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Re: GBlist: environmental windows



(I noticed that the conversation has progressed since I began this but
what the heck - It takes me a while to catch up)

I'm sorry if I gave any offense - I did not intend to. I assumed Jorg
was referring to aluminum clad windows which is the most popular Wilmar
and similar manuf. line of windows. As one might suspect I am not a fan
of claddings and need to be convinced that maintenance issues cannot be
adequately addressed without putting two materials together with all
kinds of gaskets, sealers and binders and additives to compensate for
radically different expansion capacities or difficulties of design.

There are a large host of issues here
REQUIREMENTS FOR EXT. MAINTENANCE: The usage of aluminum and chlorine
based plastics or benzene polymers (vinyl) for the purposes of
protecting the exterior of a wood window seems extreme or wasteful. Not
just
the material itself but the process of window. manuf. itself becomes
overly complicated.
- low voc paints are not providing the ext. protection that previous
finishes could and in the case of latex actually can entrap moisture and
compromise the longevity of ext. wood usage.
- advances in making windows air and moisture tight (side and face
gaskets, etc) are preventing air movement around a window and keeping
moisture in contact with wood.
- surface or face mounting of windows rather than traditional recess put
the wood elements in more direct exposure to the elements.

The above comments bring up the question for me about the general
current suitability of wood as a material for windows (a difficult
question for me as we have used nothing but wood windows in our
buildings but then we have a lot of control over both their manufacture
and placement). 

Wood has long represented some of the green values of alternative or
sustainable building efforts and as a visible element in a home it has
been a 'natural' choice. How natural though is a product soaked in a
solvent base containing fungicides and insecticides. 

Despite Jorg's warranty that this is not a serious issue, similar dip
treatment of wood was considered a serious enough issue to be banned for
import by the EEC and was the original motivation for us to develop
alternative wood sources (not that long ago most framing and finishing
materials in N.A. were treated with antifungal agents.) I don't think
this is a 'its not a perfect world' issue as I mentioned previously
Willmar for one will forego the treatment at no extra cost - I do think
it is an issue that such information is not made explicit and I think it
is a serious issue for the increasing number of people that are
chemically sensitive and are making what they assume to be safe choices.

I was not aware that treatment was a CSA requirement for approval. I am
aware that the only Canadian building code requirements concerning
windows are based in mechanical performance and that a large number of
windows and window components are manufactured and exported without
treatment.

I would like to comment on alternatives but will save it for another
post.

John Salmen
TERRAIN E.D.S


Jorg D. Ostrowski wrote:
> 
> John: Sorry, we avoid the use of aluminum at ALL POSSIBLE cost due to
> its
> caustic effect on the environment during manufacturing.Instead we use
> Willguard
> prepainted finish that gives a 10-12 year waranty against maintenance.
> We
> have investigated the specific fungicides used to preserve the wood,
> amounts used, outgassing characteristics and their effect on
> health and have determined this is NOT to be a serious issue. If we
> were
> to wait for the perfect world, no project would be built or nothing
> would
> get done. This applies to every concept, feature, idea, product,
> specification and person.
> 
> ________________________________________________________________________
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