Parade of Homes

There's also a window of opportunity to add low-emissivity coatings to increase energy efficiency. "low-E is basically a metallic oxide that they apply to the win- dow, and the average person can't actually see it. If you add low-E to your whole house, the cost is so small in the grand scheme of things," Wallace says. "you're going to be more comfortable in the winter and more comfortable in the summer. We've had people in the past who have declined getting that low-E and then changed out those windows after the fact. It does make it more energy efficient." To see a sampling of inspiring selections, Wallace suggests dropping by the All Weather Windows showroom located at 124 Terracon Pl. "Even though we don't sell directly to the public, people can come in any time to get some ideas. When it's time to change your windows and doors, our showroom is a good tool to help people out," he says. "We have all sorts of different samples. We have glass options and alloy options. Whether they want colour or they want white, if they want something basic or if they want to get re- ally extravagant, it's virtually limitless as far as the options. It's whatever your imagination can do." With a focus on the high end of the market, loewen Windows offers fresh ideas that are on trend with contemporary styles. "Contemporary is huge, and what that means for windows and doors is big — lots of window area and lots of glass," says Clyde loewen, senior vice-presi- dent of product and marketing. "If you look around, you will certainly find much more of a linear look. There are far fewer shaped units, which would be elliptical windows or even full round windows. That's mostly gone away with contemporary architecture. It's a very modular type of look these days." Those clean lines extend to the entire profile around the assemblies them- selves. "The glazing stops that hold the glass in, the mouldings around the product have gone to very, very clean contemporary lines rather than ornate traditional pro- files," loewen says. "On the higher ends of the market, you would also have more of an interest in natural materials. People value natural throughout the home — natural stones, natural woods, natural materials of al- most any sort." Energy efficiency becomes increasingly important in areas of wide, expansive glass, he adds. "We have a long history of triple-glazing low-E windows. you can also capture some solar heat gain with that, even in Manitoba where it's very, very cold. The benefit we have in Manitoba, even in winter, is that it tends to be sunny a lot of the time," loewen says. "Even if it's 20 below, you can still cap- ture quite a lot of solar heat gain when the sun is shining. One of the problems in the middle of winter is that the sun isn't shining that long." 'Contemporary is huge, and what that means for windows and doors is big — lots of window area and lots of glass' Cont'd on page 8 Parade of Homes FALL 2015 7

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