July 27th, 2010 by Valerie Jenkins
Category: QuietRock

THX is the most well-known company name when it comes to sound. Everyone recognizes that silver logo that fades onto the screen accompanying that long deep note. When it comes to building a home theater, there is no one better. They have gone through all the audio and video products out there and certified a select few to bring you those of the best quality. One thing many people don’t know about them, however, is that as of a couple years ago they started certifying something else – walls.

THX decided that it was “a natural extension of their program” to not only provide people with the best quality sound, but also to give them a quality room to keep that sound in. So, like with audio and video, they went through different soundproofing products, and we are honored that they chose QuietRock as their certified drywall. QuietRock is the soundproofing material of choice for the stringent noise damping requirements of Universal Studios - as well as healthcare, education, and government buildings, and many others.

When asked about why THX chose QuietRock, Andrew Poulain (THX Director of Sales) said:

To learn more about this great partnership or to learn more about building a home theater of your own, go here.

July 19th, 2010 by Valerie Jenkins
Category: Green Building Standards, SeriousGlass, SeriousWindows

Doug Boleyn is an energy expert. In 1974, he and his wife built a solar heated home. Today, Doug manages commercial solar programs for Energy Trust of Oregon, sits on the Board of Directors of Solar Oregon, and has applied his energy conservation expertise to countless projects. Doug leads through practice, demonstrating Net Zero design in his current Pacific Northwest home. We met Doug and the partners on his Net Zero home project, energy efficiency builders Cellar Ridge Custom Homes and architect Mathhew O. Daby a couple months ago during Solar Oregon’s Goal Net Zero 2010 event.

A key strategy Doug implemented is the practice of “directionally tuning” high performance glass to manage the sun to his home’s energy-saving advantage - allowing for greater overall efficiency, cost-savings, and indoor comfort. Critical to the art of tuning is understanding your climate and orientation of your home relative to the sun. In Doug’s case, the Pacific Northwest is a mild climate - one of few extremes.Window performance is critical to capture as much solar energy, “free heat”, as possible, for best energy-saving winter performance, extensive views and daylighting, and air ventilation and cooling during warmer days. Doug explains the concept in this short video:

Understand Doug’s energy-saving strategies in this paper (PDF download) about his “Morning Sun: A ‘Net Zero’ Energy Home” - an absolute must read case study that combines energy conservation with maximum ‘harvesting’ of energy. An excerpt of the paper introduces his “tuned” approach:

43 percent of the window area faces south, providing unobstructed direct sunlight in winter, yet with carefully designed overhangs to prevent summer overheating. Serious Materials-brand windows were selected because they provided very low U-values coupled with variable Solar Heat Gain Coefficients (SHGC) that were suitable for the different facades on the house.

See pictures of Doug’s house here.

July 13th, 2010 by Valerie Jenkins
Category: Green Building Standards, SeriousWindows

Thomas McGrath is very serious about reducing energy usage of the 1890’s building he owns in Chicago. With partners Ted Roszkowski of ACT Construction and architect Gerhard Zenserling, this “gut retrofit”,  resuses as much existing materials as possible and focuses on replacing energy inefficient materials where needed - like the windows. The net result aims to be USGBC Leed Platinum, Chicago 3 star rated, and Energy Net Positive (meaning, excess energy will power the building, going beyond just being energy “net zero”).

Thomas is documenting the entire project on his blog. His latest update emphasizes the use of high R-value fiberglass windows - a key contributor to one of the core elements of his energy saving retrofit, “super-insulating”. Thomas explains…

…an average window might have an R value of 1.  A really well-made double pane window from a company such as Marvin or Pella might achieve an R value of 3.  The Serious Materials Windows achieve an R value of 9.  The higher the R-value-the higher the resistance, the higher the resistance the higher insulation, the higher the insulation- the slower heat moves through the material, and the slower heat moves through- the lower the energy required to heat or cool the inside space.

