IE
Mila’s Supa™ stainless steel door hardware range is expanding again, with the launch of a new Supa™ Safety handle, which meets the accessibility requirements of Building Regs Approved Doc M and the Lifetime Homes Initiative.
The Supa™ Safety handle has an extended lever which is easier to grip than the standard Supa™ lever – even with a closed fist – and it sits 45mm from the face of the door in line with BS8300 referenced in the Regs.
Like the rest of Mila’s popular Supa™ range, the new handle is also available in polished or brushed stainless and polished PVD gold finish, making it is easy to achieve the visual contrast between the hardware and the door which is an integral part of Doc M.
The launch of an accessible handle in its Supa™ range is yet more evidence, Mila says, of how the hardware market is shifting towards stainless steel as standard.
Managing Director Richard Gyde explained:
“We’ve long had Doc M compliant handles in our ProLinea zinc hardware range, but increasingly customers now just want every option in stainless steel.
“The numbers speak for themselves. Almost 50% of all the door hardware we sell is in stainless steel and we’ve seen sales almost treble since 2019. Demand is such that we’re filling in any perceived gaps in our range as quickly as we can, so that all our customers can make the switch regardless of the type, style or application of the finished door.”
The move towards stainless steel is hardly surprising, when you consider that Mila offers a 25-year guarantee on both the finish and mechanical operation of its Supa™ range. For fabricators and installers, that’s a powerful sales tool, as well as providing peace of mind that they will not be faced with costly remedials down the line.
Stainless steel also comes with proven sustainability credentials, which appeal both to retail customers who want to buy more sustainably and to commercial specifiers who often have to demonstrate that they are achieving carbon reduction targets.
Mila commissioned its own independent analysis in 2022 to prove that the carbon footprint of stainless-steel hardware is lower than zinc diecast; and the resulting report from consultants Tunley Engineering, revealed that the annual carbon emissions for a Mila stainless steel door handle are only 17% that of the zinc die cast equivalent.
The huge difference is partly because stainless steel products have a lifespan which is typically five times longer than zinc, so the carbon emissions can be averaged out over a much longer period. But, more significantly it comes from the fact that the emission factors for producing zinc are 60+% higher than they are for steel, and there are more energy intensive processes required to manufacture in zinc rather than in steel.
Richard Gyde added:
“Because of the proven benefits when it comes to both durability and sustainability, we’d like to see stainless steel become the default option for all doors in 2023. As well as expanding the range, we’re also continuing to work hard to bring costs down so that the price difference between our Supa™ and zinc diecast ranges eventually becomes negligible for most of our customers.”
Mila’s Supa™ stainless steel hardware range already includes door handles, letterplates, pull bars, escutcheons and door knockers – the vast majority of which are available in either SS304 extreme or SS316 marine grade material for coastal and high pollution areas. The entire range has been independently performance tested for corrosion resistance to BSEN1670 Grade 5 and has sailed through more than 1000 hours in a salt spray test – hence the 25-year surface finish and mechanical operation guarantee.
For details and a quotation, visit Mila’s Supa™ range here.
