable building industry. Alongside this progress, we have continued to invest in our ongoing broader initiatives, including the use of renewable hydro energy, supporting environmental programmes and local charities such as Live Ocean and Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, and strengthening the systems that allow us to measure and improve our environmental performance.
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About APL
Electricity neutral
We offset all energy used through Kawatiri’s renewable hydro station
Our circular packaging system
Linear Circular economy economy
eliminates over 1 million kg's of single use packaging annually
APL Window Solutions is a family-run business that has been setting the standard in windows and doors since it opened its own in 1971. Over 50 years later, it is now New Zealand’s largest window and door manufacturer and distributes its products nationwide from its base in Hamilton to our independently owned manufacturers and installers
We diverted
from Altherm, Vantage, and First Windows and Doors.
280T of waste from landfill in 2025.
We design, make and deliver end-to-end solutions to suit New Zealand conditions and our passion for innovation means we continue to develop gamechanging new products and processes.
96% of our 21-strong truck fleet is Euro star 5 and better, including 60% at Euro 6 - highest rating available for exhaust emissions
We’re proudly Toitū carbonreduce certified, Declare certified, and have completed four EPDs
That's equivalent to 10 fully loaded 20 foot shipping containers!
Our packaging is designed for
return and re-use through reverse logistics
We use a chromate free powdercoating process
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About Profile VISION
APL’s parent company, Profile Group represents our family of businesses that together form New Zealand’s only integrated aluminium supply chain for window and door solutions. Each part of the business concentrates on its role to deliver market-leading products to the New Zealand
The Profile Group of businesses share one vision:
building industry and Profile Group’s various divisions
To keep raising the bar when it
have contributed to over 775,000 house-lots of
comes to products and service,
windows and doors in New Zealand.
to stay one step ahead of the
Until recently, we’ve played our role behind the scenes, working closely to unite and power up our businesses with shared resources and focused strategies. Now we’re focusing on powering up our sustainability efforts too.
rest, and to empower our people to do the little things better every day.
MANUFACTURING
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Vertically integrated supply chain
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Our guiding principles
Design out waste
Close the loop
Regenerate nature
Reducing waste and emissions by improving how products are designed and made
Keeping materials in circulation through recovery, reuse, and better waste diversion
Supporting manufacturing and energy choices that protect and restore natural systems
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Design out waste
Close the loop
Regenerate nature
Initiatives
Initiatives
Initiatives
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Quarterly external waste audits
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Circular packaging innovation
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Sanctuary Mountain partner
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Waste diversion projects
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Packaging recovery & reverse logistics
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Live Ocean Foundation
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Internal waste education program
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Circular Transition Indicator (CTI) assessments
Target
Target
Target
■
■
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Help Profile Group achieve 50% waste diversion,
Establish the Material Circularity Indicator (MCI)
Support the restoration and protection of native
while keeping APL landfill bins at 70%+ genuine
as our core circularity measure, using it to drive
biodiversity through long-term partnerships and
general waste.
improvements in packaging, return, reuse and
practical regeneration projects, with Sanctuary
recycling systems.
Mountain Maungatautari as a key biodiversity partner.
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Design out waste The waste process......................................................................................................... 10 Driving emissions reduction with Toitū......................................................................... 11 Going electricity-neutral................................................................................................ 12
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DESIGN OUT WASTE
The waste process
While APL is working hard to build a more circular business, not every material is able to be repurposed. That’s why we’re working closely with Enviro NZ, a materials management and resource recovery company.
The aim is to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill by 50% through circular practices, recycling and diverting food waste. In 2025, Profile Group diverted 5,301 tonnes of materials from landfill - around 350 shipping containers’ worth recycled! Beyond waste diversion, we are focusing on reverse logistics to give materials a longer life span - our reusable packaging system has saved over 1 million kgs of single use timber, over 1,000m3 of single use polystyrene, and over 48,000 kg of single use steel strapping from going to landfill. In 2025, we established a new diversion stream for PET plastic strapping, a material we had struggled to find a sustainable alternative or recycling pathway for. It is now sent to Enviro NZ and processed for use as alternative fuel at Golden Bay Cement, keeping it out of landfill. All of our recycling goes to the Hamilton Materials Recycling Facility, a critical piece of Enviro NZ’s nationwide infrastructure. At this facility, paper, cardboard, grade 1, 2 and 5 plastics, tin and
aluminium are collected from roadside wheelie bins
revenue streams, Enviro NZ runs a ‘Gas-to-Energy’
are sorted and separated with the help of optical
facility at the Hampton Downs facility to convert
sorting technology, imaging sensors, magnets and
methane (a greenhouse gas) to electricity.
eddy currents.
