Plastic lobby wins row over wooden windows advert

The advert by the Wood Window Alliance (WWA) was challenged by the British Plastics Federation (BPF), which said it gave the impression that wooden windows had less environmental impact than plastic by selectively quoting BRE’s controversial Green Guide.

The ruling follows continued controversy over the BRE’s decision to award plastic uPVC windows an A+ rating in the Green Guide for overall environmental impact on its A+ to E scale.

The complaint centres on the statement that wood has an A rating for climate change, one of the 13 categories, but aluminium and plastic have a D rating. The ASA said the advertisement was “misleading” because the term “climate change’” could be misinterpreted to mean “overall environmental impact”.

The BPF said it was pleased with the ASA’s finding. Richard Lambert, the chief executive of the British Woodworking Federation, which set up the WWA, said he was disappointed with the decision because the Green Guide verified that wooden windows had less impact on climate change than plastic ones. He said: “I would be astonished if people looking at that advertisement thought we were talking about overall environmental impact.”