From his great pictures, you can tell that the building incorporate more window area in the design than what one may usually see (higher window-to-wall ratio). With his SeriousWindows, Thomas is able to accomplish super-insulation, reduce heat loss, and manage solar heat gain to his advantage - all contributing to the overall building energy saving performance and indoor comfort (of the future lucky owners!).

There are many things that make this project extraordinary, amongst them, Thomas’ first step of the project - transforming the garage into the power-house for the retrofit work currently underway.  The photovoltaic (PV) array, the garage provides power to the workers - for lighting the construction project, powering up tools, heating the space, etc. All the energy required to reconstruct the building is being generated onsite. That’s a very serious approach to how to rebuild.

For those of you attending GreenBuild in November, in the great city of Chicago, don’t miss your opportunity to experience this inspiring retrofit for yourself - the project will be part of the GreenBuild Tour Program. We look forward to seeing you there, and Thomas and Team, congratulations!

July 6th, 2010 by Valerie Jenkins
Category: SeriousWindows

Liane Curtis recently finished installing high R-value fiberglass windows into her home in Somerville, Massachusetts. The install was part of a Deep Energy Retrofit project Liane is currently undertaking. This project, incorporating SeriousWindows and other energy saving measures, will decrease her home’s energy usage to less than half of what it used to be! She has put together a great blog detailing every step of the retrofit, including the install of and reaction to her new windows. Check out her blog here to learn more about her project.

Thank you for doing a great job documenting and sharing your work - it’s exactly the kind of education and inspiration to save money, save energy, and build a better future that the world needs to see!

June 23rd, 2010 by Valerie Jenkins
Category: QuietRock, SeriousWindows

Architects Thompson Naylor and Hartman Baldwin are working with Allen Associates to design and build an exemplar energy efficient, sustainable community in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, CA, built on an infill site.

They are certainly doing a lot to pull that off. All of the community’s electricity is generated through passive solar design and Photovoltaic panels, which heats hot water using solar thermal units. All lumber used in construction originated from sustainably harvested forests (FSC certified), and all concrete was mixed using a 50% fly ash mix. The development is also completely free of fossil fuels (except minor use in a backup heating system), and 100% of rainwater is retained and recycled on site.

An important design criteria for this sustainable community development was high acoustic performance. Why does sustainability require quiet? Because noise is the main reason people refuse to live in denser urban environments. No one likes hearing the neighbors and having one’s own privacy restricted. But, there’s no doubt that sustainable community living saves energy. A person’s carbon footprint can be reduced by 50% or more by moving into urban downtown centers like Victoria Gardens.

Noise reducing, “soundproofing”, building products specifically transform noisy, undesirable areas, not only in downtown areas, but also along highway and airport corridors, into comfortable, high quality living environments. Allen Associates used QuietRock soundproofing wall solutions for high noise reduction. QuietRock 525 is used throughout the development for reliable noise control.

The Victorian-styled centerpiece home of the development use fiberglass-framed, high full-frame R-value SeriousWindows 725 series throughout. The SeriousWindows fiberglass-framed systems contribute to the sustainable architecture - the inherent advantages of fiberglass (compared to aluminum or vinyl) include enhanced lifetime durability, higher thermal performance, and a lower embodied energy footprint.

The project has been registered for LEED® certification and expects to receive the level of Platinum (the highest possible). The Victorian centerpiece was completed just last year, and the three condominium residences are scheduled to be completed by early 2011.

To learn more about this project, go to www.victoriagardenmews.com.

June 18th, 2010 by Valerie Jenkins
Category: Energy Policy, Green Building Standards, In the News

The problem is building operations and materials consume (use) the most energy globally – of any other industry sector. The largest contributor to C02 generation is our buildings (52% vs. passenger cars of 9%).

We can re-invent and re-think how we build and re-build our buildings to save the most money, and save the most energy – beyond anything else. Going green has to be economical. It’s a tough challenge, but we’re doing it; building and homeowners are doing it; architects and developers are doing it.

Watch our CEO, Kevin Surace, speak to these points at the 2010 Sustainable Operations Summit by clicking here or the image above.

