We all know what it is like wake up on a cold winters morning, and have to wear a puffer jacket to get warm. Or somehow stop the house turning into a hot box in summer. The rest of the world don’t have this problem, so what are we missing?

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Well, windows are a large area for opportunity. For too long, New Zealand was satisfied with cold aluminium frames (and single glazed timber before then). They essentially act like a heat sink, sucking all the nice temperatures out of your house (we know because we made them too…). Hence, there is a lot of scope to improve.

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The building code changes to the H1 section are giving this a good boost, with thermally broken aluminium now the code minimum for all NZ. But at Starke, we think New Zealand deserves even better performance and support.

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A good window is made up of three components: the frames, the glass and the way it is installed. uPVC frames are the most cost effective way to achieve high performance in the frames, and, paired with low-e double glazed glass, results in a really good window for NZ. The last point is the install. A typical way to install the windows in NZ is to hang the entire window out into the air gap (cavity) and away from the insulation. This is fine with cold aluminium frames because they are perfect conductors of heat, so recessing them wouldn’t offer much improvement. But when high performance frames are being used, this does compromise the actual benefit you are paying for. The reason for recessing windows is to get the glass, window frames and wall insulation all in one connected line.

The Starke Ambiance uPVC system is a solution which does exactly those three things: high performance frames with a good low-e glass with argon gas for R0.74, and a recessed install for all the benefits.

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Additionally, with a good low-e glass unit, the heat from the sun that enters your home can be reduced. This may sound counterintuitive, however if most of the warmth in your home stays inside (like it should), you don’t need a lot of sun heat entering your house to make a difference.

Parka Wrap partnered with Starke for their pilot project to use our Ambiance uPVC inline window system. This system makes it easy to install the windows inline with the wall insulation, to preserve the thermal performance of the frames, and not compromise any junctions or introducing thermal bridges. With all the components complimenting each other, this old state house has been transformed into a high performance house, better than most buildings in NZ!