Table of contents:
Material
Are only wooden patio doors ecological?
When your client asks about ecological windows and patio doors, probably the first raw material that comes to your mind is wood, which as a natural material automatically brings to mind an association with ecology.
What makes patio doors eco friendly? Should we consider aluminum, frameless patio doors as ecological?
Material is undoubtedly an important element when assessing whether patio doors are ecological. Considering the production process of wooden patio doors, it can be concluded that they are not 100% ecological, for example in terms of varnishing and impregnation of wood. In our opinion, aluminum can be safely called an environmentally friendly material, which we describe below.
Why aluminum patio doors are ecological
Aluminum has a low density, while being an extremely durable material. Consequently, the production of aluminum profiles uses less material than when using other raw materials, and this means less harm to the environment.
From the point of view of ecology, you should also have in mind the exceptional strength of aluminum and the fact that aluminum profiles will last much longer than competing materials. Less replacement means less production globally, and less production means less environmental pollution. However, if there is a need to replace aluminum patio doors, this raw material can be recycled many times.
Do you know that?
System providers are constantly optimizing production in terms of “green building”. That is why other elements, such as spacers, insulators and gaskets, are also made of renewable raw materials. An example would be EPDM rubber gaskets, the production of which uses bioethanol obtained from sugar cane.
Energetic efficiency
Ecological patio doors = energy-efficient patio doors
The second key issue, even more important than the material itself, is the energy efficiency of patio doors. Yes! Which patio doors are the most ecological? Those that are energy efficient. The rule is simple – the better the thermal parameters of patio doors, the better for nature. Remember that we are talking about the perspective of several dozen years of use.
Various materials and aluminum used for the production of large, narrow-frame sliding patio doors combine features that translate into energy efficiency. Already a few years ago, aluminum systems caught up with uPVC in terms of the heat transfer coefficient. Today, aluminum patio doors guarantee the best results in this regard.
Large glazing serves ecology
Large-size glazing of aluminum patio doors also contributes to lower consumption of thermal energy and electricity to heat the building in winter and cool the interior in summer. Thick glazing units in frameless sliding doors achieve excellent parameters Ug = 0.09-0.11 Btu/h·ft2·F. In addition, they will make much more sunlight enter the interior.
Passive houses use aluminum
The energy efficiency of aluminum patio doors described above determines that passive houses most often use aluminum windows and patio doors. Huge glass surfaces are installed in them, which, placed on the south wall, ensure the best use of natural light as an energy source.
The most ecological systems
Since we already know that thermal parameters are an important criterion in assessing which patio doors are the most ecological, let’s see which of the sliding patio doors selected by us is the most energy-efficient.
With reference to the issues described above, for the purposes of our comparison, we found that the thermal parameters mainly determine whether the patio doors are ecological or not.
So let’s look at the table below:
| Frameless sliding system | U-Factor (Btu/h·ft2·F) |
| 1. Reynaers Hi-Finity | 0.14 |
| 2. Yawal Moreview | 0.15 |
| 3. Schuco Panorama ASS 77 | 0.15 |
| 4. Aluprof MB-Skyline | 0.16 |
| 5. Cortizo Cor-Vision Plus | 0.17 |
| 6. Sapa Artline | 0.19 |
The best result in our comparison of structures with the dimensions of 13 ft 1.48 in x 11 ft 5.8 in was achieved by Reynaers Hi-Finity, whose structures achieve U-Factor 0.14. Yawal Moreview and Schuco Panorama ASS PD 77 were slightly worse with U-Factor 0.15.
Great job! You`ve finished reading chapter 6 of The Ultimate Guide Frameless Aluminum Sliding Patio Doors
