I am getting ready to build a house utilizing passive solar design to be built using ICFs.  My question is what company makes good quality windows.  I have looked at Pella, Hurd and Sun.  Currently I am leaning toward the Sun seems to have a very solid design they are urethane glazed and triple pane is an option.  Has anyone ever dealt with any of these companies or have any suugestions.  All suggestions are welcomed about windows or just building in general.

Green78 -

I am almost done with my SIP home. I used Marvin Integrity Windows. They are fiberglass with wood clad on the inside. The price is very reasonable, but they only come double-paned.

I am assuming that you live in a predominantly heating climate. With a passive solar design you want a window with a high Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC). The Integrity window may not be the best choice for that. However, if you expect to need cooling in the summer, a high SHGC may be a detriment.

Other windows that I liked were Milgard (vinyl) and Weathershield (aluminum with vinyl cladding).

Best of luck.

Now I for one have never heard of Sun. A good source of data is the National Fenestration Research Council, http://www.nfrc.org. But, you will find they list over 600 window manufacturers so good luck getting any kind of consensus from any group about which are the best.

Frankly, your question is a typical Ford vs. Chevy question. There ain't no easy answer!! Anybody who gives you a strong opinion about which window is best is either ignorant, biased, limited in the number of windows they've worked with, or found one they're happy with and stopped looking at others.

Me, my top two choices would be Vinyltek out of Canada and Andersen. I like the ease of operation of Andersen casements and the one piece vinyl cladding on the exterior frame and their price is tolerable. That's what I'm using on the house I'm ready to build. Vinyltek are super windows, but the local sales outlet is a siding and replacement window company so the price is out my reach. Pella are good windows but I don't care for the aluminum cladding which is multiple pieces. Aluminum conducts heat very well so I don't like it anywhere where you need a thermal break from outside to inside. Most vinyl windows have frames that will move and twist and turn with sun heat and age and start leaking in just a few years. Some of the best windows available are made in Europe, but they have an European price tag. One bit of information you can sift out of all the data is the conclusion that casements, and probably awning, have the best fenestration data of all windows, i.e., they are the tightest when it comes to air leakage. Also, cheap windows properly installed are just as good as high grade windows poorly installed. So bone up on installation and waterproofing techniques as well as window quality.

There, now you have some of my biased thinking based on the limited number of windows I've looked at and after which I stopped looking!!!! I sure hope none of it is ignorant thinking!

Go to the exterior finishing forum at JLCOnline.com and you'll read a lot of comments about windows, good and bad. It's interesting how some contractors will passionately argue one window is absolutely great while another contractor will just as passionately argue they're a piece of dung.

Do a lot of research, read a lot of opinions, allow yourself to become confused and frustrated, and then start sorting out the features and characteristics that matter to you. When you find a window you like, at a price you can accept, that does what you want it to do, stick with your decision. Let no one other than Father Time tell you you screwed up, if in fact you did!!! And by the time he tells you, it'll be too late to change!

ONE WORD OF CAUTION!!! From what I have found, there ain't no such thing as standard window sizes. If you size your rough opening for a Pella, you'll play hell getting an Andersen to fit in it. I suspect it's pretty much the same among all window manufacturers. So be sure to choose your window first and then design the hole to fit it. Don't try doing the reverse or you'll gladly let your wife and kids beat you up for stupidity. Maybe it's not THAT bad, but damn close!!

Hello! Could someone gives me some advise, I would appreciate it.
Has anyone heard about Euro-tech window industries? I got a quote for triple glass windows and patio door (Low E and Argon, spacer hybrid with metal). My windows are 8 feet long and patio 6. I was told that their R is R5 with double glass and R7 with triple but ER for double is much lower than the competition. I was unable to find additionnal info. on the triple. I went to the NRCan website and could only find a result for one model. I wonder if UPVC frame is as good as advertised and if optional steel reinforcement would be to heavy?
On another hand, I got a quote from Oran double glass, frame wood /vinyl, "Super Spacer" (no metal spacer), with high end TIR-Argon, with ER + 31.
Both manufacturers/ installers claim to be the best. Please note that for the patio door, it would be a Resiver R500.
Also being in Canada, would hard coat be better than soft coat? In summer, temperature can reach 40 C and winter minus 25 C... Thank you in advance, Lisa

Never heard of Euro-tech. As far as claiming to be the best,............I think most window mfgrs claim to have the best window. I have use Parent windows from North Bay Ontario, and I was satisfied with those. They seemed to be of good quality and craftsmanship.  If I were you, I would try to go physically see and operate different windows. Many times you can see and feel the details of the windows such as how the screens attach, how it operates, etc.

