Source: BUILDING PRODUCTS Magazine
Publication date: September 1, 2005
By Monica Soladay
When low-emittance window glazings first appeared in the 1980s, many builders and remodelers were hesitant to use them.
Faced with costs of $40 to $50 per window more than clear glass, Dale Dornburg, president of Webster, Wis.-based A New Look in Construction, says he and other pros questioned whether the expense was worthwhile.
“Everyone's pretty skeptical when something comes out on the market,” Dornburg says. “It's like … is it worth the money?”
Twenty years later, about 50 percent of all residential glass is low-E, with that number increasing each year, says Dariush Arasteh, a deputy group leader with the Windows and Daylighting Group at federally funded Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.
Many manufacturers now offer low-E as standard. And even though they still cost more, pros like Dornburg are buying.
As defined by the U.S. Department of Energy, low-E coatings are highly reflective, transparent coatings applied to the window glazing. Because they are designed to reflect long-wavelength infrared radiation, less heat is transferred through the window, either from inside or outside the home.
Work on low-E glass began in 1976, when the federal government issued several grants through Lawrence Berkeley to a series of small firms tasked with researching potential methods for applying low-E films. Southw...
Click here to read full article from Replacement Contractor