SolarGlass

Last week I participated in an Alliance to Save Energy webinar entitled “Window Energy Efficiency Beyond Business As Usual”. The webinar touted the benefits of super high performance R5 windows over commercially available R3.33 windows. The Department of Energy is pushing a volume purchase program to help drive the cost of R5 windows down to an acceptable premium.

I think continued evolution in window, door, and skylight performance is good for everyone and will force the better companies to increase the speed of innovation, while weeding out the lower quality/lower price players. I am not sure I agree that a DOE-sponsored volume purchase program is the best public/private partnership, but I remain open-minded.

What I am sure of is that with very few exceptions, the cost of today’s R5 windows is not at all justified by the energy saved or the carbon reduced. This remains true even if you double today’s cost of a therm (100,000 Btu)

The attached presentation puts the R5 vs. R3.33 debate in the context of Boulder City and County building codes and amplifies the “cost efficiency” of commercially available windows. While I take complete responsibility for the content of this post and the presentation, special thanks are due to David Neiger and the Populus team for helping work through the energy calculations.

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We began offering complete turn-key installed sales for homeowners a little more than a year ago. The good news is there is great interest in our combination of a quality install, fair pricing, and a no-pressure sales process. Given the sales strategy of our high pressure, gimmickry competitors, we routinely provide higher quality products along with AAMA certified installers at a combined price below their offers. How?

We don’t blanket door knobs, mailboxes, newspapers, radio, and TV with “buy two, get one free” specials. We don’t force ourselves into your home while requiring that both adults are present for the sales pitch. That’s the good news. Unfortunately, our competition’s focus on lead generation means that despite our higher value proposition, they sell far more installed windows.

We are looking for ways to “get into the conversation” and make more consumers aware of our peace-of-mind and product quality driven approach. One avenue of personal interest is a sustained campaign on Colorado Public Radio. What do you think? Will this message resonate with the target audience? Any other suggestions?

In what will likely be looked back to as one of the biggest decisions in our 28-year history, we have decided to discontinue distributing Hurd products and focus instead on Marvin’s fiberglass and aluminum-clad lines.

Deciding to change a near 20-year relationship with Hurd was not easy. While we disagreed with Hurd’s warranties changes, we respect their right to do what they deemed in the best interest of all concerned. We wish the Hurd team the best and will continue to maintain a warranty and service relationship for the benefit of our customers.

The decision regarding what product(s) would become our primary lines was even more complex. With the notable exception of one manufacturer, every window company we investigated was excited by the prospect of distribution through SolarGlass. After a thorough analysis, we decided to concentrate on products we already distributed; Marvin’s aluminum clad and Integrity by Marvin’s fiberglass windows.

Marvin, a 97-year old family enterprise, offers the dedication to product quality, craftsmanship, ethics, and people that mesh perfectly with the SolarGlass approach.

The aluminum clad products offer:

• Best standard exterior finish
• Best standard multi-point door hardware
• Best interior finish details
• Signature Series offerings that blend seamlessly with the standard product line for custom design solutions
• Very high design pressure ratings
• Large sizes, innovative designs and operation

On the fiberglass front, Marvin has been producing Integrity Windows since the mid 1990s. Their patented acrylic capping systems, results in a paint finish un-matched by competing offerings. Combined with sizing flexibility, high performance, and attractive pricing, we believe we are perfectly position to cover the entire waterfront, form the price conscious to the high-end.

Look for showroom and website changes as we progress. We will chart our progress here as well.

On February 24th, I had the pleasure of presenting, alongside Brad Begin of Serious Materials and David Neiger of Populus, to the Santa Fe New Mexico Home Builders Association. We shared information and had a lively discussion regarding high performance windows and energy performance-based building codes. A copy of the presentation is inculded with this post.

The city of Santa Fe is on the cusp of adoption a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) based building code. From our perspective, pushing towards higher performing buildings is a good thing and the better window suppliers will become indispensible partners in the effort.

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On December 11, 2008, the assets of Hurd Windows and Doors were purchased by Longroad Asset Management . This emergence from bankruptcy represents a positive step forward for the employees of Hurd and its distributors such as SolarGlass. Going forward, I believe Hurd will be able to accelerate investments in product quality and innovation.

Unfortunately, this transaction has resulted in a change in warranty coverage for those who purchased Hurd products prior to January 1, 2007. Here is a letter from Hurd explaining the change:

Hurd Warranty Announcement

Call or email your sales rep or me if you have questions or a problem with your Hurd products and we will help you weigh your options.

In the coming weeks, we will learn more about Hurd’s new ownership, direction, and decisions. We will post relevant details here in subsequent posts.

