Triple-Pane Windows
Triple-Pane Window
Jason Bogovich, Energetics, (202) 997-6312
Anne Haas, PNNL, (509) 375-3732
New Department of Energy Volume Purchase Program offers builders, manufacturers opportunity to transform market to more energy efficient windows and low-E storm windows
Builders, agencies and volume buyers in search of more energy efficient products at cost-effective prices will have a new place to look starting today. The U.S. Department of Energy will launch the Highly Insulating (R-5) and Low-E Storm Windows Volume Purchase Program and Web site with an announcement at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, have been working with window industry professionals for the last 12 months in an effort to bring manufacturers and distributors of high performance, energy efficient windows together with homebuilders, weatherization agencies, educational institutions and others capable of purchasing large volumes of these windows.
With a reasonably low minimum order requirement of 15-20 windows, purchasers will be able to peruse the new program’s Web site to select a Highly Insulating (R-5) or Low-E storm window from more than 30 manufacturers who have met the requirements of the program. Buyers interested in pricing and specifying more efficient windows simply need to access the program’s Web site and begin their search.
“The volume purchase program brings new and emerging technologies to the mainstream market at competitive prices,” said Graham Parker, project manager for PNNL. “High performance windows are ready to enter the market at just the right time,” said Parker, “when the nation is trying to address energy efficiency, job creation and savings for consumers.”
While double-pane, low-E, R-3 (U-factor 0.3) windows have typically been considered the standard of energy efficiency for more than a decade, triple-pane windows (typically R-5/U-factor 0.2) can reduce average heat loss through the window by more than 30 percent, when compared to R-3 windows in residential buildings situated in northern climate zones. In situations where full window replacement is not an option, low-E storm windows can be used to reduce heat loads by up to 20 percent, allowing them to pay for themselves in just five years in a climate such as Chicago’s.
