Steel security doors are carbon-intensive products. The honest position on what that means, what we measure today, and the gaps we haven’t closed yet. Built for procurement teams running ESG screens, not for a brochure.
This page exists because procurement frameworks – MOD, NHS, public sector housing, Crown Commercial Services – now screen suppliers for environmental and ethical credentials before they look at the product. If we can’t pass the screen, the door spec never reaches the table.
The honest position: a Fort Engineering steel door is heavier and more carbon-intensive at the point of manufacture than a softwood or composite door. We don’t dispute that. The argument we’d put to a procurement team is a lifetime argument – one steel door over 30 years vs three replacements over the same period – and a sourcing argument: British steel, UK supply chain, local logistics. The detail follows below.
What we don’t do is publish numbers we haven’t audited. Where the data isn’t there yet, the page says so.
FE/SUST-01
– 02 / 07
The lifetime argument
Embodied carbon doesn’t amortise over installation. It amortises over service life. The single steel door that stays in service for 30 years and gets refurbished rather than replaced is the carbon-positive option against a composite door cycled out every decade.
30+
Years of service life
per Fort door
85%+
Steel content
recyclable at end of life
3x
Replacement cycles avoided
vs typical commercial door
Service life figures are based on Fort’s installation records and ironmongery refurbishment schedules. They’re not independently audited. We’d recommend a procurement team treat them as our reasoned position rather than as a third-party certified figure, and we’re working toward EPDs (Environmental Product Declarations) for the LPS 1175 SR3 door range to underpin them – [VERIFY: EPD timeline].
– 03 / 07
Materials and supply chain
Four material streams make up a Fort door. Each has its own provenance story, its own recycled-content profile, and its own honest limit on what we can claim about it.
01 / Material
Steel
UK-rolled steel where the grade and the project specification allow. [VERIFY: actual mill mix – British Steel / Liberty / Tata / EU import where UK can’t supply]. Recycled content varies by route: EAF (electric arc) steel runs 90%+ recycled, BOF (blast furnace) steel sits at 25-35%.
02 / Material
Coatings
Powder coating across the door range, not wet paint. Lower VOC emissions during application, and overspray powder is recoverable and reusable in the booth rather than being landfilled or burned off.
03 / Material
Timber + glazing
Engineered timber framing where door designs include it, and bullet-resistant or laminated glazing units across windows and observation panels. Both supplied by UK partners.
04 / Material
Hardware + packaging
Locks, hinges, closers, and security ironmongery sourced UK and EU where the certification body allows. Packaging is timber crates plus protective wrap – the crate goes back to the factory for reuse where the customer brand can return it.
The factory
Plain-spoken position on the Luton facility. The numbers we have, the numbers we’re working on, and the lines where the answer is still “not yet”.
Area
Current position
What we’re working on
Factory electricity
[VERIFY: grid mix or REGO-backed tariff]
Onsite solar feasibility study scheduled for [VERIFY: date]
Factory heating
[VERIFY: heating fuel – gas / heat pump / hybrid]
Production heat recovery loop on welding bays under review
Lighting
LED retrofit complete across the production floor and warehouse [VERIFY: completion year]
Daylight harvesting controls in the next phase
Steel scrap
Near-100% of offcuts return to mill via scrap merchant. Zero landfill on structural steel waste.
Currently the strongest data line we have. No active change needed.
Compressed air
Not currently audited. Industrial compressed air is typically a major loss line.
Air leak audit and VSD compressor upgrade on FY26 capex plan
Scope 1+2 carbon
Not yet published. We don’t have a verified baseline.
Methodology scoping in progress. First report targeted for [VERIFY: FY26 / FY27].
If you need a specific data line for an ESG screen we haven’t published, ask. We’d rather send you the working figure with caveats than leave the question unanswered.
Workforce + supply chain ethics
Procurement frameworks now run ethical screening alongside the environmental side. Modern Slavery Act compliance, fair pay, supplier conduct, anti-bribery position. These aren’t optional for a manufacturer working with NHS, MOD, or public-sector housing.
The page below is what we hold today. Where a position has formal accreditation behind it, the PDF lives in the downloads section further down the page.
Real Living Wage
[VERIFY: accredited Living Wage Employer Y/N]. Pay floor across factory and commercial roles.
Apprenticeships
[VERIFY: current apprentice intake] apprentices on programme. Welding, fabrication, business admin. Linked across to careers.
Modern Slavery Act
Annual statement published. Supplier audit on direct material suppliers. PDF in downloads below.
Supplier code of conduct
All Tier 1 suppliers receive and acknowledge the code. Reviewed on contract renewal.
Anti-bribery + corruption
Formal policy in place. Bribery Act 2010 compliant. Annual training for commercial-facing roles.
Health + safety
[VERIFY: ISO 45001 certified Y/N]. RIDDOR reporting current. H&S committee meets monthly.
Policies and accreditations a procurement team can attach to a tender file. PDFs are current as of [VERIFY: last review date].
PDF · Annual
PDF · Policy
PDF · Policy
PDF · Policy
PDF · Cert
PDF · Cert
Honest gaps
A page like this is more believable when it includes the lines that aren’t ticked yet. The four below are the ones the directors are watching on the 2026-27 plan.
01
Verified Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon reporting
We don’t currently publish a verified carbon report. Scope 3 in particular – the upstream steel – is complex to attribute without supplier-side EPDs. Methodology work is in progress. First report targeted for [VERIFY: FY26 or FY27], third-party verified.
02
EPDs across the door range
Environmental Product Declarations let a specifier compare our products on a like-for-like environmental basis. We’re scoping EPDs for the LPS 1175 SR3 door first, then working outward through the range. [VERIFY: provider and timeline].
03
ISO 14001 certification
[VERIFY: held / gap analysis underway / not targeted – pick one]. ISO 14001 is the procurement-side shorthand for “environmental management system in place”. We hold ISO 9001; 14001 is the obvious next step.
04
Packaging plastic film
Stretch film and protective wrap on shipped doors is the only non-reusable line in our packaging mix. Recycled-content alternatives are being trialled – results expected during FY26.
For procurement teams
If you need the full document pack as a single zip – all policies, certificates, modern slavery statement, and any pre-completed PSQ forms we hold – email procurement@fortengineering.co.uk. We’ll send it back same working day.
Fort Engineering manufactures. For B2B procurement that’s usually Fort Security Doors taking the order, then the factory shipping the spec’d product.
