The 2010 Southern Building Show, which features its annual showcase home, inspired a children’s playhouse – a miniature copy of a bold, innovative sustainable home design featuring Marvin window and doors products.

Every year the Southern Building Show in Atlanta features an innovative and inspiring showcase home. This May’s show did not disappoint, offering another exciting home design including Marvin windows and doors. Known as the Midtown Green House, this year’s project features green construction and will seek EarthCraft, LEED and ENERGY STAR certification, as well as following the NAHB Green Building Standard. From the concrete foundation to the green roof with garden, this eco home’s bold, mid-century style combines converging planes of glass, stacked stone and stucco and an asymmetrical, loft-style floor plan. This private residence is located in Atlanta’s Midtown section, known for its eclectic architectural style. Click here to see photos.

The AVI team of consultants worked with architect Joel Kelly Design, builder The Hoots Group, and building engineers to ensure the Marvin Clad French doors, Casement windows and Direct Glaze Polygon windows met structural, architectural and energy efficiency requirements. All windows and doors featured LoE3-366®glass, contributing to the home’s sustainable design. The technology behind these windows is especially effective at keeping the sun’s heat out in warmer climates where cooling costs are high, such as Atlanta area homes. “And thanks to Marvin’s design flexibility, the windows look just as beautiful in this contemporary design as they do with traditional décor, said Peter Diehl,” sales manager for AVI.

Building on the excitement generated by this showcase home, The Hoots Group built a kid’s playhouse which also debuted at the Southern Building Show. The Hoots Group provides home performance improvements to existing homes and well as building new homes with a “whole-house” approach to achieve healthy, comfortable, and energy efficient results for homeowners.

The playhouse will be raffled off as a charity benefit for the HomeAid Atlanta’s Project Playhouse 2010 event, which takes place at The Avenue Forsyth in Cumming from September 25 through October 23. HomeAid Atlanta is a nonprofit organization that builds and renovates multi-unit transitional housing for homeless families and individuals in the metro Atlanta area. Through the building industry’s generous support, HomeAid has built or renovated nearly 1,000 shelters. An article in the Atlanta Building News featured the HomeAid playhouse event this past May.

This stunning miniature copy of the showcase home incorporated the same mid-century contemporary design and green architecture translated into a kid-friendly funhouse with an artificial turf cool roof, a roof-top terrace, and a roomy loft accessible by ladder. Keeping with the original design’s sophistication, the playhouse also includes faux stone and stucco facades, spray foam insulated walls, high grade hardwood interiors and energy efficient Integrity® from Marvin Casement windows donated by AVI.

“We’re pleased to contribute to such a great cause, plus Integrity windows fit the green aspect of this project perfectly,” said Peter Diehl.

Integrity windows and doors are made of Ultrex®, a pultruded fiberglass window material whose main ingredient is sand, a safe, renewable resource. In addition, Integrity’s manufacturing process incorporates steps to protect the environment. The fact that Integrity’s Ultrex fiberglass construction is exceptionally strong and long lasting means they require less window replacement and upkeep, reducing wasted building materials that must be land filled and decreasing the need for solvent-based paints. From start to finish, Integrity’s sustainable design contributes to a greener future.

Whether it is modern myth, legend or fact, it is said that as soon as painters finish painting the Forth Bridge in Scotland, they have to start again. Sometimes it feels like that with cleaning windows – as soon as you’ve done it, they seem to need cleaning all over again.

Well imagine how long that might take if your whole building was made of glass. We’re not talking about people who live in Greenhouses here, but the massive modern facades of contemporary office spaces, their faces glistening and bright. And while people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, they should also think about how they’re going to clean the buggers too.

But if that’s not enough, these modern, gleaming edifices can cause even bigger problems – repair and maintenance. Think about it – in the time you live in your house there’s a chance you will replace the windows, maybe more than once. You very rarely need to replace the bricks. So for those buildings that are predominantly glass this can be a massive undertaking. While they look pretty flashy, they can be cause of a huge amount of commercial glazing maintenance. Glazing repairs have to be handled by professional outfits and if you thought changing your glass was a pain, imagine doing it thousands of feet up. Commercial glazing maintenance is not only about replacement but also needs to take into account the upgrading of thermal and drainage performance, replacement of handles, hinges, locks, installation of seals and relevant safety and privacy films as well as upgrades to meet current health and safety regulations. And once all the glazing repairs have been done there’s still a fair bit of cleaning left to do.

