By Bill Hoy, Project Manager
Each fall, the Southwest Montana Building Industry Association, a membership-based organization representing more than 10,000 regional building industry professionals, conducts the Gallatin Valley Parade of Homes. During the event, people from across the area tour homes recently finished by local builders. This year, the association asked us to participate on the tour and we were delighted to host more than 2,000 visitors over the course of two consecutive weekends.
The reason for the tour is to put the spotlight on outstanding regional builders, who in our case is Tollefson Builders, a family owned and operated company lead by father-son team Jerry and Travis Tollefson. According to the Tollefsons, their mission is to push sustainable building to the next level.
Standing Out With Sustainable Systems
Of all the homes on the tour this year, the REHAU® MONTANA ecosmart house certainly stood out as having the most sustainable features. It's probably not a coincidence that some of the comments and conversations most often overheard during the tour were about the windows. After all, they do lend a remarkable aspect to the home's architecture.
What folks learned is that the windows are the most visible component of the high-performance building envelope, which also includes insulating concrete forms and structural insulated panels (used to construct the exterior walls of the home). The systems are designed to work together both visibly and behind-the-scenes to secure the home's interior climate against harsh Montana winters.
What folks learned is that the windows are the most visible component of the high-performance building envelope, which also includes insulating concrete forms and structural insulated panels (used to construct the exterior walls of the home). The systems are designed to work together both visibly and behind-the-scenes to secure the home's interior climate against harsh Montana winters.
The windows feature insulating uPVC profiles, Sunlight-Responsive Thermochromic (SRT) glazing and compression-seal technology. SRT passively tints the glass in response to direct sunlight while compression-seal technology forms a tight seal against air and water infiltration. uPVC is a natural insulator that resists heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer.
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