As promised, I have an update on Hurd’s Chapter 11 filing. In last week’s post, I stated that I was seeking assurances from Hurd regarding their ability to continue to build and deliver quality products, stand behind their warranties, and invest in announced and exciting innovations. Hurd’s response can be found here 9-19-08-hurd-update-buildersarchitectshomeowners.

Based on Hurd’s commitments and assurances, SolarGlass will continue to sell and support Hurd products. Unless there is a turn of events that changes Hurd’s ability to keep the commitments it has made, we believe this decision is in the best interest of our customers. In our opinion, Hurd is at the head of the class in terms of aluminum clad windows that compete based on high quality for moderate price. We are thus proceeding with business as usual.

Throughout Hurd’s bankruptcy process, we will share what we know as soon as new information becomes available. Beyond the obvious truth that we owe you this based on your business and the trust you place in SolarGlass, transparency and forthrightness is a personal standard and guidepost.

Monday morning, September 15, 2008, Hurd Windows and Doors filed a voluntary petition for a Chapter 11 reorganization under the bankruptcy codes. One of a number of public stories regarding this turn of events can be found here. As one of Hurd’s top customers, I had the good fortune to be in Medford Wisconsin for meetings with Hurd’s senior leadership team the very evening of the filing and throughout the next day.

SolarGlass has distributed Hurd’s products for over twenty years and has long represented them as a great value for the money built by a team of capable, caring people. Certainly there have been smaller and larger bumps along the way but I don’t believe any business can claim otherwise. Hurd’s President is optimistic that this reorganization will make them a more focused provider of quality wood clad windows and doors, end the distractions associated with vinyl window production, and clear the way for continued innovations in energy performance. Additionally, Hurd executives expect the reorganization process to be relatively short-lived.

That said, a bankruptcy filing raises questions. Our obligation at SolarGlass is to ensure we honor the faith and trust our building professional and homeowner customers have placed in us with a thorough analysis of the situation and a decision to either continue to stand behind the Hurd product and team, substitute products we already distribute, or source a quality alternative. Paramount to us is the ability to provide solutions for residential and light commercial construction in which we are 100% confident and that can be relied upon for the life of the window or door.

To that end, I have asked Hurd’s president to provide information we will use to inform our decision making. Specifically, I have requested assurances regarding the continued availability of raw materials with which to continue production; access to cash and lines of credit sufficient to sustain operations throughout the duration of this process; warranty commitments to products purchase prior to and during this bankruptcy period, and Hurd’s ability to implement their well-developed plans for meeting 2009’s more stringent Energy Star requirements.

These are difficult times and the Hurd team has done much to support SolarGlass and offer great value to our customers. We appreciate their candor and in turn promise open and transparent communication to our customers and employees. I will post our next steps on or before September 21, 2008.

Best regards,

Gwenael Hagan
Owner
SolarGlass Window & Door

With the new building codes in the city and county of Boulder, homeowners and building professionals are coming into our showrooms with many questions regarding windows and doors for their remodel or new construction projects. The questions generally ask “which window or glass do I need to use to achieve the HERS (Home Energy Rating System) Score required for my building permit.” My answer is always the same and invariably unexpected. As long as the windows are Energy Star rated for this region (the vast majority of commercially available windows are) nearly any window will do.

I go on to explain that the larger the house, the lower the required HERS Score. Since insulation, air infiltration, HVAC systems, and lighting loads make big and very cost effective contributions to lowering HERS Scores, their contributions will always be maximized. The irony is that the more energy efficient the overall building, the less difference a given window makes!

I further explain that if you are just aiming at a HERS Score, someone could sell you a very low quality vinyl window that is gas filled and the result would make the requisite contribution to achieving the given HERS Score target.

I think there is a lot of data and comparatively little information “circulating in the air.” From our perspective, window and door selection is about the interplay of aesthetics, performance, and price. Aesthetics speaks to the contribution windows make to exterior and interior beauty, as well as ease of operation. Performance includes the embodied energy of production and delivery, impact on heating and cooling loads, product life cycle, and recycling opportunities at the end of useful life. The new building codes add important and beneficial elements to the performance aspect but do not change the fundamental pros and cons, or the trade-offs associated with the interplaying factors.

Any quality window or door company should be able to help you to understand the aesthetics, performance, and price choices available to you and do so in context of your project, building permit requirements, and budget.

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I think today’s joint Alpen SolarGlass Boulder Green Build Guild presentation was well received. The audience was smaller than I expected but it was good to begin speaking on a topic that we all need to learn more about. It was also fun to be paired with the leadership of Alpen Energy Group.

The most important take-away from my perspective is that choosing the right window and door package for your home or project requires balancing a surprisingly high number of variables. While it is not always the case that SolarGlass will offer the right solution for a given project, we will be a consistent, high-quality source of data and knowledge to facilitate your decision making.

The presentation will be available on the BGBG web site shortly and here once I get permission to upload files to my own site!!