So next time you’re moaning about cleaning your windows, just remember it could be a whole lot worse.

Un-Plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride or uPVC windows and doors have gained popularity in the UK. This is because of the various advantages they offer over their counterparts. Some of these advantages include:

• Energy Efficiency: uPVC windows and doors are composed of a material that provides greater thermal insulation than the standard wood or aluminum based products. This means that you will make huge savings on heating systems during the winters, since these doors and windows will provide adequate insulation, and in the summers, they will help keep the temperature low, thus cutting back the air conditioning costs. The prices of electricity are on rise in the UK and these products are a great way to save on energy bills.

• Maintenance: Wooden frames on windows and doors require a lot of maintenance, such as painting, sanding and refilling of wood. Aluminum frames provide some respite but they too are highly vulnerable to rusting. uPVC windows, on the other hand, are a perfect substitute for both. They are made by using a plastic substance that is both highly durable and resistance to the adverse effects of the elements, including fire, water, snow, etc. Cleaning them is also an easy job and can be done with the use of a wet cloth and cleaning liquids. To obtain the original shine, all you have to do is wash and wipe.

• Cost Efficiency: uPVC windows and doors can be purchased at similar prices to their identical aluminum and wooden counterparts. They also provide value for the expenditure because they can last for a longer time.

• Safety of Product: Wooden doors and windows can be easily broken into. This is yet another area where uPVC products take the lead. Their firmness and strength match that of the aluminum frames. However, to utilize their full potential, it is advisable to install a good quality locking system, probably a multi point locking system.

• Beauty: uPVC windows and doors allow light to recede through their frame. This can help create beautiful contours in the living space.

uPVC Windows vs Composite Doors
Composite doors are the latest offering from the house furnishing industry. These doors are designed keeping in mind the common shortcomings of the single material doors. These utilize a unique combination of materials, handpicked for their specific properties, to create a combination that effectively weeds out the old flaws.

Some of the materials used are PVC, insulating foam, wood and glass reinforced plastic (GRP). The subsequent product is extremely strong and secure. A composite door is even more weather resistant than its uPVC counterpart and the insulated foam core provides extended heat resistance. These doors are specifically designed to resemble wooden doors, but, unlike wood, they neither get discoloured nor do they fade or require extensive maintenance. uPVC windows and doors provide all such capabilities and at lower costs.

Bi Folding Doors made of uPVC
Bi folding doors made of uPVC are designed to meet the needs of contemporary households that combine beauty and utility. Here the door panels are configured into several folds, which provide greater versatility. This means that the doors take up very little space at the entrance or exit but provide optimal lighting with minimum obstruction to movement. The wider opening allows the owner to have a much better view of the outdoors and attached garden all year round. These doors are also ideal for installation in areas where a partition is required between rooms or where the exit leads to a patio.

Some manufacturers are providing even more superior forms of bi folding doors. These revolutionary products offer a smooth and simple functionality with the use of a top or bottom rail concertina mechanism rather the conventional top hung system. The door system has a slim panel gap, which offers increased aesthetic appeal. These products can be used to create a glass wall up to 6 metres wide. They can even come with a 10 year guarantee.

The very short answer as to why window templates should be used is that they ensure much faster construction of complex windows. Window templates are made from cavity closers which have become an essential component of the construction industry over the years. Cavity closers are comprised of a number of different parts, all neatly packaged into one, easy to install product. A rigid bricklaying template, a window acceptor, a damp-proof course and a thermal break between the inside and outside of the wall all make up a cavity closure. Once this has been installed, the window can be easily and quickly fitted, saving construction workers both time and money.

