Wood is Good

The Davis residence on Chuckanut Drive, Bellingham, Washington
© Benjamin Benschneider All Rights Reserved.

By Gabriela Taylor

Homes should be thoughtful, sustainable, and built for life. These are some of the core values at NextHaus Alliance. So how do windows and doors fit into these values? When we focus the topic on wood windows and doors, the answer becomes much more apparent. 

At Sierra Pacific, our business, culture, and operations are engrained in the wood, if you will. With roots running over 70 years deep and with the sustainable management of nearly two million acres of timberland in California and Washington State, we are unquestionably on the “wood is good” train. 

To bring it back to the original question, how do windows and doors make your home thoughtful, sustainable and built for life? The answer is simple. Just as these are core values for NextHaus Alliance, these are core characteristics of wood, therefore core characteristics of wood windows and doors.

Thoughtful:

Unlike many other things, wood does, in fact, grow on trees. That said, sustainably managing a forest, replanting, using every single part of said tree, and custom building every window and door produced by the same company that planted the seed is a very thoughtful process. With the use of modern forest management practices that closely mimic natural forest events and technology that gives us the ability to monitor forest conditions, our impact on the environment is drastically minimized. Professional foresters and natural resource specialists assure that wildlife habitat and other forest values are protected. This thoughtful foresight is something very unique and a value much desired in the resilient home design-build process. 

Sustainable:

The sustainable properties of wood are well known. Obviously, a renewable material, when wood is used in the construction and design of a home the building’s carbon footprint lowers by first storing the carbon and second by avoiding greenhouse gas emissions otherwise emitted by materials such as steel or concrete. The potential to reclaim and reuse wood is an additional factor in its sustainable quality. 

Built for Life:

The benefits of incorporating wood into the architecture and design of a home are also well known. Along with creating an aesthetically-pleasing environment that increases comfort levels, wood has been proven to:

• Help reduce stress levels

• Improve attention and focus

• Generate greater creativity

• Allow for quicker recovery

• Reduce pain perception

With all of these points, in addition to the benefits of natural daylight from windows and doors, the result is a perfectly matched product for any homeowner, builder, or architect who is striving to achieve a sustainable home design. Wood really is good.

To learn more about Sierra Pacific Windows, visit www.sierrapacificwindows.com.

Gabriela Taylor is the Architectural Consultant – Chicago, for Sierra Pacific Windows, a Division of Sierra Pacific Industries and a member of the NextHaus Alliance. 

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Choosing the Right Windows and Doors for your Resiliently Designed Home

By Gabriela Taylor, Sierra Pacific Windows

According to the Resilient Design Institute, resilient design is defined as designs created with the capacity to adapt to changing conditions and to maintain or regain functionality and vitality in the face of stress or disturbance.  It is the capacity to bounce back after a disturbance or interruption.  These impacts include more intense storms, greater precipitation, higher winds and wider temperature swings.  

When designing a resilient home, choosing the right window and door package is crucial to the integrity of your building “envelope.”  However, you also want your home to be just that -- your home, which is warm, inviting, and comfortable. So how do you find the best of both worlds? 

Aluminum clad exterior, wood interior windows may be just the answer:  strong on the outside and able to complement your custom furniture pieces on the inside. Choosing the right windows will provide both exceptional durability and the beauty, warmth, and sustainability of wood. 

The integrity of your finished home is created by many factors. When it comes to the element of custom windows, there are some things you should look for:

• Durable materials that enhance the resiliency of your home.

  • Thick, low-maintenance, and weatherproof aluminum clad exterior.

  • A powder-coated exterior finish that can withstand the elements and is environmentally-friendlier to produce, with virtually no waste or harmful VOC’s.

ye-h photography | Prentiss + Balance + Wickline Architect

• Beautiful and certified sustainably produced wood, domestically grown that provides excellent thermal insulating capabilities and reduces our carbon footprint.

• Energy performance capabilities.

  • Glazing options to suit your needs.

    • A variety of ‘Low E’ glazing coating options to achieve optimal thermal performance goals. .

    • Dual or triple glazed units to reduce noise, improve energy performance, and filter UV rays.

    • Windows that can lead to energy savings by reducing the use of fossil fuels, thanks to thoughtfully placed windows to take advantage of daylighting in the right places, reducing heat loss during the winter months.

• Windows that contribute to passive building methods using solar energy.

• Processes and design techniques that maintain your building envelope.

  • Proven installation methods that protect your home from harsh winds, as well as air and water infiltration.

  • Excellent design pressure ratings, contributing to tighter building envelopes.

  • Wood components and insulated glazing that add to sound reduction providing quieter acoustics.

Resilient design is ultimately about the entire building and can be achieved by choosing the most advanced window design products for the particular environment and climate of your project location. To achieve both resilient and beautiful design, choose a window and door product that meets all of your performance requirements and aesthetic needs. 

Gabriela Taylor is an architectural consultant with Sierra Pacific Windows. Sierra Pacific is a core member of NextHaus Alliance. Learn more at www.sierrapacificwindows.com. 

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