ENERGY STAR® is a voluntary partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the fenestration industry. It is designed to assist consumers in the recognition of energy efficient products and promote the environmental and economic benefits of these products with the ENERGY STAR® label and other program activities.
How do products qualify for ENERGY STAR®?
Consumer products (such as REPLACEMENT WINDOWS) receive the ENERGY STAR® label when they exceed the minimum federal energy consumption standards. These figures vary from product to product.
How do windows qualify for ENERGY STAR®?
Window products qualify by meeting certain criteria set forth by the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC). All windows must be NFRC rated, certified and labeled for both U-factor and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient as well as Visible Light Transmittance.
What is a U-factor?
A U-factor measures the rate of non-solar heat transfer from one side of the window to the other. Heat transfers to both heat loss out of a living space during cold winter weather and non-solar heat gain into a living space during hot summer weather. This energy transfer, measured in BTUs, is know as conduction. The lower the U-factor of a window, the higher it's R-value.
Why is this so important to our country and our world?
If all residential windows in the U.S. were replaced with ENERGY STAR® compliant products. . .
· We would save $7 billion in energy costs over the next 15 years.
· The reduction in carbon emissions would be the same as taking 336,000 cars off the road.
· We could preserve 142,000,000 acres of trees over the next 15 years.
