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Housing Association Magazine March 2010
Bruce Meechan reports on a window fabricator making a difference to housing stock with the latest in glazing technology.
Silver lining
Infra-red images of Silver Court in central Birmingham, taken before Polar Windows began its latest replacement programme for the Mercian Housing Association, show just how much heat was escaping through the openings: with great blotches of red punctuating the pictures. (Thermal Image pic)
The ‘After' shots have yet to be taken but the Profile 22 fabricator is confident that the energy profile of the properties will have been transformed by the installation of new frames containing Pilkington's energiKareTM IG units.
Launched last year, Pilkington energiKareTM double glazed units can reduce the amount of energy lost through the windows by 90% compared to single glazing.
When installed in modern window frames they help to achieve the requirements of the Energy Saving Trust and hence gain ‘Energy Saving Recommended' status as an energy efficient product.
Pilkington energiKareTM reduces the amount of heat lost windows and allows more heat from the sun to enter: the effect known as solar gain being optimized because the units contain two special types of glass:
Pilkington K GlassTM a low-emissivity glass which reduces heat escaping from homes.
Pilkington OptiwhiteTM is a special ‘extra-clear' type of glass. It increases the degree of solar heat gain and makes homes feel warmer by using the free heat from the sun. Filling the double glazed unit with argon gas or using a warm edge spacer bar stops further heat escaping from homes.
Rob Hawkins of Polar Windows comments: "Part of Silver Court was probably built in the Edwardian era, while the later section dates from the seventies. All of the windows were timber framed and in pretty poor condition. We have so far completed around 50% of the 100 homes to be done in this particular phase of work for Mercian.
"The combination of the Profile 22, 70 FI frames and the energy care double glazing ensures the heat loss will be dramatically reduced for tenants. Essentially energiKareTM enables us to offer our clients a ‘C' rated window now as our standard at a very competitive price. The tenant satisfaction surveys returned to us have all been very positive."
A further project is also taking place adopting the same strategy - replacement of windows with standard ‘C' rated Pilkington energiKareTM for the Pennine Housing in Sheffield, sub-contracting to Lovell.