Page 37 - Green Builder April 2017 Issue

BY MATT POWER It’s meant as a call to action, and a “heads up” to some new market
opportunities.
S PART OF my research in selecting our “Hot 50” green Let’s start with a big missing link in building life cycle: windows.
products this year, I attended the Design & Construction
Week exhibition in Orlando. The experience left me WINDOW SEAL FAILURE: RECYCLING IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH
optimistic. After attending this show for 24 years, I Insulated glass of any kind—whether low-E, argon filled or simply
Acan ignore the “let’s go back to the golden age of the air filled—has a limited lifespan. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s
1950s” politics of NAHB executives, and look at how the industry unacceptably short. While the U.S. does not impose prescribed,
has progressed in many ways from what it was 25 years ago. The expected lifespans for its buildings, the figure that’s generally thrown
business of building homes as a whole is a lot classier. The show around is 50 years. That’s because few products have a warranty
floor looks a lot less like a Vegas strip club and more like an upscale exceeding that tenure, and window seals are especially short-lived.
model home. The food is better, and while diversity is still limited, Now consider this: An old single-pane wood window, with a
the gender gap is beginning to close at the executive level. separate single-pane storm glass glazing, could easily survive a
This year at the show, I began to clearly see opportunities for “white century or more with minimal maintenance. The glass might need
space” that the industry is ignoring. I think what changed is that the to be recaulked, but that’s a task a handy homeowner could undertake
industry in many ways has plateaued with regard to sustainability. on a weekend. In a crude sense, you could say that traditional
It has tweaked and upgraded about as far as it can go. It can only wood windows were “designed for disassembly.” This is one of the
raise the bar through innovation. catchphrases of green product design that you hear at places like the
In the aftermath of the show, I compiled not only the preliminary Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).
list of top green products, but also uncovered some gaping areas of Modern insulated glass (IG), two or more pieces of glass sealed
sustainability opportunity. This isn’t meant entirely as a criticism. together with a spacer, occupies frames that do not require big,

CREDIT: OSCAR EINZIG PHOTOGRAPHY

New golden age? Times are changing at industry gatherings. Now it’s time for window manufacturers to raise the sustainability bar.

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