Needless to say, that headline from the Department of Energy’s Berkeley Labs caught our eye!
Here’s a link to the DoE’s press release, laying out the fact that “About $20 billion worth of energy leaks out of windows in the United States each winter – and that’s with double-paned insulating windows installed on a majority of buildings.”
The proposed solution? “The “thin triple” super window design doubles the thermal performance of current Energy Star-rated double-glazed windows and is seven times more insulating than a single-glazed window.”
We couldn’t be more enthusiastic in our agreement!
High Performance since the 1980s
In fact, we’re so much in agreement, we’ve been providing a similar two-chamber technology for decades. We call it Heat Mirror, and it couples a very similar performance with an even thinner profile. Alpen CEO and founder, Brad Begin, was asked about the technology in this recently-released Green Building Advisor article on Super Windows.
Brad Begin, CEO
“We’ve been making Heat Mirror successfully for over 30 years and remain very committed to the technology and find it to be very effective. “Having said that, as a company known for commercializing innovative technologies, we’re intrigued by the opportunities to at least experiment with thin glass.”
But what about the thing that holds the glass in the wall?
The other piece of the puzzle is the frame. We make those too, and ours are pretty great (if we do say so ourselves)!
Up to R11 whole window, with all sorts of certifications.
Here’s a photo of our glass and frames in a really cold climate
(Davis Research Station, Antarctica)
And here’s a photo of our glass in a really hot climate
(Mesa Verde National Park Visitor & Research Center)
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