Demonstrating Benefits of Highly Insulating Thin-Triple Window Retrofits in California
Demonstrating Benefits of Highly Insulating Thin-Triple Window Retrofits in California Communities
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Recipient
Berkeley, CA
Recipient Location
9th
Senate District
15th
Assembly District
$1,343,411
Amount Spent
Active
Project Status
Project Update
The project is on track. The agreement was executed in August 2020 and recipient submitted their draft list of TAC members in September 2020 . The TAC includes window manufacturers, single-family and multifamily expert architects , and energy efficiency consultants such as Cardinal, Quanex Building Products Corporation, PDS IG Equipment, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA), and Consortium for Energy efficacy. The TAC also includes staff from the US Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star Homes Program and CEC's Existing Building Office and Equity Team. To support disadvantaged and low-income community activities, the TAC also has two DAC community-based organizations (CBO), Built It Green and Actera. Project team is still in the process of identifying 30 single family home demonstration sites located in disadvantaged communities. Recipient will identify local community based organizations to add to the TAC, This will ensure project receives community feedback.
The Issue
Windows continue to be the poorest thermally performing envelope system. Current best practice new window is double-pane glazing. High performance triple-pane windows have a low rate of adoption due to their increased weight and cost. Currently available high-performance products require heavy glazing, leading to heavier and wider frames than industry standard, results in difficultly and greater costs to install in new and retrofit construction. Reducing the cost of high-performance windows requires reduced material costs, maintaining window weight and frame sizing comparable to existing windows for retrofit applications and maintaining long-term air filtration and structural performance.
Project Innovation
This project aims to deploy and demonstrate a new thin triple-pane window system in two multi-family residences and 30 single-family homes, to demonstrate its much higher insulation properties compared to single- and double-pane windows. The thinness of the glass allows the system to function as well as traditional triple-pane windows, and by saving on weight and costs, the system becomes competitive with other energy saving envelope retrofits. The project quantifies the field performance of the window by measuring energy savings and verifies the build quality and long-term performance benefits of the triple-pane windows through accelerated aging techniques. Finally, the project team will assess window manufacturing markets and determine the current and future market potential for high performance thin-glass triple-pane windows. They will identify market barriers, opportunities, and long-term market cost of these technologies through engagement with leading window manufacturers, home builders, and retrofitters, and with market pull partners such as building codes, utility rebate/incentive programs, and ENERGY STAR. Stakeholder surveys will be given.
Project Goals
Project Benefits
This project demonstrates the ability of builders and remodelers to deliver high-performance window solutions at incremental costs competitive with other building envelope solutions, facilitating their use as a cost-competitive solution to reduce energy use in California homes. The thin-glass triple-pane configuration utilized for this demonstration project delivers the same thermal performance benefits to homeowners as traditional triple-pane windows without requiring the window manufacturer to redesign the framing system, thus reducing cost and risk to the manufacturers while delivering a lower overall energy savings to the end-user.
Consumer Appeal
New high-quality windows add appeal to any home, especially when the existing windows are failing, inoperable due to being painted shut, or rotting.
Affordability
Thin-glass triple-pane insulating glass units allow the creation of high-performance windows of the same size and similar weight to standard double-pane windows, allowing much simpler retrofits and lowering the installed cost of high-performance products.
Environmental Sustainability
Thin-glass triple-pane windows will reduce energy use for heating and cooling by reducing heat transfer through the building envelope. Lower energy consumption will mean fewer emissions from power plants and improved air quality.
Reliability
Thin-triple windows have easier operation and increased longevity due to the reduced stress on the frames and window components. Seal failure rates will be lower than traditional triple-pane and comparable to dual-pane units.
Safety
Aid in reducing mold caused by condensation on the interior surface of windows in winter and improving indoor air quality by reduced infiltration through leaky weather seals.
Key Project Members
Robert Hart
Brendon Smith
Charlie Curcija
Subrecipients
TRC Engineers, Inc.
Stephen Selkowitz Consultants
Match Partners
United States Department of Energy
Cornerstone Building Brands/ Ply Gem
