As with many things these days, it’s hard to believe that once upon a time people agreed on things. In 1969, Sen. Gaylord Nelson, a junior senator from Wisconsin who was concerned about the state of the environment in the U.S., saw a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif. He recruited others to organize […]

Officials for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grabbed the mic Tuesday to explain how the agency arrived at the criteria proposed in Draft 1 of Energy Star 7.0 for residential windows, doors and skylights. In a more than hourlong webinar, program officials detailed the development cycle and how their agency calculated such things as […]

Officials for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released Draft 1 on July 7, 2021 for the upcoming Energy Star 7.0 revision, including currently proposed changes to performance requirements and details for how the program evaluated the impacts of various changes. All of the info may be found on the Energy Star website. In the current […]

I’m thrilled to share that the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) has joined a new public-private alliance called the Partnership for Advanced Windows Solutions (PAWS), to speed up the mass adoption of energy-efficient windows and attachments. The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, the organization leading this initiative, convened a meeting with potential partners to discuss strategies […]

Larson Manufacturing recently earned the Attachment Energy Rating Council’s (AERC) certification for energy efficiency on its storm windows. The company’s storm windows also recently received Energy Star certification. An initiative supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), AERC is an independent, third-party group of manufacturers and researchers that rate, certify and label the energy […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) together have issued new, tighter standards for lead dust found on floors and window sills, lowering the dust-lead hazard standards from 40 micrograms of lead per square foot (µg/ft2) to 10 µg/ft2 on window sills. In December 2018, EPA Administrator Wheeler […]

ASTM International has put forth two new standards that focus on composite wipe sample preparation for analysis following lead abatement activities in buildings. Permanently removing all traces of lead-based paint hazards is considered a crucial element in the rehabilitation of older buildings, particularly those built prior to 1970. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires wipe […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced final recognition criteria for Energy Star Most Efficient 2014, including windows. These final criteria will recognize, for environmentally minded consumers, the most efficient Energy Star products in 2014 across 11 product categories. Products that meet the 2014 criteria will deliver significant savings over a conventional product. In the […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) named The Home Depot as the 2012 Energy Star Partner of the Year for its contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through merchandising and marketing Energy Star qualified products. The Home Depot, an Energy Star partner since 2001, is being honored for its leadership in educating consumers about energy-efficient […]