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The Importance of

Energy Efficient Glass

Did you ever stop to consider that about 80% of a window is glass? Choosing the right glass for your windows is essential. Glass helps keep you more comfortable in extreme temperatures — both hot and cold — and can save you money on your energy bills.


The right glass can reduce the fading of carpets, drapes and furniture caused by the sun's damaging UV rays, and low maintenance coatings can actually add to your free time, by reducing the amount of time you spend cleaning dirty windows.

Did you know that glass has been around since about 3000 B.C.? It's true, but we've seen the greatest improvements in glass during the past 50 years, as advancements in technology and innovative techniques have helped scientists create more energy efficient components. Together, these new glass "ingredients" make up the recipe for an insulated glass unit that is the foundation for an energy saving window!

Thermal Performance

The efficiency of an insulated glass unit is determined by the thickness of the airspace separating the glass layers, the spacer system and spacer material and the air or gas type that is sealed in the air space between the two or three panes of glass that comprise an insulated unit.

Spacer Systems

To create an insulated glass unit, two or three panes of glass are separated by a "spacer" sealing the air space between them. Typically, spacers are filled with or contain desiccant that removes moisture trapped in the air space during manufacturing, preventing condensation from forming on the glass when outside temperatures fall. The spacer material can also aid in reducing heat and cold transfer from inside to outside or from outside to inside your home–maintaining a more consistent temperature inside, and providing greater comfort.

Low-E or Low Emissivity Glass

Low Emissivity or "Low-E" glass has a thin coating, often metal, on the glass within its airspace that reflects heat back to its source, reducing heat transfer through the glass.

There are two types of Low-E coatings — "hard-coat" and "soft-coat". Soft-coat Low-E offers the greater performance than hard-coat Low-E, but the two can be combined to achieve maximum performance and natural light.

Air or Gas Filling

Replacing the air in the space between two panes of glass in an insulating glass unit with gas like Argon or Krypton, can sign significantly reduce heat transfer and increase the insulating performance of glass. These gases are non-toxic, clear, and odorless and have a higher density than air so they are much better insulators.

R-Values and U-Values

The effectiveness of insulated glass can be expressed as an R-Value or a U-Value. The higher the R-Value, the greater resistance to heat transfer. A U-Value is the converse of an R-Value and describes the heat flow through glass. The lower the U-Value, the less heat that is able to pass through the glass.

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