Earth Friendly Replacement Glass
Energy conservation continues to be a top concern, whether for personal reasons such as saving money, or social reasons like wanting to preserve the environment. One of the primary sources for reducing energy consumption at the consumer level is to utilize insulated glass in homes and offices. By preventing heat from being lost in the winter, or being gained in the summer, insulated glass is highly valued for its role.
By requiring less electricity, oil, or natural gas to maintain comfortable interior temperatures, insulated glass reduces the carbon footprint of your property – but the green qualities of glass replacement are even more far-reaching when compared to getting new replacement windows!
First, when you choose to restore your existing windows, you reduce the amount of industrial waste created by manufacturers. Avoiding the release of dioxin into our water along with the utilization of lead, mercury and chlorine involved in the new window manufacturing process is a considerably greener alternative.
Second, when these windows reach the end of their useful life, their disposal in the landfill results in the slow, continual release of toxins into ground water as they are leached from the PVC during degradation, or into the air by incineration.
If you have older double pane glass, you can enhance energy efficiency by upgrading to low emissivity or “Low-E” glass. Using a special coating, Low-E glass prevents much of the UV light from entering through the glass, which helps keep the temperature inside more stable. Further, Low-E will also help protect upholstery, draperies, and flooring from become dry and faded from exposure to sunlight.
Vinyl replacement windows have many commendable attributes and can be an environmentally and financially sound choice when it is appropriate to replace windows. However, restoring existing windows, whether wood, vinyl, or fiberglass, greatly minimizes the negative effects of manufacturing on our planet. So long as your windows have years of useful life remaining, replacement and restoration is by far the greener choice!