The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star® program operates a system of ensuring quality in energy-efficient products of all types in the United States. Using Energy Star certified windows and doors helps your family and the world. It’s the best choice for the environment, saves a lot on energy bills, and upgrades your home's quality of life. But many people aren’t sure what it really means to have Energy Star certified windows and doors in your home.
What Does Energy Star Certification Mean?
Energy Star certification means a product has been tested and proven to meet the EPA’s specified energy efficiency standards for its item type. Those standards may exceed the product’s own industry’s standards and the U.S. Federal minimum standards for the product type. This is why the Energy Star certification label has become the nationally recognized mark of excellence in energy efficiency.
The EPA’s Energy Star labeling system was rolled out in the early 1990s. The program works by voluntary participation from manufacturers. Over the years, it has attracted seemingly countless producers of electronic devices, building products, lighting, and electrical appliances seeking the coveted certification.
The EPA’s program has rapidly grown dramatically over the past two decades. It has become a vast and highly effective means of managing conformance in manufacturing of all kinds to supply highly energy-efficient products for consumers. This achievement reduces greenhouse emissions, lowers energy costs, and provides consumers with better quality products.
Benefits of Using Energy Star Certified Products
You are assured of receiving these benefits of using Energy Star certified windows and doors in your home:
- You’ll save electricity and cut your greenhouse gas emissions.
- You’ll be more comfortable in your home without the drafts and with regulated temperatures.
- You’ll save money on your heating and cooling bills.
- You’ll know your windows and doors are certified for their performance as labeled.
- Low-emissivity coatings protect your floors, furniture, and decor from UV damage.
How the EPA Awards Energy Star Certification
Products of multifarious types each undergo a battery of rigorous tests to earn the Energy Star certification. The purpose of the extraordinarily successful program is to perform these stringent processes to provide consumers with objective and highly recognizable validation of products. This enables people to have much greater confidence in their purchases of energy-efficient products.
Glass Door and Window Ratings By Energy Star
For energy efficient window evaluations, the Energy Star label applies results from thermal tests conducted by the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC). These ratings help homeowners compare the performance of window and door products by contrasting these energy efficiency ratings:
- U-Factor: (thermal transmittance) the rate of heat gain or loss through a window or door unit.
- SHGC: (solar heat gain coefficient) the fraction of solar heat released through a window glass into a building interior/
- Air Leakage: the amount of air allowed in through and around the whole window unit.
- Visible Transmittance: the fraction of the spectrum of visible sunlight, per the human eye, transmitted through a glass window or door.
- Condensation Resistance: The level of a window’s efficiency is resisting the formation of condensation.
Best Energy Star Windows and Doors
Energy Shield offers a wide variety of beautiful, highly energy-efficient doors and replacement windows. Our high-quality home improvement products are all Energy Star Certified. Browse through our online gallery to see the difference in the state-of-the-art window and door products.
