Glazing - Latest Trends

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Would you like thermal comfort, natural acoustics and safety and protection, or all in one? Glazing companies have now developed glazing to suit highest energy efficiency and comfort: Viridian Viridian has released a new type of glazing: Vista Tech and Vista Tech XP. Both are triple glazed Insulating Glass Units (IGU’s) with either 1 coat of Low-E or 2 coats of Low-E coating, and a warm edge spacer. Viridian mentions that there are minimum sizes of 600mm x 400mm to maximum sizes of 5000mm x 3100mm, subject to component, spacer and weight limitations, and the maximum unit area permitted under

Longevity is the real Sustainability

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

With the move towards a more sustainable lifestyle, architects and designers are also looking at more sustainable building materials. Considerations are given to the whole lifecycle of different material used in a building - including windows and doors – and the following issues are taken into account: from the responsible sourcing of raw material to the way the products are manufactured, the shipping distance, expected lifespan and if they can be re-used or recycled at the end of their life.The longer a product has a useful life, the longer it will take for the need to replace it which means

External Timber Finishes

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Colourless coatings on external timber elements, whilst very fashionable, only provide limited and short-lived protection from UV radiation in the Australian sun. As human skin must be protected from UV radiation with sunscreen, timber too must be protected from UV attack by pigments in the protective coatings used.The basics of how UV degradation occursUV radiation permanently destroys all organic substances. This includes wood even it has been varnished with a colourless coating that has no UV protection. UV radiation destroys the lignin within the wood structure. Lignin constitutes about one third of the timber structure but also accounts for 80-95%

COLD? Prepare your home for next winter

Thursday, July 07, 2022

Temperatures are plummeting and heating costs are rising. Many Australians feel cold and uncomfortable in their homes due to poor thermal performance of the building. Insulation and airtightness are key.NatHERS star ratingHouses are given energy star ratings by the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) from 0 (lowest) to 10 stars (highest) with the minimum performance of 6 stars for new homes built now. Unfortunately, the average home only reaches 1.8 stars. Insulation of the whole building envelope will improve this rating: underfloor, ceiling and wall insulation together with double or triple glazed windows make the house more comfortable and

Calculate your Heat Loss

Monday, June 06, 2022

Heating (and in warm climates, cooling) are a large part of energy use, and this can be reduced dramatically by installing energy efficient windows and doors which will decrease energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. yourhome.gov.au writes that 'Up to 87% of a home’s heating energy can be gained and up to 40% lost through windows' and provides the following calculations: The amount of heat conducted through a glazed unit (in watts; W) is calculated as Uw × T × A: the U value (Uw) multiplied by the number of degrees difference in air temperature on each side (T) multiplied

Paarhammer at Bushfire Conference 2022

Monday, June 06, 2022

Now in its eighth year, the Australian Bushfire Building Conference is on again this year. Date: 14-16 September 2022 Place: Fairmont Resort & Spa Blue Mountains, Leura, NSW. Paarhammer will again have a display of our BAL-FZ windows at the Conference, and our experts will be there to answer all your questions. Warringtonfire, NATA-accredited third party, tested Paarhammer products, first a range to BAL-40, and then Paarhammer developed and patented BAL-FZ windows and doors without the need for shutters. These have been tested and are approved and compliant to AS1530.8.2-2007, and also to AS3959-2009 and AS3959-2018. Matching products for lower

Invite natural light into your home

Monday, May 30, 2022

The trend in residential architecture is for ever larger glazed areas to provide a connection to the outdoors and invite natural light into the house. Unfortunately, around 70% of homes are still built with single glazed windows and doors. Considering that over 80% of heat is gained and 40% is lost through windows it makes sense to choose double or triple glazed windows.High performance windows are the key to increase the amount of natural light into your home and enable all aspects of comfort: very little heat loss or gain, no drafts, no noise and increased security.With double or triple

Powering the Window Factory – and some

Thursday, May 12, 2022

Paarhammer’s solar panels saved 173,860kg of CO2 the last 12 months which is equivalent to planting 3,400 trees, and could power around 30 homes.The focus at Paarhammer is to manufacture sustainably. On sunny days the almost 100 kW photo-voltaic solar system provides enough electricity used to manufacture windows and doors, and more to feed into the grid.As a leading manufacturer of energy efficient windows and doors, environmental responsibility and sustainability are taken seriously. The inputs as well as the production process are believed to be just as important as the products produced. Therefore, timbers used in the manufacture of our

Business Anniversary

Friday, May 06, 2022

It took two extra years for Paarhammer to be able to celebrate their 30-year business anniversary. The Yarra Cruise was booked for April 2020, had to be postponed a few times due to Covid, but finally took place now on the 32nd anniversary. Owners Tony and Edith wanted to thank their employees for their hard work and commitment to the company and invited all staff with partners to an evening on the Kingfisher II with dinner and entertainment while cruising the Yarra and Port Phillip Bay.History Paarhammer was started as a small manufacturing business in 1990, becoming a company in 1996,

Passive House Primary School

Wednesday, April 06, 2022

It is an inspiration to all the industry, that Clifton Hill Primary School chose to build their campus extension to the strict Passive House standard. Importance of windows as an integral part of houses and buildings is well established, however, when it comes to an educational space, this increases multiple folds:Windows in a classroom A classroom with natural sunlight exposure, fresh air and outdoor views is proven to boost performance, help brain function and reduce depression among students as well as teachers. Another crucial aspect of windows in a school setting, is their ability to insulate noise pollution to create

30 Years on - Windows still perfect

Wednesday, April 06, 2022

A recent visit to one of the very first Paarhammer window clients confirmed that all their double-glazed windows and doors are working perfectly well after more than 30 years of daily use. “We are still so very pleased that we chose Paarhammer to make our windows and doors when building our home in the early 1990’s, and we still enjoy the benefits of high comfort and low energy use more than 30 years later.” Real sustainability is longevity of materials.TimbersIn these early years windows were made from Oregon timber but as Paarhammer was looking to use Australian raw materials, that

Why is airtightness so important?

Friday, March 18, 2022

The size of an average Australian house is 250m2 – or about 625m3 of volume - and most homes require heating or cooling for a large part of the year. If the building is not airtight – meaning if there are draughts – the home requires a fortune on energy costs just to keep it feeling comfortable. Why? Air leakage is defined as uncontrolled flow of air in and out of a building due to pressure differences across the building envelope. This means that the air of an average Australian home is unintentionally exchanged between the inside and the outside