Ted and Andrea had quite a challenge finding products appropriate for Passive House-level efficiency. For residential construction, it's hard to find domestic windows (and doors) that achieve the level of quality and energy-efficient construction of top European companies.
A good time to import
They told us they were lucky that with global financial markets in flux, their imported Schüco windows and doors all of a sudden became price-competitive with a high-grade Andersen window. Right now just happens to be a decent time to purchase and import high-efficiency products from the EU. However, if you aren't prepared to special-order European products, GreenSpec lists the best windows available domestically, and Ted and Andrea's candid talk about the pros and cons can still help you refine your choice.
In GreenSpec's window overview, we explain that by careful selection of low-e coatings, windows can be "tuned" to optimize the performance of a structure, so it was fun to see that in action at Ted and Andrea's house.
Ultra-high efficiency isn't here yet
EBNjust reviewed high-performance exterior doors, and we list the same efficient doors in GreenSpec. On the residential side, more than with windows, the same level of quality for doors isn't readily available domestically. According to EBN, "In general, German-made Passive House doors are not widely available and are much more expensive than the best North American-made residential doors. However, the performance differences between the two are too striking to ignore." (With all this talk about ultra-high performance it's important to remember, in a small home, two code-compliant exterior doors make up just over 1% of total surface area of the building--so if you're on a tight budget don't stress about this one).
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We're curious: who among you are importing products from overseas suppliers to meet specific product performance demands? What products have you gone through the trouble to purchase and import from afar because you just can't find what you're looking for domestically?
While in GreenSpec we try to stick to products that are readily available domestically, sometimes we include products that are harder to get but too good to ignore. Would you like to see more of these in GreenSpec or is that just too frustratingly out of reach?
The Schüco windows Andrea and Ted chose are made with PVC (minus the nasty plasticizers).
A new expanding tape
A few other interesting window product tips--Ted and Andrea used Tremco Expanding tape for some applications, but found it expands too fast for windows, and so went to Iso Chemie's Iso Bloco One Tape. This tape is fitted to the window prior to installation then expands over approximately five days for an insulating airtight and watertight seal. Last year we explored another option, CC Expanding Sealer.
We're looking forward to keeping an eye on what other product choices this brave duo makes as the project proceeds into the interior, including what passes Ted's sniff test.
(2011, November 3). Going the Extra 3,000 Miles for Passive House Windows and Doors. Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/blog/going-extra-3000-miles-passive-house-windows-and-doors
Like Dave and Alan, we certainly recommend people consider them--that's why we list them. That said, we found Ted and Andrea's experience fascinating, and I'm glad to see Ted responding here to further explain their experience.
We can point you to the manufacturers, but it's this kind of discussion that helps others really understand the product in practice.
If there's any serious contenders for domestic high performance windows and doors that aren't already in GreenSpec, we'd like to know!
(PS: Derek, in GreenSpec we take a life cycle perspective, reviewing products on a wide range of attributes. Depending on the product category, including what alternatives are available and where the greatest life cycle impacts are, different attributes may take on greater significance. If you take a close look at BuildingGreen's ongoing coverage of PVC you'll notice that we repeatedly explain the associated environmental concerns, but that we don't exclude all PVC products as a rule -- whether a product is included in GreenSpec depends on a much broader set of considerations. We do agree that a focus on only one characteristic is generally a narrow and inadequate implementation of green.)
Currently, Serious windows do not have sufficient solar heat gain or visual transmittance. I've looked at them for a project in Boston and they just don't work yet for this climate. Plus, they had no interest in working on this with me. It's a shame, really. I look forward to when I can buy american.
I hope they're going to do something to make the windows really efficient, like installing insulating shades. An R-6 window in a high-R wall is a shame. I like Heat Saver Shades, thay're each custom made, using nearly any fabric you wish.
We looked at the Serious Windows, and liked the energy efficiency they provide. What we didn't like was that the only installation option for casement windows was an out-swing window with interior screening and a crank handle to operate the window.
The problem with this technology is that the crank is a real weak link in the window: you spend all this money on energy efficient windows, and then the crank slowly wears out over time. My parents have cranked casement windows in their house, and half of them don't open.
I guess it might seem like a weird choice to make to ship windows from Europe just to get better hardware, but this is a choice we felt made sense given the available options. Quite frankly, we are hoping that as a result of our extensive blogging on this topic, Serious will consider adding an in-swing tilt-turn window to their product line.
By the way, you can get Schuco windows with better performance numbers than the ones we bought, using Krypton instead of Argon between the panes. We felt that this was not worth the additional cost.
As for the PVC question, I think it's important to remember that the best thing of all for the environment is not to build a house. Just live in an existing house, and keep the thermostat at 40 degrees fahrenheit all winter, and you will definitely have a lower carbon footprint than we will.
As green building advocates, if we get too extreme in this kind of thinking, it works to damage our cause. Most people just don't care that much about building green: the tradeoffs for them have to be plausible. They are not going to add $40k just to their window buy just to get Passivhaus-quality wood frames sourced locally.
What we are trying to do with our Passivhaus is to get regular non-green-building folks to feel a degree of envy for the comfort that a Passivhaus provides, and at the same time to believe that it's possible to get this comfort by paying a modest premium.
If we can do this, and if as a result a lot of people who are not environmentalists build houses like ours instead of similarly expensive inefficient houses, the net savings to the environment will substantially outweigh the difference between PVC frames and wood frames on the windows.
There is no question that the embodied energy of a really good PVC window from Europe, less the lifetime energy savings of that window compared to a conventional window, will yield in a substantially lower carbon footprint overall. It's certainly true that locally-made wooden Passivhaus windows would have an even lower overall carbon footprint, but we simply couldn't afford them.
What about Serious Energy? Best rated windows I've ever seen (up to R11) and made right here on the east cost of the USA: http://www.seriouswindows.com
It's not surprising to see a PVC product that pretends to be green, but rather more-so to see it get the easy endorsement of Building Green. Does the comment, "minus the nasty plasticizers" come as a result of careful testing? My guess is "no". In any case, the V and the C in PVC are a big part of the environmental problem with the material, and I'm guessing those haven't been removed.
A focus only on energy conservation during the operation of the house is a very narrow, and inadequate implementation of green.
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