The advantages of using wood

Ecological aspects:

Wood, a naturally renewable resource, has been an important construction material since humans began building. Nowadays, all parts of the tree are used: none of the bark, the sawdust or the falling particles are wasted. Compared to plastic windows, the energy consumption of producing wooden windows is six times lower, it produces negligible waste and requires trained workforce.

Today’s wooden windows are recyclable. Real ecological balance is unimaginable without recycling. Also, the disassembling and recycling of certain parts (metal, glass or wood) of old, wooden windows is no longer a problem. Wood is also used as raw material for wallboard-products, and in modern power plants it provides energy by a CO2-free burning process. Only wooden materials can provide an absolutely positive ecological balance, since other materials (such as plastic) are made of non-renewable, fossil sources.

Thermal insulation:

Wood provides the best thermal insulation (with the Uf-measurement the value of wood is between 1.4-1.6 W/m2 K). These excellent insulation features prevent the window frame from emitting cold, and therefore the appearance of moisture condensation. Even if it is cold outside, touching the natural wood will prove this effectively. Wooden windows with efficient thermal insulation exceed all the strict expectations towards effective insulation. In a nutshell: Insulated, quality wooden windows offer significant savings of energy, which is good for your wallet, as well as the environment.

Sound insulation:

Fir profiles with special glazing are able to provide an optimal (above 42 dB) value of sound insulation.

Fire protection:

Wood is an organic material, which behaves unusually when it burns, and keeps its solidity for a long time. By the charring of the surface an insulation layer is formed, that slows the spreading of the fire. Windows equipped with a fire protection glass can halt the spreading of fire for up to 90 minutes.

Durability:

Material, structure and quality ensure a long life-span. No other material can so effectively display durability than wood itself. There are several examples of more than a hundred years old wooden windows still being in use today (despite having been made at a lower technological level than what is currently available). All other materials still have a lot to prove!

Stability/Firmness:

The firmness of wooden windows (of any form and size) is excellent. Sunshine can cause window frames to warm up to the temperature of 80 °C, which causes no harm in wooden windows, since their thermal expansion coefficient is lower than any other material’s. Thermal expansion may cause thermal, sound and humidity insulation to be insufficient. This is the origin of the idiom: ‘Windows are eyes to the building’.

Maintenance/Grooming:

It is not unlikely to see wooden windows that are a hundred year’s old, still in use. A well-made, properly inserted and regularly groomed wooden window is a real long-term solution. Taking care of wood is simple. With respect to weather conditions, it may be necessary to repaint the wooden windows. Anyone can do this with widely available water-based lacquers, after which the windows will look like they were brand new. Also, wooden windows are easy to fix, and they don’t charge with electricity, and therefore don’t attract dirt.

Workplaces:

By deciding on buying wooden windows, you also decide to support workplaces, since the production involves several work phases that require trained workforce.

Summary:

Wood is a naturally renewable resource that boasts the best ecological index numbers, and can be worked upon, wasting little energy. It is light, excellent in durability, has a low thermal expansion coefficient, good firmness and perfect insulation qualities. These together guarantee a long life-span, a rich variety of forms, maintenance and economical qualities. Patterns may make it attractive and expressive. The natural material provides a pleasant temperature to the room, expresses cosiness and convenience. Wooden windows become part of the furniture and add to the general sense of comfort.