Run your home on an iPad

Company: Serious Materials
Price: About 20% more than conventional high-efficiency windows.
When available: Now

Professional home heating audits reveal that windows produce some of the greatest amounts of heat loss. Combating that is a host of new high-efficiency windows that cut down dramatically on energy loss, saving homeowners on heating and cooling bills.

Serious Materials, which makes various energy efficient products, produces a line of foam-insulated, fiberglass-frame windows that exceed government energy efficiency guidelines by 300%.

The company says that fiberglass frames are not only green, they're three times stronger than aluminum, nearly maintenance free and 500 times less conductive.

But the, well, Serious savings come from its quad-chambered design, according to spokeswoman Valerie Jenkins. Normally, to achieve heightened efficiency, window makers add a pane of glass to form two air pockets. That, however, adds lots of cost and weight.

"Instead of adding another layer of glass, we add films with special wave lengths that create the multiple chambers," she said.

The company also uses different films so that builders or window installers can choose the one right for a specific application. For example, in most of the nation north-facing windows allow morning sunlight to penetrate, warming the home quickly. But other windows should cut back on sun to prevent overheating in summer. The company calls it "tuning the glass of the house."



All told, homeowners can expect to cut their energy consumption by as much as 40%.

NEXT: Recycled deck