Southwall Technologies Inc., the worldwide innovator of high performance, energy-saving films and glass products, announced the ability of Heat Mirror insulating glass to insulate against heat loss at a record breaking center of glass R-20/U 0.05 insulation value.
R-20 Heat Mirror insulating glass consists of three heat-reflective coated films mounted inside an insulating glass unit between two pieces of low-E coated glass. This super insulating glass construction creates four heat-impeding gas-filled cavities and achieves R-20 performance. Heat Mirror R-20 is a product of Alpen Energy Systems, a leading Southwall customer licensed to fabricate Heat Mirror insulating glass.
Superior to any low-E glass currently available, Heat Mirror is a technologically advanced, low-emissivity, and solar reflective film that can be mounted inside an insulating glass unit in a variety of configurations (one, two, or three coated films; uncoated or low-E coated glass) to provide energy-conservation performance ranging from R-6 to R-20 to meet the unique requirements of commercial and residential new construction and renovation projects.
Heat Mirror is the technological alternative to coated glass that extends performance well beyond that of generic low-E glass available today. Heat Mirror insulating glass, as well as other innovative glass technologies currently under development, is driving the U.S. Department of Energy to revise the window -performance standards of its ENERGY STAR program that rates the energy efficiency of appliances and building components.
Scheduled to debut in 2010, revised ENERGY STAR window-performance standards will make clear that generic low-E glass, with a maximum insulating performance level of R-4, no longer represents a level of energy efficiency required to “transform the market,” a key charter of the agency’s ratings and standards program. Among ENERGY STAR’s objectives is increased market penetration of glass achieving insulating performance of R-10 by 2010, an objective readily achieved by Heat Mirror technology today.
