Garage door as a cutting-edge component of a modern home - ISO70
ISO*170 Premium Plus Sectional Garage Door (ISO70) is the latest offering from Novoferm GmbH, a Germany-based multinational company of the Sanwa Group that has been manufacturing high-quality doors since 1955. ISO70, with 70 standing for its near 70mm thick door leaf, is the flagship product of the ISO series. New features include exceptional heat insulation achieved by the patented thermally separated sections, best possible protection from water and dirt guaranteed by a doubled bottom seal on the lower edge, and extremely smooth and even door travel enabled by the ball-bearing tandem rollers.
Nobody can tell the story behind ISO70 better than Pascal Bühner, who has been working as an International Senior Product Manager since 2016. A well-deserved specialist, Pascal has devoted his whole professional life to the product development of operators, shutters, and garage doors since the age of 20.
“With state-of-the-art
technologies, transform
an old-fashioned product
into a critical component
of modern homes with
superior energy efficiency.”
Based on his extensive experience and knowledge of the European residential markets, Pascal sees garage doors as not just a barrier to protect vehicles, but as an integrated part of the housing and valuable space for multiple purposes.
Pascal shared his motivation and passion with the entire project team, including R&D and production engineers, whose motivation is to see their “baby”, the product, come to life.
*1 ISO … Isolation
Not just putting a green sticker on a website
“To develop the best product,
we investigated demands from
countries all over Europe,”
Pascal reflected,
“in order to meet different
requirements and needs from
not one or two, but multiple
markets with just one production facility in Germany.”
In Northern European countries like Finland and Sweden, customers appreciate the superior thermal insulation that saves energy costs in the cold winter. In Poland, where the homeownership rate is outstandingly high at 85%, compared to the German average of 50%, the government encourages houses to achieve a lower U-value*2 with financial support.
The hidden needs for safety and security are crucial. The ISO70 is burglar resistant (RC2) by design to secure a safer feeling for everything valuable inside. More importantly, there is a growing concern about sustainability due to worsening environmental issues and climate change worldwide.
Rather than solely chasing for multifunctionality, the team focused on a comprehensive approach, one that includes the surrounding equipments or in other terms, a solution to fulfill these diverse needs.
Among all, Pascal claims a constant sense of responsibility as a whole being crucial for assessing sustainability.
*2 U-value … Heat transfer coefficient, the lower the value the slower heat transfers
“It’s not just putting
a green sticker on a website.
It is an arduous and lengthy
process, but we must keep
changing our behavior.”
The Novoferm Group has already replaced vinyl foil with recyclable paper or cardboard boxes to pack components for garage doors.
Addressing Climate Change and Surging Energy Cost
The biggest challenge during the development was meeting high expectations on environmental performance. Given the commitment to a sustainable society, it’s only natural that the top-appealing point of ISO70 is to achieve maximum energy efficiency. The U-value of as low as 0.9 W/m² K* - is good enough to qualify for government subsidies in Poland and other countries going forward. The excellent thermal insulation performance enables Nordic customers to save significant heating expenses during cold winters. With energy costs rising worldwide, this solution is timely and appealing.
Starting from the prominent elements, a total door leaf thickness of almost 70 mm combined with double floor seal excels at preventing heat loss. In addition, less visible components such as the PUR rigid foam core, and patented thermally broken sections with additional seals between them, are all designed to minimize heat conductivity.
The product’s refined design is built upon the foundation of mature technologies and production facilities and an extensive knowledge base accumulated through the company’s decades-long journey of innovation. In addition, rigorous QA procedure established over the decades, including some 50,000 times of testing during the development, ensures superior quality of each unit.
However, the development process occurred in challenging times when materials could go up in price by 40% overnight. A garage door system seems like a simple product, but it involves quite a few materials and components, such as steel for reinforcing plates and microchips for the operators. Numerous difficulties needed to be overcome to secure procurement under strict supply conditions and maintain competitive prices on the other hand.
A Lifetime Investment with Premium Values
From the customers' perspective, a garage door is a product that one may only have one or two chances to buy. It is a long-term investment in nature.
“This is why we develop
products to meet the market
requirements within the
next 10-15 years,”
said Pascal.
ISO70 is a reliable, quiet, energy-efficient, and attractive high-end product. Above all, it serves the changing market needs for garages as multi-purpose spaces for hobbies, DIY, and many more scenes. Since its debut in the market, customer feedback has confirmed the success of ISO70 as their lifetime investment.
The primary concern in recent days is no longer solely the product itself but also the surroundings. It is paramount to keep up with the changing market condition and customer needs. For example, the current work of integration with IoT and smart home systems is part of ISO70's customer experience improvement.
From a future perspective, it is now more critical for door manufacturers to invest in surrounding infrastructures rather than traditional factors such as material or machinery.
Open collaboration with external players in the industry will be the key to being a comprehensive solution provider who can deliver new values to address global challenges such as climate change, energy efficiency, and sustainability.
“The Team did a great job launching our product successfully and we are still on our way climbing up the hill. We are all excited to assist our general vision of
“We Make Your Business Easier”
For further information, please visit the following website.
https://www.novoferm.com