How to Find Efficient Windows That Match a Home's Design – GreenBuildingAdvisor

Follow along as Travis Brungardt of Catalyst Construction walks through the window renovation process for a 1930s farmhouse in Leawood, Kan. From selecting the right unit to choosing pane coating and everything in between, you’ll learn how to effectively improve a home’s performance while preserving its history with Andersen™ windows. Watch the video above or read on to learn more.

A Respect for History

I’m Travis Brungardt with Catalyst Construction, and I’m standing in front of a project of ours in Leawood, Kansas. It’s a home built in the 1930s that we’re doing a large renovation to on the back side. This is an area that was founded on an agrarian lifestyle, and as the larger lots have been broken up into smaller home lots, we’ve had a really neat opportunity to respect the original architecture of the farm homes.

As builders, we’re faced with a lot of challenges, not the least of which is matching historical details while delivering modern performance and aesthetic. In terms of matching the aesthetic that the client loves about their existing home, we’re fortunate that we have access to Andersen™ 400 Series windows.

Choosing the Right Windows

On this project, we chose a simulated divided-lite, not a true divided-lite. There are no spacer bars between each individual pane of glass. It is one piece of glass, six-over-six, grill pattern, that matches the existing home, so my clients are happy. They love the aesthetic. But I can provide them better thermal performance.

The other thing that we really like about Andersen™ 400 Series windows is they have an incredibly durable exterior. That vinyl cladding that wraps the wood is so much more durable than the painted finishes of years gone by that the clients won’t have maintenance at the front of their mind.

Custom Details

We’re able to customize not just the dimensions of the window, but certainly the operation. Double-hung, casement, slider—all of these are at our disposal. We can do all sorts of different things that are easily attainable visually to assess what the window looks like, but there’s more.

You can also choose different coatings for each of the faces of the panes of glass that’ll give you a different performance outcome. Now, we choose a low-E coating, and that’s just low emissivity. What we’re doing is we’re trying to block the harmful UV, but also still have that beautiful visible transmittance where we see the world as it truly looks.

There are different coatings for different purposes. You can dial in those options depending on which face of the home it is, what climate zone you’re in, how you want to enjoy that space. With all of these customization options, it’s really about uniting the form and function to suit the homeowner’s lifestyle.

Mix and Match

In a number of areas on this project, we were able to utilize the Andersen™ 200 Series product. The 200 Series allows a little bit more advantageous price point because they limit the customization of dimensions.

We have this third car garage behind us. We were able to adjust the size of our windows just slightly to fit into those standard offerings from the 200 Series and provide our client a real win on budget while still delivering that same performance and aesthetic.

Whether you’re trying to match an existing architectural aesthetic, deliver a lofty energy performance goal, or even meet a tight budget, Andersen’s portfolio of options can serve all those needs. You don’t have to sacrifice quality to meet your bottom line. Check out their full range of options at AndersenWindows.com and find the right fit for your build.

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