Going the Extra 3,000 Miles for Passive House Windows and Doors

When it comes to green building, you can't always get what you what. So how do you get what you need?

Whole-window R-value of 6.7. Not too shabby!

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BuildingGreen's recent field trip to a local Passive House under construction led to some interesting conversations about product selection, with windows and doors a highlight. Ted and Andrea showed us their beautiful new Schüco windows and doors and told us the story of their product selection process, also described in their blog.

Ted and Andrea had quite a challenge finding products appropriate for Passive House-level efficiency. For residential construction, it's hard to find domestic windows (and doors) that achieve the level of quality and energy-efficient construction of top European companies.

A good time to import

They told us they were lucky that with global financial markets in flux, their imported Schüco windows and doors all of a sudden became price-competitive with a high-grade Andersen window. Right now just happens to be a decent time to purchase and import high-efficiency products from the EU. However, if you aren't prepared to special-order European products, GreenSpec lists the best windows available domestically, and Ted and Andrea's candid talk about the pros and cons can still help you refine your choice.

In GreenSpec's window overview, we explain that by careful selection of low-e coatings, windows can be "tuned" to optimize the performance of a structure, so it was fun to see that in action at Ted and Andrea's house.

Ultra-high efficiency isn't here yet

EBN just reviewed high-performance exterior doors, and we list the same efficient doors in GreenSpec. On the residential side, more than with windows, the same level of quality for doors isn't readily available domestically. According to EBN, "In general, German-made Passive House doors are not widely available and are much more expensive than the best North American-made residential doors. However, the performance differences between the two are too striking to ignore." (With all this talk about ultra-high performance it's important to remember, in a small home, two code-compliant exterior doors make up just over 1% of total surface area of the building--so if you're on a tight budget don't stress about this one).

We're curious: who among you are importing products from overseas suppliers to meet specific product performance demands? What products have you gone through the trouble to purchase and import from afar because you just can't find what you're looking for domestically?

While in GreenSpec we try to stick to products that are readily available domestically, sometimes we include products that are harder to get but too good to ignore. Would you like to see more of these in GreenSpec or is that just too frustratingly out of reach?

The Schüco windows Andrea and Ted chose are made with PVC (minus the nasty plasticizers).

A new expanding tape

A few other interesting window product tips--Ted and Andrea used Tremco Expanding tape for some applications, but found it expands too fast for windows, and so went to Iso Chemie's Iso Bloco One Tape. This tape is fitted to the window prior to installation then expands over approximately five days for an insulating airtight and watertight seal. Last year we explored another option, CC Expanding Sealer.

We're looking forward to keeping an eye on what other product choices this brave duo makes as the project proceeds into the interior, including what passes Ted's sniff test.