Lead Poisoning & the Stultification of Detroit Kids

Photo credit: EPA

Detroit is teeming with lead risks because roughly three quarters (73.4%) of all of the structures in the city were built before 1955, when the amount of lead used in paint was very high. Moreover, even though lead content was reduced over the following 20 years, it wasn't completely removed from all paint products until 1978--and very few buildings have been built in our city since then, as every Detroiter knows full well. But the problem in Detroit isn't merely the prevalence of pre-1955 homes, schools, commercial buildings and  apartment buildings. It's made infinitely worse by the fact that tens of thousands of these buildings have been left to decay, and millions of square feet of flaking paint fall onto our soil and our sidewalks, and then move all over our city, carried by shoes, tires, wind, and water. The inexcusably large number of low-income families in Detroit means that many residents do not have the means to maintain and improve their homes and thus protect themselves from lead risks. This unbelievable amount of lead contamination isn't the end of the matter, since Detroit has also been home to industrial smelters, which blew lead dust into the air, which then settled into the ground. The result is a huge number of children being exposed, day in and day out, to unacceptable amounts of lead. They're paying the cost.

People have been studying this problem, and Wayne State has got significant data together, to demonstrate the severity of the problem. Here's a link to the PDF, simply showing reported lead poisoning cases in the city for 2001. It's infuriating that this problem isn't being tackled with huge community and city government involvement, along with significant state and federal help. There was a state-local initiative, but it's not enough (and the supposed decline in poisoning incidents looks fake, since the sample size was greatly increased in later years). We can't allow tens of thousands of children to suffer from learning disabilities, hearing problems, behavioral problems, and everything else that is associated with lead exposure. And we cannot pay the costs of abatement on an individual basis because, as the EPA reports, the cost averages $10,000 per home. Detroiters, especially those living in housing that needs lead abatement, don't have the money to spare.

How To Pick An Energy Efficient Window for a Detroit Home

You're living in Detroit, or in the Detroit area, and you're wondering, "How do I pick a good, energy efficient window?" The answer isn't terribly complicated, but it will require you to get serious about understanding the one standardized and reliable resource for energy efficiency information about the products that local window manufacturers and resellers have on offer: the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) certification label. With this label, you can learn all that you need to know about an window's energy performance.

The NFRC Label: What It Means

The NFRC label (shown to the right) gives a few metrics that are important:

1. U-Factor
   U-Factor measures the effectiveness of the window in keeping warmth or coolness inside your home; it's simply a measurement of the window's overall effectiveness as an insulator. This is the most important value to consult; the lower the number the better. Mathematically, U-Factor is simply the multiplicative inverse of R-value (R-value of 2.0 equals U-factor of .5 (that is, 2/1 becomes 1/2).
   
   
2. Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC)
   This number tells you how much of the sun's heat is allowed to pass through the glass (both as visible light and as long and short wave radiation) and into your home. In some climates, you want high numbers and in some climates you want low numbers---it depends (and we'll get to the issue for Detroit below).
   
   
3. Visible Transmittance
   This indicates how much visible light passes through the glass, and is meant to indicate whether or not the window will seem clear or slightly dimmer. In some cases, it's good not only to filter out invisible light, but invisible light as well, to keep your interior from taking on too much solar energy (low visible transmittance numbers typically correspond to low SHGC). Also, if you pick a window with a particular spectral shift---a window that tints incoming light toward a particular color---it will reduce your visible transmittance, since you're filtering out some of the gamut. This might well be desirable if you need to match other windows, or if you want a particular mood or feel.
   
   
4. Condensation Resistance 
   Condensation resistance is mostly a function of the window's effectiveness as an insulator (given by U-factor), so it doesn't really help in selecting an energy efficient window. But it's a no-brainer that no one dislikes condensation resistance, so the higher the better.

Energy Efficiency for Detroit's Climate

First, low U-factor is always desirable; it doesn't matter where you live (unless it's always 72 and low humidity where you are ... but that wouldn't be anywhere near metro Detroit). However, the proper SHGC is less obvious. You might be thinking, "Well, I want to gain heat from the sun during the winter, so that my heater doesn't consumer as much energy." Well, that's a perfectly rational point of view, at least prima facie, but it really doesn't work out insofar as we're blessed with very little real sun exposure in the winter. It's always that gross winter gray, and only very occasionally does the sun really shine (and even then, we're far enough north of the equator that the sunlight is very indirect during the winter, and therefore doesn't produce much warmth even when it's beaming). Now, summers in the D are intensely sunny and warm (why'd the French settle here again?), and that means that a high SHGC window will make your home hot during the summer, and will cost you in terms of AC. So the question is, do the savings from the heat gain during the winter offset the cost of the heat gain during the summer? The answer is no. You don't want a high SHGC window in Michigan. You want:

• The lowest possible U-factor for your money (lower than .29)
• Low SHGC (lower than .3)
• Whatever visible transmittance you prefer given the way you use a room, or the color shifts you might like, etc. (approx. 0.5 is typical)
• High condensation resistance is always good, I suppose...