The landfill generates power for approximately 6,000
After diverting all food waste and recyclables,
households in the region.
any remaining waste is then taken to Enviro NZ’s
Through our partnership with Enviro NZ we
Hampton Downs Resource and Energy Precinct
undertake annual waste monitoring reviews, enabling
facility, an 87 hectare class 1 site that serves the
us to assess current processes and
fast-growing regions of Waikato, Bay of Plenty and
identify areas of opportunity, to further
Auckland.
increase diversion from landfill by
Just as APL is looking to turn its waste streams into
highlighting new diversion streams. 10
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DESIGN OUT WASTE
Driving emissions reduction with Toitū Saying you’re sustainable is easy. Proving it is hard.
We began our journey with Toitū in 2021, measuring
When it comes to charting progress, we can’t mark
Understanding where emissions occur across the
our own homework. Independent assessments
greenhouse gas emissions across our operations
working closely with Toitū Envirocare, one of the
Our approach focuses on practical improvements
to support businesses reducing their carbon footprint – and then it recognises them for the effort. More than 800 businesses have gone through its certification programmes since 2001 and compliance is independently verified annually to maintain certification. The construction materials and building sectors certainly have plenty of room for improvement when it comes to impact on the environment: together, the industry is responsible for more than one-third of global resource consumption and accounted for 36% of all energy use, and 37% of global carbon emissions in 2020.
Commercial Series
business helps us focus effort where it will make the most meaningful difference.
Toitū uses science-based tools, actions and evidence
Metro Series ThermalHeart+®
and supply chain to establish a clear baseline.
and accreditations are crucial and that’s why we’re country’s leading carbon certification organisations.
Residential Series ThermalHeart+®
within our control. This includes improving operational efficiency across our manufacturing and logistics networks, and prioritising materials sourced within, or close to, New Zealand wherever possible - including aluminium supply produced within New Zealand. Supporting initiatives such as circular packaging systems and ongoing improvements in waste diversion also play an important role in reducing our overall environmental impact. Through the Toitū programme we are now developing the next phase of our emissions reduction pathway. Group emissions reduction targets will be confirmed and published as part of this programme, guiding how we continue to reduce impact across operations, materials and our wider supply chain.
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DESIGN OUT WASTE
Going Electricity-Neutral Manufacturing windows and doors requires a lot of energy. And now, through an innovative certificate system, that energy can be considered renewable. The energy used by Profile Group was a major
“It had strong appeal to the group,” says Mikayla Plaw,
component of their overall carbon footprint, so targeting
Executive Director of Organisational Development and
electricity neutrality was an important goal. And, given
Sustainability. “It means suppliers of renewable energy
their long standing connection to the Waikato region, the
get a financial edge on those with thermal generation. It
solution came from a slightly surprising location: Lake
allows us to report implied zero-carbon electricity usage
Rochfort near Westport, home to one of New Zealand’s
across our group, and because it costs Profile Group
newest hydroelectricity projects.
every year to do this it drives us to maximise energy
Kawatiri Energy switched on the electricity supply
conservation within our operations.”
in 2013, with a second stage coming online in 2017.
All certification is carefully monitored to ensure there is
Transmission lines take the power to the Buller network
no double-counting and it is time-bound to a particular
and while the grid does a great job of getting power
production year. Certificates must either be redeemed or
to where it’s needed, when it’s needed, it can’t tell you
cancelled and removed from circulation in that year.
where that power has come from. All power generated by Kawatiri Energy goes into the national network and is not fed to specific users, but the New Zealand Energy Certificate System offers businesses an opportunity to report on electricity usage as if it was sourced directly from that power station.
Their participation in the system will be certified by independent consultancy Toitū Envirocare as part of the quest to gain net carbonzero accreditation and by ThinkStep as part of their Environmental Product Declaration project.
