Windows and Sustainability: An Environmental Perspective

Windows and doors can contribute to green design and LEED® credits
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Advertorial course provided by Pella® Windows & Doors
With the blinds closed, between-the-glass blinds offer an 18-percent improvement in total window U-value and a 43-percent reduction in solar heat gain when compared to roomside blinds.

Wayland Union Middle School, Wayland, MI Design Plus, Inc.

Materials and Resources
Windows can contribute to five points in the fourth major category, Materials and Resources (MR).

Recycled Content, Credit 4, calls for an increased demand for building products that incorporate recycled content materials, thereby reducing impacts resulting from extraction and processing of virgin materials. Credit 4.1, worth one point, addresses use of materials with recycled content such that the sum of post-consumer recycled content plus one-half of the pre-consumer content constitutes at least 10 percent (based on cost) of the total value of project materials. Credit 4.2, worth one point, goes a step further, with an additional 10 percent beyond MR Credit 4.1 (total of 20 percent, based on cost), of the total value of project materials.

Post-consumer material is waste generated by households, commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities, in their role as product end-users, and can no longer be used for its intended purpose.

Pre-consumer material is material diverted from the waste stream during the manufacturing process. Excluded is reutilization of materials such as rework, regrind or scrap generated in a process and capable of being reclaimed within the same process that generated it. Windows that include recycled materials like aluminum, glass, and wood can help with this credit.

Regional Materials, Credit 5, addresses an increased demand for building materials and products that are extracted and manufactured within the region, thereby supporting the use of indigenous resources and reducing the environmental impacts resulting from transportation. Credit 5.1, worth one point, discusses the use of building materials or products that have been extracted, harvested, or recovered, and manufactured within 500 miles of the project site for a minimum of 10 percent (based on cost) of the total materials value. Credit 5.2, worth one point, expands this idea, with an additional 10 percent beyond MR Credit 5.1 (total of 20 percent, based on cost) of the total materials value.

If only a fraction of the material is extracted, harvested, recovered, and manufactured locally, then only that percentage by weight shall contribute to the regional value. Project goals can be established for locally sourced materials and suppliers, to ensure that specified local materials are installed during construction. Environmental, economic, and performance attributes should be reviewed when selecting products.

 

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Originally published in May 2007

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