For the past 25 years, Southwall Heat Mirror® products have set the performance benchmark for insulating glass. Commercial and residential building owners, architects, and designers across the globe continue to select Heat Mirror to meet their most demanding requirements.

Southwall's innovative multi-cavity Superglass technology provides a whole new level of sustainable design performance.

R-20 uses three suspended films to create four insulating cavities that deliver the best known insulating glass performance of any commercially available product in the world. Combined with its high light transmission, sound insulation, and 99.5% UV protection, R-20 represents the highest standard of total energy efficiency in Southwall's patented Heat Mirror product line.

Heat Mirror glass is highly versatile, with insulating values ranging from R-6 to R-20 to meet the varying seasonal or geographic glass demands for commercial and residential projects. In hot climates, Heat Mirror glass doesn't require shading and minimizes cooling load. In cold climates, Heat Mirror glass eliminates condensation and retains heating. Heat Mirror glass enables you to fully enjoy any window's intended use - thermal comfort, views, and daylighting - while saving more energy than any other insulating glass available. More >

RDI Builds a ZERO Net Energy Home

The electric bill is expected to be $199 per year!!! Approximately 274 gallons of propane will be used each year to heat the house!!!

Megan McDonough and Adam Grandin along with Rural Development, Inc. (RDI) are today embarking on the construction of a very special affordable home for their family The home will be so energy efficient it will be known as a “ZERO net energy home,” meaning it will almost reach zero net energy usage. The Colrain house will feature both a 3-kilowatt (kW) solar electric system as well as a solar hot water system. The sun will heat or pre-heat water for the radiant floor heating system and for regular hot water use. The house is the greenest of green. It also features double thick walls allowing for over 11 inches of recycled cellulose in the walls as well as 14 inches in the ceiling. Very highly efficient “Heat Mirror®” Paradigm windows and a patio door will be installed, reducing heat loss through the glass. The floor will be a rich mocha colored polished concrete warmed by hot water pipes just below the surface. The fiber cement siding is not only a green building material, but will add interest to the exterior of the house with a combination of clapboards, board and batten, and shingles. More>

09.20.2006

Heat Mirror: Two-time Solar Decathlon Winner!

For the second consecutive year, Heat Mirror was the winning window solution used by the winner of Solar Decathlon event, a solar-powered home competition primarily sponsored by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The University of Colorado beat out 17 college teams from the US, Canada, Puerto Rico and Spain to win the competition. Each team built solar-powered homes of their original design on the National Mall in Washington, DC, which were judged on performance in ten areas, including energy sustainability. Additional cutting-edge technologies such as rooftop and awning photovoltaic systems complemented the winning design. In addition to the DOE, competition sponsors included the American Institute of Architects and the National Association of Home Builders.

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