With new building regulations popping up left and right to influence eco-friendly solutions to reduce the global carbon footprint, businesses need additional energy-efficient options to transform their buildings. Let’s get into the latest energy market drivers and how innovative window improvements can help increase your building’s energy efficiency.
1. Climate Change
There is no greater influence on the current energy-efficiency market today than climate change. As part of the UNEP, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2021 Report stated, if we want to prevent things from getting worse, we need to act now and take impactful actions against climate change. Although we’ve come a long way down the road with climate change, regulations over the last 20 years have helped us realize we need to look harder for the next critical improvement. We need to look beyond what’s been done already.
2. U.S. Building Regulations
Between the increase in carbon taxes and the current administration’s proposed infrastructure bill, many initiatives are pushing businesses toward utilizing green practices and resources to build a modern, sustainable, and clean energy society.
The push against climate change is growing. In 2019, the Climate Action Council mandated that New York reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by the year 2050. Additionally, the social cost of carbon has gone up from $7 per ton to $51, and it is said to continue rising to encourage greener business models.
3. A Renewed Focus on Windows
Though we’ve all started switching to energy-efficient lightbulbs and renewable energy sources such as solar panels, there is still an unsolved problem regarding reducing our building energy efficiency: windows.
The Partnership for Advanced Window Solutions (PAWS) discovered that even though windows typically make up only 10% of the home’s surface area (even more in commercial buildings), they are responsible for 30 to 40 percent of heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer.
With the application of window film, GSA studies have found that its performance improved average perimeter HVAC savings by 29%. This makes window film one of the most effective energy-saving methods, with an ROI that pays for itself in the next 2-6 years.
Solving the Window Problem
So, where do you start to help your building become more energy efficient?
For businesses just beginning a journey toward greener building solutions, windows are a great place to start. Why? 34% of heating and cooling energy demand in commercial buildings is due to windows.
That’s a lot of wasted energy!
Many organizations make the mistake of thinking they need to replace all the windows on their buildings. But before you incur the cost, disruption, and landfill effects of window replacements, there’s a simpler, more sustainable solution.
With 3M Sun Control and All-Season Window Film from NGS, you can transform your existing windows with:
- Easy installation
- No building renovations
- Lowered costs
- Quick turnaround times
- Zero waste of existing materials
Renewable Energy Window Improvements
So, how can NGS help reduce your energy costs with sustainable resources? With the use of 3M™ Thinsulate™ climate control window film, you choose a sustainable product that is applied quickly and can improve single-pane windows to almost dual-pane performance. Adding 3M window film saves you from replacing your old windows, blocks harmful UV rays from your building’s interior, improves occupant comfort, and can reduce the cost of your HVAC bills more than you might think.
On top of blocking up to 47% of the solar energy transferred through glass, using 3M Thinsulate window film is an energy model for business owners with a dramatically higher ROI than window replacements. This is especially true if you renovate a historical building, where window replacements are often customized, expensive, and must maintain the historical building’s original appearance.
Go Green with NGS
From the Department of Energy to PAWS and GSA, so many influential organizations are looking into emerging technologies for window energy efficiency improvements. At NGS, we are ready to lead the march toward energy-efficient window solutions that prioritize your current resources.
Are you interested in learning more about how you can make energy-efficient window improvements to your building? Click here to watch our webinar on sun control window films.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