June 9th, 2010 by Valerie Jenkins
Category: Announcements, Press Releases, SeriousWindows

CW-Rated SeriousWindows™ feature highest thermal (up to R7) and structural ratings available

Sunnyvale, CA – June 9, 2010 – Serious Materials announced today it has launched a new line of extreme-energy-saving window products for the commercial building market. Heavy Commercial SeriousWindows Series are the first heavy commercial (CW) rated windows to deliver thermal performance of up to R-value 7.0 (U-value 0.14), over two times the thermal insulation of commonly specified aluminum thermally broken commercial windows (U-value 0.35). Incorporating SeriousGlass™ super-insulating glass units with fiberglass frames, Heavy Commercial SeriousWindows Series offer architects, builders, and building owners the next generation in energy efficient commercial window systems for substantial energy cost savings. Serious Materials will introduce Heavy Commercial SeriousWindows during the American Institute of Architects Convention and Expo, June 10-12, 2010 in Miami, FL.

Heavy Commercial SeriousWindows enable energy-efficient window strategies including passive heating and cooling coupled with maximum daylighting to significantly reduce energy load and greatly improve the environment for building occupants. In addition, the inherent advantages of fiberglass over aluminum framing systems include enhanced lifetime durability, higher thermal performance, and a lower embodied energy footprint.

“With today’s higher industry standards for thermal efficiency, it’s absolutely critical we enable our customers to build and rebuild with energy performance and savings as a top priority”, said Ian Sullivan, General Manager, Windows & Glass Division of Serious Materials. “Not only does this system exceed anything else in the market by 38% in thermal performance, but also a CW100 rating with outstanding air and water numbers puts this product in a class of its own.”

Thermal Performance

Available in full-frame high R-values up to R-7.0, this new SeriousWindows Series is ideal for commercial new construction and retrofit particularly in extreme heating- or cooling- dominated climates where high R-value glass is needed. With a full range of low and high solar heat gain glass packages, SeriousWindows enable solar control according to climate zone and orientation for maximum energy efficiency and comfort benefits.

Superior Air and Water Tightness, Structural Ratings

With proprietary fused corner joints, Heavy Commercial SeriousWindows feature industry leading air and water infiltration rates. SeriousWindows are AAMA Gold rated with industry-leading air infiltration of less than 0.01 and water penetration (15 psf).

The Fiberglass Advantage

Fiberglass-framed commercial windows offer significant advantages compared to traditional aluminum, vinyl, or wood framing materials – offering super-insulating and structural performance, lower embodied energy, and new design choice. According to the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) Pultrusion Industry Council and the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) Fiberglass Material Council:

• Fiberglass’ thermal conductivity is 800 times less than aluminum, making it the optimum material for super-insulating windows and preserving overall performance for the life of a window.
• Low thermal expansion maintains the windows’ structural integrity and minimizes warping or leakage, making fiberglass the most durable framing material that will not compromise the performance of the full window over time.
• Fiberglass particularly resists environmental damage caused by corrosive salt air or high temperatures.
• Comparing U-value of materials, fiberglass offers 89% better insulation than aluminum (fiberglass U-value is 0.2 – 0.3 compared to aluminum thermally broken of U-value 1.0).
• Superior strength to weight ratios making Heavy Commercial SeriousWindows ideal for large window openings - 86% of the yield strength of aluminum and, pound-for-pound’s, stronger than aluminum in the lengthwise direction.
• Pultruded fiberglass distributes impact load to prevent surface damage even in sub-zero temperatures.

The Anti-Triple Pane Window

Whereas other commercial windows use three panes of glass to achieve higher insulation performance, SeriousGlass units incorporate suspended film systems that create multiple chambers for high thermal performance. Heavy Commercial SeriousWindows are available in either dual chamber (one film layer) or triple chamber (two film layers) SeriousGlass packages. Beyond super-insulating performance, these SeriousGlass systems achieve high light transmission and 99+% UV blockage through the combination of multiple chambers and low-e coating glass surfaces. Up to 50% lighter than triple-pane windows, SeriousWindows eliminate the weight issues of the older triple-pane design approach. Proven in thousands of commercial and residential projects over nearly 30 years, SeriousGlass has been consistently certified at the Insulating Glass Certification Council’s “A” level over more than two decades, and has been installed in extreme climates and high humidity commercial and residential applications.

