You could be losing up to 30% of your energy through your
windows and doors..
A typical home's heating and cooling is lost through it's windows and doors. Are
you willing to lose that much money?
To put that in perspective - the amount of energy lost through doors and windows in the U.S. every year is roughly equivalent to all the energy we get from the oil carried by the Alaska pipeline!
Modern Windows - Think of Them as High Tech Thermos® Bottles
 You might be surprised to know that this concept was applied in producing double pane windows as early as 1935. The technology remained relatively unchanged through the mid 1980s, but in the last 20 years, windows have become dramatically more sophisticated, using new materials with more energy-efficient properties. Inert gasses like argon, krypton and xenon have been pumped between the panes, adding to the window's insulating properties. Even more spectacular are the microscopically thin coatings that can be applied to the glass one molecule at a time through nanotechnology. Some of today's double pane windows are actually twice as energy saving double pane windows installed in the 1980s.
A window's thermal performance is rated with a U-value, its overall ability to resist heat flow, and a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC), a measure of the sun's radiative heat that blocked by the glass and its coatings. To put things in perspective, a very basic double pane window will have a U- Value of about 0.49 and a SHGC = 0.75. Compare these to a high-end double pane window which may have a U-value = 0.26, and a SHGC = 0.21. (Triple pane and windows built with Heat Mirror will be even lower.)
Understanding Energy-Efficient Windows - Fine Homebuildinq Magazine
ENERGY STAR Residential Windows & Doors
Efficient Windows Collaborative
PPG's Glass Education Center
Southwell Technologies: Heat Mirror Insulating Glass
CEC Consumer Energy Center
DOE Energy Savers Tips
NFRC Certified Window & Door Directory
LBL National Laboratory Home Energy Saver Audit
HUD Energy Efficient Rehab Advisor
Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency
DSIRE: Database of State Incentives for Renewable & Efficiency
IRS 25C Energy Tax Credit Bulletin
Department of Energy Weatherization Assistance Program
Maryland Licensed Contractors Database
DCRA Business License Verification Database
BBB of Greater Maryland- Check Out a Business Database
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