Australian window manufacturer, Paarhammer is unhappy with claims made in a Victorian newspaper about the resurging popularity of single-glazing.
Kristen Brookfield, senior executive director of building, development and the environment of the Housing Industry Association (HIA), told The Age in mid-November that innovations in window technology are seeing a returning popularity of single-glazing over double-glazing.
She reportedly said that that low-emission, high-performance singe-glazed products can “provide the same performance of double-glazed windows, without the additional weight, cutting down on construction costs” and that they alleviate occupational health and safety and operational concerns surrounding the installation of the heavier double-glazed units.
Paarhammer, which specialise in European-style high-performance double- and triple-glazed windows, has since responded to the article on its website. Paarhammer referenced a performance comparison chart from Australia’s largest glazing manufacturer, Viridian to support its argument that the article in The Age was “spreading false information”.
Excepts from Paarhammer's blog below:
“What’s next? That the earth is flat?”
“It seems that the interview was given without checking statistics, or is it really the belief of the HIA that single glazing is better than double glazing? If the latter is the case, the rest of the world would all be silly to invest into high performance windows which are at least double- and now often triple or even quadruple glazed.
“In a double or triple glazed unit it is not the glass itself that insulates but the space (airgap, argon gas filled) between. Yes, low-E coating on the correct surface can help reduce radiant temperature transfer as can be seen in the table. From 5.8 for a clear float glass down to 3.6 for a low-E coated single glass. The value for double glazing using clear float glass is already as low as 2.5 (so much better than a single low-E coated glass) and double glazing with low-E has the lowest value of 1.5. These are glass values only as window values vary depending on the frame material, style and airtightness.”
In Brookfield’s defence, the article only directly quotes her as saying that double glazing is slowly giving-way to low emission, high-performance single-glazing in terms of its market share, and that improvements in single-glazing have been a focus of window designers. The journalist then paraphrases her as saying that they can provide the same performance of double-glazed windows.
