The Efficient Windows Collaborative

[Michael Brown]

Moved from Front Page Headlines February 15th, 2004.

It's one of the most frequently asked questions asked of home inspectors by their clients, "Can you tell me anything about how to choose the most energy efficient replacement windows for the home?"

Because we are there to inspect the home and prefer not to become ensnarled in what might become a future liability issue, most of us politely defer from getting side tracked with this question. Nonetheless, it is an important question for most clients who are purchasing older homes with leaky, single-glazed windows, and our not answering the question doesn't help them very much. Well, defer no more, because there is a credible source you can refer your customers to that will not only educate them about the benefits of high performance windows, but will show them how to pick those best suited to their own environment.

That source is the Efficient Windows Collaborative, a coalition of window, door, skylight, and component manufacturers, research organizations, federal , state and local government agencies, and others interested in expanding the market for high-efficiency fenestration products. The Efficient Windows web site at http://www.efficientwindows.org is sponsored by the Efficient Windows Collaborative (EWC) with support from the U.S. Department of Energy's Windows and Glazings Program and the participation of industry members.

The EWC site is chock full of useful information for both home inspectors and their clients. In the case of that oft-asked question above, just refer your clients to EWC's resources page, where they can obtain a fact sheet specifically tailored to their own geographic region that will explain how they can best choose the best window for their own enviornment, including cost studies done on properties within their region.

Home inspectors will find enough useful active and archived information and resources on this site to keep anyone busy reading for an entire evening. Informing your clients about this source just might be the one thing that truly makes you stand out from your competition.