Zehnder Group brand Greenwood is celebrating after its ground-breaking Omnique Window Fan achieved the renewal of its ‘Secured by Design’ (SBD) status, having been tested to rigorous PAS 24: 2012 standards.
SBD is the official UK police initiative recognising products which are designed with the safety and security of the home in mind, effectively safeguarding homes against intrusion.
The Omnique OF1000SBD became the first kitchen and bathroom extractor fan to achieve Secured by Design status in 2015.
With window security and break-ins a growing concern among social landlords and tenants, the Omnique Window Fan is the most secure and high performance multifunction fan for kitchen and bathroom windows on the market and has been developed in conjunction with local authorities, social landlords and personnel responsible for secure house designs to deter potential break-ins.
“Extractor fans in bathroom and kitchen windows have been targeted by intruders as a means to gain access to a property, so where window installations are required, a secure installation is crucial. Greenwood’s Omnique Window fan is the first fan to achieve Secured by Design accreditation since the initiative began almost 30 years ago. The Omnique Window Fan was given this accreditation because it passed independent testing by the Loss Prevention Certification Board,” said Doug Skins, Development Officer at Secured by Design.
The Omnique Window Fan’s clever dual-layered vandal-proof construction helps to deter intruders, with two durable polycarbonate fixing plates sandwiched on either side of a glass window. In the event that the cowl is removed by an intruder, the fixing plates will remain intact with no edges for the intruder to lever the external fixing plate from the glass or fan inside and no opportunity to pass anything through the fan into the dwelling.
The Omnique Window Fan was also designed with privacy in mind as the grills are located on its side, ensuring that potential intruders cannot see through it when installed in windows.
Omnique is one of the most efficient window fans on the market. It is suitable for a wide range of housing types and boasts a number of options for landlords, whilst its multifunctional design means that the same product can be used across all housing stock types and installation applications.
These include adjustable airflow settings (continuous and intermittent), the most energy-efficient, low energy EC motor technology to ensure low running costs, and SMART humidity and timing controls which eliminate draughts, reduce energy wastage and eliminate heat loss by ensuring that ventilation is delivered only when it is needed. Its shutters also reduce back-draughts and heat loss when the fan is switched off.
Darius Rahimi, Senior Design Engineer at Zehnder Group UK, adds: “When the Omnique was granted Secured by Design status in 2015 it was the first product of its kind to do so and it was a huge achievement for the Greenwood brand and the engineering team who worked hard to create a product which combined safety with performance. Four years on, we are celebrating again having had the status renewed, after rigorous testing against tough standards. We are very proud of the care and detail we put into the design of our products, and to have them recognised by initiatives as prestigious as SBD is a just reward.”