It is similar to the Emissions Trading Scheme, which allows industries to offset carbon emissions with the purchase of carbon credits. 12
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DESIGN OUT WASTE
An Environmental Product Declaration, or EPD,
Three of APL’s ranges are proudly ‘Declared’ by
APL has been a proud member of New Zealand
is a standardised and verified way of quantifying
the International Living Future Institute. Through
Green Building Council (NZGBC) since 2018.
the environmental impacts of a product based on
self-disclosure of ingredients, sourcing, and life
Aligning with the NZGBC vision, we believe
a consistent set of rules known as PCR (Product
cycle information, Declare is a tool to show our
all homes and buildings in Aotearoa should
Category Rules). EPDs communicate transparent
customers that our products can be trusted. It
be green and sustainable, making healthier
and comparable data and other relevant
means we’re being measured by an industry-
and happier New Zealanders. We’re proud to
environmental information about the life-cycle
recognised tool that requires us to be totally
be aligned with this not-for-profit industry
environmental impact of products.
transparent about our products.
organisation, helping to influence the ‘green
APL have four EPDs:
The process towards becoming Declared started
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All ThermalHeart+® ranges and Commercial Series (Magnum and Shopfront)
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Flushglaze System 125mm & 150mm, and
in 2020, driven by demand in the building
Star and Homestar sustainability rating systems).
industry. A Declare label is often a factor when tendering for a building with a Green Star rating, it answers
Structural Glaze System 125mm & 150mm
three questions:
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Shopfront 100mm
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Where does a product come from?
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Structural Glaze 168mm (thermal and non-
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What is it made of?
■
Where does it go at the end of its life?
thermal)
movement’ through industry specification (Green
Rather than just talking about environmental initiatives, this certification enables us to provide verified data to prove the environmental credentials of our products. It demonstrates a genuine commitment to environmental responsibility and transparency. 13
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Close the loop Advancing a circular economy...................................................................................... 15 Reinventing the packaging wheel ................................................................................ 16 Closing the loop on soft plastics .................................................................................. 18
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CLOSE THE LOOP
Advancing a circular economy
They say you can’t manage what you don’t measure. In 2019, APL began working with Circularity to understand the impacts and material flows across our systems; this established the baseline that guided our early circularity work.
Then
Now
Like many manufacturers, APL had previously
Through this work we’ve continuously strengthened
by three long-standing principles:
embraced the traditional linear model, often known
our understanding of packaging systems across
as the ‘take-make-waste’ economy.
the group. Using the CTI methodology, the average
1. Design out waste
Our 2019 audit revealed one particularly shocking statistic: the plastic that Profile Group used to protect its products could wrap 25% of the globe in a year
Our circular approach continues to be guided
packaging circularity score across Profile Group
2. Close the loop
reached 90% in 2025, reflecting years of work
3. Regenerate nature
redesigning packaging, increasing reuse, and improving recovery pathways.
While improving our own systems remains
materials being used in packaging alone were costing
Future
industry forward — supporting customers,
the businesses and fabricators well over $500,000
As our product-level data and reporting has matured,
fabricators and suppliers to operate in a similar
per year to dispose of.
we are evolving our circularity measurement
circular practice.
Enough plastic to wrap 25% of the globe
approach. Profile Group is transitioning to the
Knowledge is power so we began piloting different
Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), enabling
initiatives that could make a meaningful impact to
circularity to be assessed alongside verified life cycle
waste. Changes included reuse systems for pallet
data and material flows.
and all of it was going to landfill. Added to that, the
wraps, hardware boxes, coils and cleats as well as alternatives that used natural substrates.
the priority, we also aim to move the wider
Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) to assess circular performance. The MCI aligns more closely with
Tracking towards 100% circularity 15
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CLOSE THE LOOP
Reinventing the packaging wheel One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, but we’re taking our own trash and turning that into treasure as part of a complete packaging overhaul. Over 1,500 tonnes of packaging was sent to landfill or recycled by the end of 2023. This included over 500,000 pieces of wood often only used once before being discarded and 120 tonnes of soft plastic waste. Our aim is to meet a 100% circularity target, so we created a new circular system using reusable materials and reverse logistics. Designed and manufactured entirely within Profile Group, this patent-pending reusable packaging system replaces traditional single-use timber and steel strapping with a circular solution featuring aluminium rails and plastic cleats made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. Together, these components eliminate over one million kilograms of single-use timber each year – and are designed to be reused again and again. The system also includes reusable textile foam blocks made from repurposed carpet, clothing, and industrial foam, replacing single-use polystyrene.
