Available for Residential & Commercial Applications in Windows,
Doors & Fixed Glass
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 2007--Southwall
Technologies, Inc., the worldwide innovator of high performance,
energy-saving films and glass products, announced today the ability of
Heat Mirror(R) insulating glass to insulate against heat loss at a
record breaking R-20/U-0.05 insulation value.
R-20 Heat Mirror insulating glass consists of three heat
reflective coated films mounted inside an insulating glass unit
between two pieces of low-e coated glass. This super insulating glass
construction creates four heat-impeding gas-filled cavities and
achieves R-20 performance when used in conjunction with a thermally
insulated fiberglass frame. Heat Mirror R-20 is a product of Alpen
Energy Systems, a leading Southwall customer licensed to fabricate
Heat Mirror insulating glass.
This astounding achievement in energy efficiency is a tribute to
the collaborative team effort of Southwall and its window and
insulating glass customers who jointly push the envelope in enhancing
the performance and value of Heat Mirror technology, said John Meade,
Southwall's Director of Business Development
Superior to any low-e glass currently available, Heat Mirror is a
technologically advanced low emissivity and solar reflective film that
can be mounted inside an insulating glass unit in a variety of
configurations (one, two or three coated films, uncoated or low-e
coated glass) to provide energy conservation performance ranging from
R-6 to R-20 to meet the unique requirements of commercial and
residential new construction and renovation projects.
Heat Mirror is the technological alternative to coated glass that
extends performance well beyond that of generic low-e glass available
today. Heat Mirror insulating glass, as well as other innovative glass
technologies currently under development, is driving the US Department
of Energy to revise the glass performance standards of its Energy Star
program that rates the energy efficiency of appliances and building
components.
Scheduled to debut as early as 2009, revised Energy Star glass
performance standards will make clear that generic low-e glass, with a
maximum insulating performance level of R-4, no longer represents a
level of energy efficiency required to transform the market, a key
charter of the agency's ratings and standards program. Among Energy
Star's objectives is increased market penetration of windows achieving
insulating performance of R-10 by 2010, an objective readily achieved
by Heat Mirror technology today.
Why is increasing the energy efficiency of glass important?
According to Chris Mathis, a founding member of the National
Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC), which sets standards for window
energy efficiency, 64 percent of the 110 million existing homes in the
US have single-pane windows. This contributes 25%-35% of the total
energy wasted in buildings and 10% of the total carbon emissions in
the US annually.
Southwall Technologies, Inc., (OTCBB:SWTX) introduced the world's
first low-e coated glass product in 1981, a pioneering technology
recognized in 2000 by Popular Science magazine as one of the Top 100
Inventions of the Millennium. Southwall's Heat Mirror insulating
glass units are available from over 50 window and insulating glass
manufacturers worldwide.
CONTACT: John Miller Public Relations
John Miller, 408-354-2400,
miller@johnmillerpr.com
or
Southwall Technologies Inc.
Bruce Lang, 650-798-1269
Vice President of Marketing & Business Development
blang@southwall.com
www.southwall.com
or
Alpen Energy Group
Robert Clarke, 800-882-4466
President
rclarke@alpeninc.com
www.alpeninc.com
SOURCE: Southwall Technologies Inc.