About Serious Materials

Serious Materials develops and manufactures sustainable advanced building materials that save energy, save money, improve comfort, and help address climate change. Serious Materials’ products are manufactured in the company’s 5 factories across North America. For more information, visit www.SeriousMaterials.com.

Press Contact:

Valerie Jenkins

vjenkins@seriousmaterials.com

1-408-636-6329

April 22nd, 2010 by Valerie Jenkins
Category: Green Building Standards, SeriousWindows

In commemoration of Earth Day, Wendy Koch of USAToday details the lessons she learned in her journey to green her home in Washington D.C. suburb of McLean, Virginia. Wonderful lessons for everyone - no matter where you live. Wendy’s #7 lesson is one to highlight: Not all green makes sense. Economic sense, that is. What pays back the most? What will save the most money? Wendy weighs energy efficiency options with alternative energy creation options. She rules out windmills altogether, and compares geothermal heat pumps, high efficiency gas furnaces, and then turns to look at…..the window. Her findings:

Perhaps surprisingly, we’ll save almost as much energy as we would have with geothermal by switching from double-pane Jeld-Wen windows to super-efficient SeriousWindows, which have an insulating film.

So our green home, modeled to earn top ratings, won’t have any chic green features such as solar panels, windmills or geothermal heat pumps.

The lesson learned is super-insulating windows pay back. In many cases, certainly Wendy’s, more than anything else you can do. The insulating film of SeriousWindows is one of several features of our high R-value framing systems that deliver higher insulation across the whole, full frame, so your heating and cooling doesn’t literally fly out the window. Unlike triple pane windows that can deliver higher R-value than your standard single pane (R-1) or dual pane (R-2) windows - but with a ton of drawbacks - we make dual chamber, triple chamber, and quad chamber windows that outperform old technology like dual and triple pane. So you save money, and we all save energy.

Another interesting lesson Wendy learned is lesson #8: Think passive.

She explains the concept of “Passiv Haus” - or Passive House (in the U.S.).

New to the USA, but common in Germany, are “passive” homes that need almost no energy, because they are so well insulated. They use mechanical ventilation to circulate air and avoid sick-building syndrome. If we were just starting, I’d want a completely passive home. We’re making ours as passive as possible.

We are huge supporters and enablers of the Passive House movement. Critical to a “passive” home is super-insulated windows (remember, anywhere between 15% - 40% of your heating and cooling costs are flying out of your windows!). What to look for in a window? Three key elements:

• High R-value (R-5 or more)
• Glass packages that maximize and minimize solar gain (depending on the orientation of your home relative to the sun and the climate zone you live in)
• Best-in-class structural ratings (air and water infiltration). The lower the better. Ours are as tight as zero (yes, really…ZERO).

SeriousWindows fiberglass series are the only windows Clark Snell (NauHaus Institute) could find in the U.S. to meet Passive House requirements.

Speaking of Passive House, Oprah highlighted an Oregon home that had ‘gone passive’ today during her Earth Day special. That would be the home of Tad Everhart, a Passive House consultant himself. Replacing his windows with fiberglass-framed high R-value SeriousWindows were one of the measures. His home now consumes 90% less energy and is far more comfortable.

Great lessons and wonderful examples to commemorate this Earth Day 2010 - in the greenest of green ways. Save energy = saving money.

April 21st, 2010 by Valerie Jenkins
Category: Announcements, Energy Policy, Press Releases, SeriousWindows

Governor Schwarzenegger learns about high R-value windows

We were honored to host Governor Schwarzenegger at our Sunnyvale, California offices today, on the eve of Earth Day 2010. Critical to enabling energy efficiency for financial benefit of California’s home and building owners, manufacturing growth, and job creation opportunities in California, the Governor announced that he signed SB 77 to establish the statewide PACE program. This program lowers financing costs for businesses and residences in California to make energy improvements through retrofits, like installing super-insulating energy efficient windows, on existing properties.

