You may know that I am always on the
watch for interesting ideas on
Alternative Energy Sources. This morning, I
came across a very
informative information that discusses Eco Energy Sources from a different
perspective. Today’s fun post is titled Green Building and choosing the right Windows .
Article by Greg Escott
In the early stages of designing your green building project, you need to select the locations of where you plan to install the windows. This can be a complex and challenging design project. To do this properly you need to consider the surrounding climate along with typical wind directions, possible landscapes to be planted, and sunrise and sunset conditions.
A good idea is to look at all of the possible orientations of your home prior to your green building project to ensure the prevailing winds will face a corner of your home instead of the broad side with many windows and doors. This is not always possible to do as in some cases your home needs to be positioned in a specific direction or manner to meet the building requirements in your desired building location. Due to circumstances beyond your control you might not be able to avoid windows at high sun peaks but you can help capture the sun’s energy and use it to heat your home in the colder climates without the use of your solar panels. The best choice of windows to allow the sun’s energy to help heat your home is a solar heat gain coefficient window or SHGC window. Depending on what sides of your home will first face the sun will depend on what level of solar heat windows you choose to have installed for your green building project. In colder climates, ENERGY S TAR criteria allow a whole range of SHGC densities but you need to consider both summer and winter months when choosing the right windows for your green building project. In the winter months you want the highest level of solar heat gain coefficient windows can provide but these windows will still use the sun’s heat to warm your home in the summer months. The farther north you are, the shorter your summer months are and the longer your winters hang around, so a green building project would consist of a high solar heat window. However, if you only have 1 month of cold weather in the winter due to your southern location you should consider your cooling costs first and choosing a window with a low solar heat accompanied with a high quality window treatment.
Windows losing HeatThe most obvious ways of your windows losing heat would be through the panes of glass and the second heat loss would be drafts coming through the seals and insulation. A successful green building project can be measured by heat loss and heat gain along with your home’s energy consumption. When your hand touches a cold single pane of glass your hand becomes cold fast due to the heat loss from your hand to the pane of glass; there is a similar heat loss that takes place when the warm air inside your home touches the pane of glass. The heat is attempting to replace the coldness from the glass and in turn the cold air drops to the floor and is circulated through your home which feels like drafts at your floor boards. To eliminate this, consider using a multi layered window pane. A single, clear window pane has almost 60% heat loss due to cold glass where a triple pane, 2 moderate solar gain low-E, krypton gas window has as low at 18% heat loss f rom cold glass. If you still don’t want to invest the extra money for your green building project, there are several choices between the single pane and the triple pane with gas that you can choose from which still meet the requirements for a successful energy efficient home.
Green Building Window InstallationsYour energy efficient windows will only perform properly if they are installed properly and this is one of the most important steps to ensure you have a proper green building project in either the warm or cold climates. Installing windows can be a complex project and sometimes trying to do it yourself can void the manufacturer’s warranty so make sure you check with the manufacturer if you plan to install them yourself or let Contractor Quotes help you find a window installation company in your area. The complexity of your window installation will depend on if you are inserting windows or sash kits within the existing frame or if you are doing a complete window replacement. Other key components of a successful window installation include the insulation used between the framing and your window, the seal mechanisms that construct a functional window and the capping or brick mold that faces the outside elements along with the cau lking that is used to seal all this together.
If you consider a few of the discussed elements during your Green Building project, you will be much more happy with the effort and time you have invested in helping our environment by choosing to build a green home. Nothing would be more disappointing after spending this time to build green than to find out you chose the wrong window or had a bad installation by not using a trained window installer.
I am owner and Co founder of ContractorQuotes.ca which is a free social site with many free tools and articles to help you start your next home renovation and find quality local contractors based on your geographic locations. Visit www.contractorquotes.ca for more help with your next renovation project
Green Building and choosing the right Windows
Best regards,
JamesGallo
ekonenargi@gmail.com
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