Super Spacer® helps secure United Kingdom's First 'A' Rated Windows

According to Edgetech I.G. Inc., headquartered in Cambridge, Ohio, its customer, Tradelink has achieved a prestigious 'A' rating in the British Fenestration Rating Council (BFRC) Window Energy Rating system. The award makes it the only standard commercially available double glazed window to achieve this. The first UK company to achieve an A rating, in November 2005, did so by incorporating gas-filled, Super Spacer triple glazed IG units.

The Window Energy Rating system introduced in March 2004 by the BFRC, which is an independent government-supported body that was established to develop and administer a system of window energy ratings in the UK, becomes part of the revised Building Regulations coming into force on April 6, 2006. The Energy Rating system identifies the performance of a window as a whole, rather than concentrating on single components such as the frame or glass. Certified windows carry a label with an A to G grading, (with A the most energy efficient) and values for thermal transmittance, solar factor and air leakage.

The window energy rating assesses the whole window energy performance and covers the frame material, the frame design, the glass type and all the other components that make up the window. The rating is carried out by computer simulation of the product to European Standards and the use of standard climate data and building models. This gives a single number that can be used to compare the energy performance of a window simply and quickly.

"Anyone who has the foresight to take seriously the option for improving thermal ratings will have a head start on future environmental compliance - and a foothold in a new and important market: We're especially delighted to have achieved this A rating," explained Jim Moody, managing director of Tradelink. "Although we're the second company in the UK to achieve it, Tradelink's window is the first commercially available, being the only double glazed product. When we launched Heatguard, our range of insulated glazed units (IGU), the intention was always to offer a product with unrivalled performance. This latest next generation A rated window will complement the C rated window we already offer as standard and the B for installers who are already differentiating themselves."

"Obviously Edgetech is delighted to be associated with the first two A rated windows in the UK," adds Andy Jones, Sales Director and General Manager of Edgetech UK and Ireland. "We want to help all our customers achieve the most thermally efficient products on the market to open up the replacement window sector. We've been talking about the thermally superior properties of Super Spacer for a while now and this result is a great endorsement. To have already helped one fabricator achieve the first A rating on a triple glazed window was an accolade, but to have gained an A rating on a double glazed unit has made our year."