Window frame material has significant impacts on the thermal performance of the window. Moreover, with sustainable design becoming a necessity, window frame materials needs to have higher metric of environmental performance to be considered sustainable. As a result a holistic performance metric is needed to assess a window frame material. Three similar frames were considered manufactured from aluminum, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and wood. First their thermal performance was evaluated and compared using a heat transfer model. Then, carbon footprint for the three materials were considered for 1m2 of window area with a similar thermal performance. It was found that the thermal as well as the environmental performance of the wooden window frame was superior to those of aluminum and PVC. On the other hand aluminum frames had high environmental impacts and comparatively lower thermal performance. This study provides a holistic viewpoint on window frames by considering both, environmental and thermal performance.
COBISS.SI-ID: 1024478548
The Decree on Green Public Procurement (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia 102/11) promotes the development of environment protection and the transformation of the existing building practices into “Green Building”, through public procurement of environmentally suitable goods, services, and building. However, to achieve an even faster and thorough implementation of the sustainable development goals, a timely enhancement of the Decree by more stringent environmental requirements will be necessary. These environmental requirements should take into the account the environmental suitability of the materials, products, and manufacturing processes in the full life cycle of goods, services, and building. For an impartial evaluation of the environmental impact, it is sensible to utilise only as objective as possible criteria and tools, as are the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis or Carbon Footprint (CF) calculation.
COBISS.SI-ID: 1024437844