There’s no denying the amount of waste being produced is concerning, it’s time to take action.
At their end of life, these new blocks can be reprocessed back into more foam blocks. The result of two years of development and rigorous trialling, it’s a smarter, more sustainable way to move materials. The packaging redesign has required a significant financial investment and reverse logistics to ensure waste materials are all collected. Profile Group are investigating a dedicated recovery centre, where all of the materials can be received, stored, sorted or distributed. “The motivation for this project was to significantly reduce the amount of single use material going to landfill and in fact design a system where nothing needs to end up in landfill. As a market leader, continuously improving and doing the right thing for the environment is important to us. We want to be a business people are proud to be associated with and can learn from,” says Mikayla Plaw. Since launching the new system in April 2025, we’ve transitioned to transporting 100% of our aluminium through this circular, sustainable process as of September 2025.
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How we’ve changed the packaging process A considered move from linear packaging, to a more sustainable and innovative circular packaging system
Linear packaging
Circular packaging
Timber bases
Cleats
Transported to our manufacturer network nationwide
Strapping
Transported to our manufacturer network nationwide
Cleats
Aluminium rails
Packaging materials returned to APL
Foam
Paper and foam interleaving* Paper
Textile foam block
Poly
Bubble wrap
Landfill, recycled or disposed
End-of-life plastic cleats palletised, aluminium recycled
Packaging materials sorted at APL's Logistics Centre, repurposing old or defective materials
Cardboard* Cardboard
*Recycled or disposed of by manufacturer
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CLOSE THE LOOP
And that’s exactly what we’ve done through our partnership with PACT Recycling, the largest recycler of
Closing the loop on soft plastics
Designing waste out of a system requires businesses to take a good hard look at what they’re doing, and see how that could be improved.
post-industrial plastic in the Southern Hemisphere. Before this packaging overhaul project started, APL used to wrap the aluminium that was sent from our warehouse to our nationwide manufacturer network in cases made from single use cardboard. A lot of APL’s externally sourced resources arrived at the factory in soft plastic packaging, so rather than continuing to send it all to landfill, we decided to repurpose it. Now our soft plastic is bundled up at the warehouse and taken to PACT Recycling’s factory on APL Direct trucks. In 2025, APL repurposed 1,750kg of soft plastic, and 7,562kg of TPV, a rubber like plastic. That’s 20,325kg of plastic that has remained in our circular economy, as opposed to ending up in landfill and being replaced with virgin plastic. PACT Recycling melts the soft plastic down and turns it into pellets. Those pellets become our reusable packaging cases, now used across our network. Introduced in 2025, these cases transport our aluminium nationwide while replacing large volumes of single-use packaging. The system has removed more than one million kilograms of single-use timber, 48,000kg of steel strapping, and over 1,000m³ of polystyrene from our network on an annual basis. This innovative packaging method is reusable, and if the cases become damaged the plastic can be palletised and re-made into packaging product again and again. 18
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Regenerate nature Biodiversity credits.........................................................................................................20 Live Ocean and Takapoto Estate.................................................................................. 21
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REGENERATE NATURE
Biodiversity credits
We’re proudly the first Kiwi company to back a scheme that helps regenerate native forests and wildlife. Carbon offsetting aims to balance environmental impact, but in New Zealand it has often favoured pine plantations over native ecosystems. These forests can lack biodiversity, but a New Zealand-first biodivsersity new initiative is focused on supporting native planting, ecological protection, and more sustainable land management.
The reserve is a 3,363ha forested ecological island with a 47km-long predator-proof fence and, previously, the organisation struggled to raise enough funds to meet its annual operating budget. Now it is able to raise additional funds from businesses that want to embed biodiversity into their value chains.
We have already taken a number of major steps to reduce and offset our own carbon emissions and are on a mission to gain Toitū net carbonzero accreditation. But we took a big step in a more sustainable direction in 2021 by agreeing to become the first participant in an innovative new biodiversity credit scheme - launched by New Zealand carbon management and certification company, Ekos.