The Governor learned about high R-value windows, the importance of high acoustic performance in buildings, new manufacturing innovations, and the massive energy efficiency retrofit underway of the Empire State Building. We are proud to stand behind the Governor, and keep doing our part manufacturing advanced products that save money and energy.

See video coverage of the press event here and more photos on Flickr.

Full press release:

Governor Schwarzenegger Tours Serious Materials and Announces Signing of Legislation to Promote Energy Efficiency Retrofitting

Sunnyvale, CA — April 21, 2010 — Serious Materials, the leading energy-saving building materials company in the U.S., today welcomed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California along with Senator Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica) to its headquarter office and R&D facility in Sunnyvale, California. Governor Schwarzenegger announced he signed SB 77 by Senator Pavley to establish the California statewide Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Reserve Program that will lower financing costs for businesses and residences in California to make energy improvements through retrofits, like installing super-insulating energy efficient windows, on existing properties.

“Serious Materials is another company joining a long list of companies in California that are proving what I have always said: what is good for the environment is also good for the economy,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “We want to keep these companies and these jobs here in California. That is why I signed SB 77 to help build our green economy, create thousands of jobs and create a cleaner environment by making energy efficient investments easier to make.”

“Governor Schwarzenegger is a great friend of the environment,” said Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials. “He also knows energy efficiency is a triple-win for everyone, which is why he signed SB 77. Retrofitting our homes and buildings with super-insulating high R-value windows saves money for homeowners and businesses, creates jobs, and recharges the Californian and American economy. ”

Governor Schwarzenegger feels the difference of super-insulating glass

To see photos from the event, visit Serious Materials’ Flickr page and see video coverage here and on the Serious Materials blog.

SB 77 creates another financing option for commercial and residential property owners to make energy improvements, such as replacing single and dual pane windows with high R-value windows, using bonds and/or loans that can be repaid through assessments added to their property tax bill. The legislation establishes a state-financed reserve, through the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority, of up to $30 million from the Renewable Resources Trust Fund to implement the PACE Reserve Program.

Serious Materials manufactures super-insulating high R-value windows for residential and commercial markets that can save up to 40% of heating and cooling costs. As a leading example of the financial benefits of energy efficiency retrofits, the Empire State Building is undergoing a major retrofit that is expected to reduce energy use by 38 percent, save $4.4 million per year in energy costs, and save 105,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next 15 years. Selected by Johnson Controls, Serious Materials is upgrading all 6,514 dual pane windows of the Empire State Building that will directly reduce energy costs by more than $400,000 per year. In a first-of-its-kind process, Serious Materials is reusing all existing glass and create super-insulating glass units (IGUs) in a dedicated processing space located in the Empire State Building. The new IGUs then will be re-installed and will increase the thermal performance of the windows by up to four times their current thermal performance, improving the R-value of the older dual pane IGUs from R2 to R-values ranging from R-5 to R-8. The super-insulating new windows will also reduce solar heat gain by more than 50% compared to the older windows.

About Serious Materials
Serious Materials develops and manufactures sustainable green building materials that save energy, save money, improve comfort, and help address climate change. Serious Materials’ products are manufactured in the company’s 5 factories across North America. For more information, visit http://www.SeriousMaterials.com.

Press Contact:
Valerie Jenkins
Serious Materials
vjenkins@seriousmaterials.com

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April 20th, 2010 by Valerie Jenkins
Category: Announcements, Energy Policy

On the eve of Earth Day 2010, we are thrilled to be hosting Governor Schwarzenegger tomorrow, April 21, at our headquarter offices and R&D manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale, California. The Governor will tour our facility and announce new legislation that will lower financing costs for businesses and residences in California to make energy improvements through retrofits, like installing super-insulating energy efficient windows on existing properties.

Governor Schwarzenegger will be joined by Senator Fran Pavley - and a motivated crowd of Serious Materials employees, customers, and partners.

The event will be live webcast here at 10.30AM (PST) and of course we will share our own coverage here on our blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr.