When planning for maximum energy efficiency in your home, windows need the most critical evaluation. Many manufactures are touting energy efficient glass, but it’s what they aren’t talking about that is just as crucial for keeping those dollars from flying out the window!  Both wood and vinyl window frames get high marks for providing a way for warm air to travel to cold air. That is a bad thing when you’re trying to keep your heating and cooling bills to a minimum.

According to the Efficient Windows Collaborative  three energy performance characteristics of windows are used to portray how energy is transferred and are the basis for how energy performance is quantified: Insulating Value, Heat Gain from Solar Radiation, and Infiltration.

1. Insulating Value, or the “U-Factor”, is how well the window glass keeps the warm air (either inside or out) from traveling to the cold air it will continually seek.

2. Heat Gain from Solar Radiation or Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) is simply how much heat is transferred through the glass when the sun shines in.

3. And lastly, Infiltration is about how much air can pass through your window assembly.

To find the most efficient as well as cost effective windows for our Haven™ homes, we went to the experts at NVision Glass for help. They introduced us to the Anderson Series 100 window. There are three aspects of this window that won us over.

a. It is made from the vinyl and wood waste products of other Anderson windows

b. The Series 100 window is the only window we could find that is built with a honeycomb frame adding strength and durability as well as much more Insulating Value in the frame than other windows.

c. The cost. A great window that offers more for less. That’s sustainable!

For all the exciting details regarding Anderson Series 100 performance, click here.

Watch the video to hear NVision owner, Josh Munns, explain what he likes about Envirohaven™ and what you will like about NVision Glass.

We look forward to hearing what your experiences have been with energy efficient windows have been. Please share this post with other sustainability minded folks you know.