It’s time to make the switch to triple-pane windows. That’s the message from a series of studies led by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in collaboration with a coalition of public and private partners.
“Lower costs, greater availability, and the drive to reduce carbon emissions are pushing us toward a tipping point where triple-pane windows start making a lot of economic sense,” said Kate Cort, a research economist at PNNL and program manager for ongoing field validation studies of triple-pane windows.
It’s no secret that a home’s windows can waste a lot of energy. They can leak air, and even the latest models of double-pane windows contribute significantly to energy use and cost in a home. For a new home, windows typically make up about 8% of the exterior surface area but are responsible for half of the heat loss or gain. This passive energy loss makes windows a major contributor to home heating and cooling costs.