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The Final Key to a No Energy House 
There are million homes around the world that have been built without real
consideration of energy efficiency, the comfort of those who live in them, rising power
costs or the impact on the environment.

If you live in one of them, now you have the information that can transform your home
and:
• _ Dramatically reduce your heating and cooling needs
• _ Slash your energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions
• _ Make your home much more comfortable all year round

Even if you have bought a new home in the last couple of years and it is still
uncomfortable, you can upgrade now. And all for a lot less than you think. Industry
reports have shown that even when a house is fully insulated – walls, floor and ceiling,
that up to 48% of the heat loss occurs through single glazed windows. Please read the
following words again and really take them in. They are so key to an affordable highly
energy efficient house:

“A well designed passive home with energy efficient windows requires no heating or
cooling… Even in extreme climates, it is possible to design a Zero Energy - Zero Bills
house at little additional cost.”

By understanding the fundamentals of heat and insulation you can easily transform your
home into a comfortable, low or no energy house. So lets go over a couple of points,
you will then be able to put this to use in selecting and installing highly cost effective
double-glazing.

Solar energy from the sun can be divided up into three categories:
• Ultra violet radiation (UV) 2% of the energy
• Visible light radiation (Visible) 47% of the energy
• Near Infra Red radiation (IR) 51% of the energy

The IR radiation is felt as heat and the visible radiation is what we can see. UV radiation
has the lowest wavelength of all three, is more intense and is the light that causes
damage such as sunburn and fading of furniture.

Glass selection
When sunlight falls on glass, one of three things happens to the energy. It is reflected,
absorbed or transmitted through the glass. In the case of 3mm float glass this is what
happens to the energy: 8% Reflected 9% Absorbed 93% Transmitted through the glass
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The following are qualities that will help you to choose the most appropriate glass for
your situation:

1 The U-value or R-value

The Insulation level of the window (not just the glass); the lower
the better
2 SHGC – Solar Heat Gain Co-efficient
This is expressed as a number between 0 and 1. The lower a
window’s SHGC, the less solar heat it transmits.
3 Low E Glass
A coating designed to allow light to pass through while inhibiting
some solar rays from being transmitted. Therefore managing UV,
heat and light from passing through
4 Tinted / Reflective Glass
Tinted glass can cut glare and heat from the sun (solar gain) while
still allowing natural light into your home.

The frame
When you look at the U-value of a sheet of glass or IGU and then add the frame
component, invariably the overall U-value increases, remembering that a lower U-value
means better insulation.

The following factors contribute to this:

1. Material of the frame and how conductive it is;

2. If the frame seals well. Is the frame manufactured well, or does the type of
sash – i.e. sliding windows, awning windows etc. encourage heat transfer.

Double glazing - The gap

A double glazed window consists of two panes of glass separated by an air gap. The air
gap must be wide enough to inhibit the transfer of heat from one frame to the next. A
12mm air gap is considered to be the minimum requirement, with a preferred air gap of
18mm. If the air gap is too wide then convection of the air in the IGU will occur, again
encouraging the transfer of heat from one pane to the next. The following options
provide very cost effective double glazing solutions that work, and are well worth
investigating. However each option won’t all suit all existing windows and conditions.
And when they are used, the fundamentals of energy efficient windows as recapped
above, still need to be applied to get the best outcome. So take a look at the following
alternatives and see which one will serve you better in saving thousands of dollars on
your heating and cooling while you do your bit for a much better environment:

Double Glaze your home for under $400

ClearComfort is a transparent membrane that you attach to the inside of your window
frame to provide a still air gap and thereby create a double glazing effect. Depending on
the type of windows you have in your home some supplementary framing or support
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may be required. I have installed the ClearComfort membrane on a house in Canberra.
The effect was instant and surprisingly good. Condensation was pretty much reduced to
zero and you could really feel the difference when touching the membrane to how cold
the glass used to feel.

To avoid condensation occurring in the air gap ClearComfort recommend applying the
membrane system when the air humidity is low. You should also check that there is no
moisture trapped between the glass and the frame and also that the frames are in good
order and won’t let moisture into the air gap from the outside. If you have recently been
renovating or painting, ensure that any paintwork or silicon etc has thoroughly cured.

Installation
The membrane is fixed in place using double sided tape, cut to size and then made
taught using a hair drier. There is a little patience and skill requited to do a good job.
The team at ClearComfort recommend using two strips of tape placed side by side for
large windows, thus effectively doubling the tape width, eliminating any problem using
this product on large windows. So even with large windows, in many situations the
system is unobtrusive and an excellent addition to making your home more comfortable.

The ClearComfort system has been tested by a NATA accredited auditor using the
Australian Window Energy Rating Scheme (WERS) developed by the CSIRO and the
Australian Window Association. The audited measurement of energy saving after fitting
ClearComfort to a typical bare, clear, single-glazed window of 1500 mm x 1800 mm are:
• 11% better for cooling
• 17% better for heating
• 12% less interior fading
According to calculations on the ClearComfort website, if your room has a glass area of
10m2, the difference between heating the room with ClearComfort treated windows and
with untreated windows is the equivalent of running an extra 200W heater. Multiply this
by the number of rooms that you heat in winter, and you can see for yourself the
difference that ClearComfort membrane will make to your energy bills. The product
featured on ABC-TV's "Carbon Cops" program and is eminently suited to affordable
sustainable housing, in particular to retro-fitting, while providing the same insulating U-
value as plain clear double glazing.