Cavity closers and window templates were first introduced in the 1980’s and since then have become more and more relied upon for quick and easy window installation. Windows in the home not only need to look good, but they also need to provide excellent security, noise reduction and insulation. In the winter months the heat needs to be retained, and in the summer months the heat from the sun needs to be kept at arm’s length. Cavity closers made of PVC-U fulfill all these functions well. Furthermore the material PVC-U is completely recyclable too which makes it a friend rather than a foe of the environment.

A PVC-U cavity closure ensures the total elimination of moisture around a window or on the glass. This can sometimes be a major problem with houses and can cause a great deal of damage. The effective seal and unique properties of this type of cavity closer remove this problem altogether. They are completely air tight and comply with all building regulations on this matter. They also come complete with an overhead vent with an external flush grill that improves their aesthetic appeal. Another feature of a PVC-U cavity closer is that they act as a brickwork template so the window itself can be easily fitted at a later date. This is a huge time saver for construction workers and builders who can complete the job much more quickly.

There is no other product as effective at sealing cavities around newly built walls and consequently they have become one of the essential components in any new-build project. They optimise productivity for those who are installing windows as much less time is required to do it. The spring-clip system allows pre-glazed windows to be “clipped” into place in no time at all. There is no adhesive required or any special tools needed to fit windows once a cavity closer is in place. The damp proof layer and effective moisture barrier continue to be effective for many years to come helping to keep a home completely dry and free from moisture. The PVC-U material lasts for decades too as it extremely hard wearing and durable. Despite this it is 100% recyclable unlike other types of plastic materials.

Cavity closers and cavity barriers made from PVC-U are completely recyclable, easy to install and allow huge time and monetary savings to be made. They do not harm the environment and are an efficient way to fit windows. The idea of a window template such as these has revolutionized the way windows are installed and removes the need for tools, equipment and specialist adhesives. The end result is a window that look great, is super strong, offers great protection and keeps noise levels to a minimum. The insulation offered is second to none too. They make the installation of glazed windows and even the fitting of a window board much easier to do, and that is how they have become invaluable to building teams across the world.

If you have completed decoration of your home and office except bathroom, kitchen and window of your living space and are planning to enhance internal beauty of these places with stylish decorative accessories, then roller blinds is perfect solution for you because apart from beautifying it also controls heat, magnifies the sunlight, prevents dust and proficiently maintain privacy. Furthermore, highly attractive roller blinds check unwanted noise from entering into the room and also maintain coolness and cleaning of office and corporate houses.

Roller blinds are effective for kitchen and bathrooms because waterproof roller blinds also available in the market. Before the advent of roller blinds, all of us were using old, outdated and traditional kinds of curtains that fail to prevent dust and unwanted noise and could not give the complete privacy to users. Today, roller blinds are favored as it occupies less space and look trendy as compared to conventional kinds of curtains. These roller blinds are made to fit your windows. They are not only providing privacy to your bathroom area but also ensure that your roller blind fabric is complete waterproof and the fabric doesn’t spoil from frequent splashes.

There are a wide rage of roller blinds are available in the market which are panel blinds, velux blinds, conservatory blinds, venetian blinds, roman blinds, blackout blinds and many more blinds to choose the perfect according to your requirement, theme of the wall of home, kitchen, bathrooms of office and corporate house. You can also choose the roller blinds according to your budget that suit you.

Choosing simple and plain roller blinds will not be advantageous because these blinds can be spoiled by water as these blinds are not waterproof therefore always use waterproof roller blinds for kitchen and bathroom. It also has the quality to offer the complete privacy to customer who have own these waterproof roller blinds. The other options are available to waterproof roller blinds, like the Venetian roller blinds that are also water resistant and give an alternate option for your bathroom windows.

The waterproof roller blinds are available in both with manual operation and motorised. Motorised blinds run on the electricity the help of remote control. You can choose one from either as per your requirement and budget because motorised blinds are little bit expensive. The plain and waterproof roller blinds are available in various colours such as gaudy orange, maroon, blue to sober cream, beige, and lilac. Choose the colours or roller blinds as per theme of your home and office.