Good Luck!!
Bunt

most windows will carry a AAMA rating which will specify a DP value, before you buy any window check this out , casements and awnings tend to be higher rated than double hung , windows that do not have this rating should be avoided. my personal favorite would be a vinyl casement with a good warranty on glass and hardware with a Dp rating of 45+
good luck

Thank you, Bunt for your suggestions.

Lisa

I am a green design/build/remodel firm in southern Maine. In business for 38 years. Andersen's are good dependable windows, like the "Toyota" of windows. Not the best, but good. You can still get parts for your window after decades in service. Marvin is good, depending on the model, perhaps a step up, but a step up in cost as well. But, like most readily available windows, the "R" value only runs around R-4; (not a true measurement, as windows don't have R value, but rather, are more accurately measured in terms of U-value, the inverse of R-value) And like most readily available windows, the SHGC only runs around .35, +/-.

There are however, other windows which boast a much higher performance. Some have even achieved "R-20" center of glass! (The frames of windows seldom approach the value of the glass itself, and no frame approaches the value of "R-20"). One manufacturer of this type of window is Alpen, in Colorado. Just to give you an idea of the worth of this type of window, it is significantly better than a 2x6 wall with R-19 insulation. A typical framed wall may have as much as 20% of the space taken by framing, which means that the whole, or effective R-value of this wall is only about R-15. Do you start to see why these windows are so good? And when you consider that for most homes with typical "energy efficient" windows, the windows themselves are a very big source of heat loss, that only adds to the value of these high performance windows. You can also get them set up to have higher SHGC ratings as well. With these "R-20" windows, they can be "net gainers" of energy, even on north facing walls!

ronaldsauve, are Alpen windows directed also to a residential market? The photo gallery on their website displays a lot of commercial glass wall sort of structures.

There is a section of their website dedicated to several flavors of residential window.

http://www.alpeninc.com/windows/index.htm

I'd recommend looking at Veka also. I saw a frame that they provide and it's very solid and energy efficient. They use Cardinal glass as well and 1" IG. I was impressed with their product and the price is very good.

Here's the link below
http://www.vekainc.com/products.asp?Page=euroview

There's a really good mfg. of windows up in Canada that was down at the NESEA exhibit in Boston this week and I can't remember their name, sorry. These guys are supposedly one of the best perfomance to price as I'm told by some friends in the renewable industry. Check on NESEA's exhibitor list or email them.

I think it was Thermotech or something to that effect............

Topgas,
Maybe you could glance through this list to jog your memory....

http://buildingenergy.nesea.org/exhibitor.listing.php

Was this it?

http://www.thermotechfiberglass.com/

pringstrom, yep, those be the ones...............

I noticed above a mention of VEKA. Just to be upfront, I am a rep for Thermolock, LLC. We use the Timberview Technology from VEKA and manufacturing is in Ohio. The Timberview Technology that we get from VEKA gives us an excellent product that allows a true hybrid technology between a vinyl window and a wood interior. This allows the vinyl and wood to expand and contract in their own time frames independent and independent of one another. Great technology, actually! We can do a triple-glaze with Krypton gas. I was actually quite pleased when I went to the NFRC website and looked at the u-values this product provides. Check it out. If you can't find a local rep pm me and I will get you with one.

Look for Energy Star Qualified windows and you cannot go wrong.  In order to get Energy Star Qualified, windows have to be tested to standards by third party independent labs.  Registry of tested products exist at NFRC.org   and WDMA.com .  If you select a Energy Star Qualified window you will get a well built window.  Beyond that you look to warranty and time in business, then it becomes an issue of value.  One recommendation BiltBest custom windows and patio doors.

Get educated before you shop or prepare to be confused.  Many sellers of windows do not understand what is important in evaluating windows.  Visit
Efficient Window Collaborative

Then also go to the Energy Star website to get mor einformation.  Finally, read this article for an in depth look Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) , Visible Light Transmisson (Vt), U-Value and Daylighting .  It all dependson where your house will be built.