Green Dream: Custom-Made Aluminum Windows Save Money and Energy

Plus: four more green windows and doors for retrofitting your own home With the efficient pre-fab panels that make up the walls of my home, it’s vital that I don’t let all the heat—and my budget—escape out my 47 windows. So the fact that I had my heart set on sleek aluminum frames instead of wood or vinyl posed some challenges. Residential aluminum windows tend to be inefficient because metal is far more conductive than wood, allowing significant heat loss, so they’re mostly used in warmer climates. Commercial models use thicker frames with a strip of insulating resin as a thermal break between the interior and exterior. But the extra materials and complicated design raise the price, and commercial makers aren’t set up for small residential orders. I got an astonishing quote of $137,000 for a mix of casement, fixed and slider models. Related ArticlesGreen Dream: A Solar-Powered Water BoilerGreen Dream: The...

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