For more information or to order a kit visit their website at:

http://www.clearcomfort.com.au

What insulates your windows

better than glass?
Magnetite is a product that incorporates fundamental double glazing principles to greatly
improve the energy efficiency of your home without the need for replacing your
windows. Magnetite is manufactured with quality UV stabilised acrylic sheet, not glass.
Because the thermal conductivity of glass is around four times higher than acrylic, you
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get much better insulation from acrylic and a lower (i.e. better) U-Value for your
windows. Magnetite secondary glazing is installed on the inside of your window and is
kept in place using magnetic strips that hold the unit fast in place and traps the air
between the existing glass and the new acrylic sheet. The discreet Magnetite secondary
glazing system fits inside your window frame so you don’t need to replace or change
your existing architraves that surround your window. Because of the tight seal provided
by the magnetic connection system in the Magnetite product, condensation is also
dramatically reduced – even without adding a desiccant. Because of the UV inhibitors in
the acrylic used by Magnetite it can block up to 90% of damaging UV radiation while still
letting the natural light into your home. Magnetite can also improve the acoustic comfort
in your home, but to get the most out of the acoustic benefit a wider air gap needs to be
used. You can get more information on the benefits of Magnetite secondary glazing at
their website. Find the details of the distributor in your area to find out how much more
comfortable your home can be:

http://www.magnetite.com/

DIY or have the experts retrofit your

double glazing
The ecoMaster team is a Victoria based company that specialises in energy saving and
climate change solutions and products. They can carry out all installation work or
provide you with the materials to do the work yourself.
The thermal performance of your home is assessed both externally as well as a
comprehensive room-by-room assessment for lighting; draught proofing; window
insulation, shading and other factors which may be contributing to your high energy
costs.
With ecoMaster’s solution to secondary glazing, you can enjoy the benefits of double
glazing without the price tag of a full window replacement.
The ecoGlaze spacer bar does not conduct heat between the two panes of glass; it
significantly improves the insulation value of the glazing and reduces the likelihood of
condensation. Using your existing timber windows and doors, ecoGlaze adds a second
pane of glass and unique moisture absorbing spacer bar. It is sealed to a water tight
standard and finished with colour matched timber mouldings.

DIY Options
ecoMaster offer a range of products for those who want to carry out their own thermal
proofing. The team at ecoMaster practice what they preach. They are constantly
researching, testing products and developing new energy efficient options to improve
home comfort and reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Their
goal for you is to produce zero-bill zero-emission affordable retrofits.
Find out if the ecoMaster solution is right for you and your home:
www.ecoMaster.com.au
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Double glazing for $30 per windoDouble window?
If you are handy around the home and keen to make your home much more energy
efficient, this may provide the solution. The article featured in ReNew magazine and
tells of a man who surprised his window glazier brother in-law with the success of this
low cost system. As you know, in commercially produced double glazed units, the air
gap or space between the two panes of glass contains a desiccant, which eliminates
moisture in the gap. A desiccant is simply an appropriate material or product that
effectively removes moisture from the air. While the system used below doesn’t
incorporate any desiccant it can simply be added, such as a small bag of silica gel that
is often included in packaging.

Depending upon the type of window you have at home you could perhaps modify this
idea and glue the glass inside a suitable plastic channel, then glue the channel to the
frame and/or the glass, and use a spacer to provide the clearance. Have a look at the
article here:
http://www.voltscommissar.net/docs/84doubleglazing.pdf
Remember – to have successful double-glazing, simply adhere to the fundamentals
described back at the beginning of this report. And as with all DIY projects, use
appropriate safety precautions and care.

Other Alternatives
In addition to secondary glazing you can add films or appropriate shading systems to
your windows.
Have a look below at some alternatives and find which is available in your area. You
can use different solutions in different rooms of your home. North facing windows may
need to be treated differently to south or west facing windows. Remember use the
fundamentals to your advantage and always ask suppliers or sales consultants how
their product performs or improves the following areas:
• The U-Value of the window
• The SHGC
• Maintenance / warranty
http://www.concertinafoilbatts.com/renshade.htm
http://www.ecomaster.com.au/solutions_ecoShades.cfm
http://www.solartint.com.au/index.cfm?cat=info&type=1
http://www.premiertint.com/solar_control.php
http://www.tintmart.com.au/housetinting.html
http://www.hpwf.com.au/energy%20management%20film.shtml
http://www.solarx.com.au/
Summary
It is easier than most people think to have an energy efficient house. You can make a
dramatic improvement to your heating and cooling bills with a small investment.

Investigate these alternatives and see which is the most suited to your home and
windows and find out what it means to live in an energy efficient home.