High-Performance Windows for Timeless Design
Jake Bruton highlights how the Andersen® 400 Series windows were selected to complement and achieve the goals of the wall assembly in this high-performance home.
Sponsored by Andersen Windows & Doors
Today, we’re on the East Coast at a high-performance home designed by Steven Baczek Architect and built by Shoreline Builders. This home’s timeless design in combination with its high-performance details are sure to be relevant for years to come.
From the builder’s perspective, the job site can be an unpredictable environment. Andersen® 400 Series windows deliver performance and aesthetics and durability, which make them an easy specification. Ultimately, our goal is a high-performance home that will last for generations and with Andersen® 400 Series windows, we have that partner.
Being informed about things like U-Factor, air leakage, and solar heat gain are super important when it comes to high-performance building and design. This home’s construction is 2×6 exterior walls with dense-pack cellulose insulation and a continuous outboard rigid insulation at R-6. Partner that with excellent levels of air-sealing and the Andersen® 400 Series windows, and we have above-code levels of performance, an optimal situation for control over the indoor environment and a comfortable home.
Due to the nature of this home in a historic neighborhood, we made the choice during our design process to push the windows all the way outboard in the wall assembly. Usually, we have the choice to go either all the way inboard, in the middle, or outboard, and they all offer their pros and cons. In this instance, it’s purely aesthetic, but with the Andersen® 400 Series windows, we don’t have any concerns with performance.
The selections available through Andersen’s® 400 Series are on display throughout the entire home. There are double-hung windows, pictures, and sliders. We have simulated divided lights that fit the historic neighborhood, black Fibrex® material on the exterior for durability, and low-e glass for energy efficiency. On the double-hung windows, one of the features that I really like is their ability to tilt inward easily. That’s going to be an asset for our homeowners for cleaning.
From a client’s perspective, the integrated high-performance design entails more than just performance from a thermal or air-leakage standpoint. It also includes things like aesthetics and the visible light that’s allowed into the space. These Andersen® 400 Series windows are the last piece of that puzzle to create our comfortable, durable home.
