Mike Tuohey has a diverse construction background dating from the early 1980's. He worked for PSI, an engineering firm, conducting commercial/industrial roofing inspections across the USA. Mike also spent six years inspecting Kansas City area residential properties for a major Insurance Company and has written about it: What is... a Homeowner's Insurance Inspection? He also managed roofing projects for one of the largest re-roofing contractors in America in markets: Houston, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Atlanta and Columbus. Mike holds the Haag Certified Roofing Inspector designation and has installed over 3,000 replacement windows.
Low-e Glass coatings play an important role in the overall performance of a window and can significantly affect the overall heating, lighting, and cooling costs of a home. But what exactly is low-e glass? How does it work? To answer these questions, the “e” in low-e glass must be explained. The “e” stands for emissivity. Emissivity is the ability of a material to radiate energy. When heat or light energy—typically from the sun or HVAC system—is absorbed by glass it is either shifted away by air movement or re-radiated by the glass surface. In general, highly reflective materials have a low emissivity, and dull darker colored materials have a high emissivity. All materials, including windows, re-radiate heat in the form of long-wave infrared energy depending on the emissivity and temperature of their surfaces read more...
The U-factor, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) and Visible Transmittance (VT) are all tests that are required by ENERGY STAR®. Air Leakage and Condensation Resistance ratings are optional and manufacturers are not required by NFRC to test their products for these. read more...