Add as a preferred source on Google

How to Select a Green Door

  • By Barbara Jo Serago
  • 12/01/15

Many studies have shown that improved energy efficiency is the top driver behind sustainable design across all industries. The improvement of heating and cooling efficiency is the single most important attribute of the LEED standard, with efficiency thresholds being raised with each subsequent version of the standard. It is also the metric with the most obvious return on investment.

Although only a small portion of a structure’s surface area, exterior doors and frames are a functional part of the building envelope and can play an important role in the overall energy efficiency of a building. As with windows or walls, care should be taken to specify components that limit thermal exchange (the transfer of heat from one side of the door and frame to the other).

Improving the thermal performance of your building envelope helps reduce energy usage and energy costs. You can help reduce heating and cooling loads by providing superior thermal performance windows and exterior entrances (doors and framing systems). Some aspects for accomplishing this:

  • Properly sealed construction
  • Resistance to thermal extremes
  • Superior insulation
  • Thermally broken framing
  • Insulated panels in adjoining sidelites
  • Insulated glass of at least one-inch thickness
  • Keep vision lites to a minimum

Don’t be fooled by claims that equate the performance of the core material alone with the performance of a complete door assembly, because they are not the same thing. Of any entrance system performance metric, thermal performance has the most easily represented, verifiable and measurable values. Without getting into technical details, remember: the U-Value of a product should be low, while the R-value should be high.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

About the Author

Barbara Jo Serago is a sales manager, Strategic Initiative, for Special-Lite, Inc. (www.special-lite.com).

Featured

  • ed tech conference calendar

    Upcoming Awards, Events & Webinars

  • sapling sprouting from a cracked stone

    Lessons in Resilience: Disaster Recovery in Our Schools

    Facility managers play a pivotal role in how well a school weathers and recovers from a crisis. Whether it's a hurricane, a flood, a tornado, or a man-made event, preparation determines resilience.

  • How One School Reimagined Learning Spaces—and What Others Can Learn

    When Collegedale Academy, a PreK–8 school outside Chattanooga, Tenn., needed a new elementary building, we faced the choice that many school leaders eventually confront: repair an aging facility or reimagine what learning spaces could be. Our historic elementary school held decades of memories for families, including some who had once walked its halls as children themselves. But years of wear and the need for costly repairs made it clear that investing in the old building would only patch the problems rather than solve them.

  • University of West Florida Opens New Laboratory Facility

    The University of West Florida recently announced that renovation work is complete on a new lab building for its campus in Pensacola, Fla., according to university news. Building 80 will serve as the home to the university’s civil engineering program and the Tyler Chase Norwood Construction Management Program.

Digital Edition