*Content courtesy of Daily Commercial News – Construct Connect
Future Building Codes Challenge Window Manufacturing.
Windows have traditionally represented up to 80 per cent of a building’s exterior cladding system. However, building codes across the country are evolving towards ever-higher levels of energy-efficiency performance. In order to meet their overall energy efficiency objectives, ratios on many buildings have already dropped to as low as 35 per cent in some locations.
This should provide motivation to improve the level of performance of Canadian-made window products. “It’s a certainty that by 2032, the standard window in Canada will be triple-glazed with a high-performance frame,” says Al Jaugelis, Technical Director of Fenestration Canada, the association representing Canadian window and door manufacturers. “That will mean either a vinyl or fibreglass frame, or a frame that is aluminum with very substantial thermal breaks.”
Yet, Canadian manufacturers say, it’s more complicated than it appears.
President Terry Adamson, acknowledges that B.C.’s support for its manufacturers has been helpful. “My opinion is that this sort of funding is significantly more effective than window replacement rebates that come and go. Assisting manufacturers to develop better products results in better products in the marketplace and raises the entire industry up, helping everyone.”
Adamson’s company, Westeck Windows and Doors with showrooms throughout the Pacific Northwest, received $80,000 in BC provincial grants that helped subsidize the 18 months and hundreds of thousands of dollars Adamson estimates were required to launch Westeck’s line of Passive House windows. Demand for high performance windows in B.C. has been boosted by other provincial incentives — notably the B.C. Step Code.
Future versions of the National Building Code (NBC) are expected to be mimicked by the provinces, providing a regulatory push that will increase product demand from larger, mid-level projects and make a persuasive business case for more manufacturers to invest. In the meantime, “Unless it is a high-end multi-unit or commercial build, most contractors and designers are not interested in Passive House-certified windows.”
Although Passive House windows have not been specifically identified as an NBC goal, Adamson admits many of Fenestration Canada members are unhappy with the direction the new building codes are taking. “There are lots of fabricators struggling with this and who do not want more regulations,” he says. “Passive House is not a friendly word to a lot of these people. It’s a challenge — more cost and more difficulties.”
In advance of any code changes, however, municipalities such as Toronto are already speaking publicly about plans to launch deep energy retrofits for many of their publicly-owned buildings. More Eastern Canadian window manufacturers will need to commit and invest if they are to meet the expected increased domestic requirement for energy-efficient products.
About Westeck Windows and Doors
Westeck is a premier manufacturer of windows and doors. All major North American, European and Passive House windows and doors are locally manufactured and proudly displayed in seven well-appointed showrooms throughout the Pacific Northwest. As each window and door is built to order, our customer have the freedom to design and create a product that is unique and personal. Enjoy our latest line of doors designed to enhance modern and contemporary architecture.