“This is a fantastic way for us to deliver on our business responsibility and environmental impact reduction goals as well as supporting a truly meaningful local project,” says Mikayla Plaw, Executive Director of Organisational Development and Sustainability.
The market has since reached a significant milestone, becoming the first time a New Zealand conservation project is trading biodiversity credits on an international platform, connecting global audiences to our unique biodiversity outcomes. Our credits proudly continue to directly support Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, by providing the financial resources required to protect and enhance an 83-hectare block. 20
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REGENERATE NATURE
Since 2021, our support has significantly contributed towards work focussed on connecting people with the ocean and the issues it faces. APL is proud to support Live Ocean and its work to protect and restore the health of New Zealand’s ocean. By backing science, advocacy, and community engagement, Live Ocean is helping drive greater awareness and action for a healthier marine future. Through this partnership, APL has supported research projects including Dr Caitlyn Blain from the University of Auckland in her research on the effect of kelp forests in coast carbon cycles - and the role they play in naturebased solutions for mitigating CO2 emissions. Our partnership includes other initiatives such as Jono Ridler’s Swim4TheOcean campaign, reflecting our broader commitment to practical, positive sustainability action.
With environmental sustainability at the forefront of APL’s values and a desire to balance out our own industrial activities, a major revegetation project commenced in 2011. The project was undertaken on a rural property south of Cambridge now known as Takapoto. Takapoto Estate, like APL, falls under the same parent company - Profile Group. This environmentally focussed project was, and continues to be a successful and rewarding carbon offset initiative. 21
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The importance of ThermalHeart+® While reducing the environmental impact of construction is a major focus of the building industry, another big focus is on reducing the amount of energy that’s required to run those buildings when they’re completed. Less efficient buildings require more energy over their lifetimes and 35-50% of a home’s heat is lost from its windows and doors*. APL’s new industryleading ThermalHEART® technology stops that waste, saves homeowners money and reduces emissions. ThermalHEART® technology incorporates a polyamide strip in the core of the aluminium window system, which is used across four ThermalHeart+® ranges. The New Zealand climate is volatile and variable, with warm subtropical temperatures in the north and severe alpine conditions in the mountains. All of APL’s products are designed and tested in New Zealand to withstand our harsh conditions and climates, but a few years ago, we decided to take thermal performance up a few notches and started developing a range of cutting-edge aluminium windows and doors. ThermalHeart+® works by insulating the window system and minimising heat flow through the frame. This helps to keep cool temperatures out in colder months, and decreases solar gain in warmer months. It also reduces the risk of condensation forming and helps create warmer and healthier homes.
* Please refer to aplnz.co.nz/references for all statistical data and references.
By combining ThermalHeart+® frames with The AGP System® glass, thermal performance is almost double that of non-thermally improved aluminium joinery and far exceeds the new minimum insulation requirements for housing set out in clause H1 Energy Efficiency of the New Zealand Building Code, which was updated in late 2022. When installed using the innovative Centrafix® installation method, thermal efficiency is further increased by more than 20%*. We offer four ThermalHeart+® ranges, each share the same core design principles allowing for exceptional versatility across the full range of products. This includes a BRANZ appraised and passive house compliant range; Metro Series ThermalHeart+® with Centrafix®. In addition to APL’s own initiatives to create a more sustainable and circular business, the ThermalHeart+® ranges show that we are also leading the way when it comes to the development of more efficient window and door products.
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Accreditations Toitū carbonreduce product certified Residential Series ThermalHeart+®, Metro Series ThermalHeart+ and Commercial Series. ®
Carbon Neutral through Brave Trace (NZECS) credits Profile Group acquires renewable energy certificates from Kawatiri Energy making the groups electricity usage carbon neutral. This initiative builds on Profile Groups investment to lock in the collaboration by taking up a shareholding in Kawatiri Energy.
Environmental Product Declaration through EPD Australasia All ThermalHeart+® ranges, APL Commercial Series (Magnum, Shopfront, Flushglaze System 125mm & 150mm, and Structural Glaze System 125mm, 150mm, & 168mm)
Biodiversity Credits through Ekos and Sanctuary Mountain We were the first participant in a new biodiversity market, purchasing biodiversity units from Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari. These biodiversity units will fund the conservation management of 83 hectares at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari.
Declared through the International Living Future Institute Residential Series, Metro Series, and APL Architectural Series.
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