Nota bene: if the window isn't NFRC rated, don't buy it, because you don't know what on Earth you're getting (no matter what your salesperson tells you).

Energy Star Doesn't Matter (For Windows)

Before leaving this topic, it definitely bears pointing out that Energy Star ratings don't help a window manufacturer's case any--Energy Star certification is based on the NFRC's ratings of the window, so the Energy Star label doesn't certify anything above and beyond what you're already getting on the NFRC label. And on top of that, Energy Star certification costs the manufacturer or reseller money both in the certification process and in the application of the Energy Star logo to every window. This results in a higher price (if only marginally) for the consumer. It's a waste, if you ask me. The NFRC does a fine job and Energy Star is adding no value for consumers that---crucially---know what the NFRC label means. And that's you!

Do You *Need* to Replace Your Windows?

As everyone knows, for all the bad things that have befallen Detroit, there has been at least one positive side to the decline: unlike cities that boomed through the 80s and 90s, our city isn't filled with ugly postmodern architecture (with the one exception that is fairly tasteful One Detroit Center (aka Comerica Tower). The beauty of the pre-depression skyscrapers that line the streets of the downtown are a treasure, and I think will not be topped by buildings in any other city ... at least if the currently vacant towers are saved in the next decade or so (Broderick Tower is being rescued!).

Save the windows if possible!

There's another group of pre-depression buildings that also need saving: homes! I am not so naive to believe that too many more currently vacant homes in the Detroit area are going to be bought and restored; in fact I pray that most will be demolished rather than sit and rot further, being burned on devil's night, and being host to every manner of criminal activity. However, for those of you that live in pre-depression homes in the Detroit area, there are some things you should do, and some things that you should not do. Most importantly, don't replace your windows unless you really have to! Those beautiful single-glazing, hardy wooden windows are beautiful and you shouldn't replace them with aluminum or vinyl or anything else if they can possibly be restored to working order. Old windows can in fact achieve solid energy efficiency if you make sure they seal properly, have good weatherstripping and don't have any leaks the glass fits into the sash. No, they won't quite compete with a brand new low-E coated, double or triple glazed vinyl window. But it won't cost you much to restore the old windows, either (but do remember to protect yourself from lead).

Old House Journal has a nice article about the sensibility of restoration vs. replacement, which is recommended reading for those of you with an old house in need of a solution for worn out windows.  Planet Green has a story also worth reading, about the overall environmental questions involved---although the idea that any old window, no matter how badly worn, no matter how built, is better than a new window is the product of enthusiasm for the thesis, not proof, as far I can tell. Still, a good read.

Ultimately, if you need to replace your windows, it's probably a good idea (if you aren't doing it yourself) to consider the big, well-reputed window companies in the area that actually manufacture their windows in the Detroit area (rather than reselling who-knows-what); I suppose that means Wallside (if you want a cheaper but somewhat lower quality window) and WeatherGard Windows (if you want something on the "premium"-ish end of the spectrum)---the choice really comes down to budget and expectations.

Don't Forget: FHA Is Ready to Help You Retrofit

The U.S. Deptartment of Housing and Urban Development has been offering FHA mortgages up to $25,000 to support homeowners in making their homes more efficient and generally more ecologically neutral. The money can be used to replace old windows, to insulate your attic or walls, to fix general air leakage problems, and to upgrade inefficient heating, cooling and water systems.

If you're thinking about making major improvements (and please do think about it!), check out the release at HUD.gov (here), from October when the program got rolling.

For even more details, see here.

Housing Developers Going Green (if slowly)

The Daily Aztec has a story about the increased use of green technologies and design strategies in the building of large-scale housing developments. Now, I think this story probably applies more to what's going on in Southern California than to us here in the D, but it's a positive news story in any case.

Check it out.

The Anatomy of A Residential Window

Since I'm a cheerleader for energy efficiency, I thought I'd go ahead and create a post about the parts of a window, the way that each part works, and how all of it comes together to either succeed or fail in delivering serious thermal efficiency.

Part 1: The Wall

The first thing to understand is how the window sits in your wall; if you'll be installing the window yourself, the graphic below may prove helpful. The most important parts of the framing process concern the forming of the "rough opening" and the "finish opening" within which the new window will sit (see below).

Remember to seal it up right.

These are the primary areas of concern for air leakage, and if there is any doubt at all about the seal, spray these gaps full of foam insulation and cut off the excess. The image to the right shows foam insulation (prior to trimming) in the finish opening, up against the right-side trimmer stud.

If your windows have already been installed, but you've still got an air leakage problem, it is probably worth attempting to get at these openings with a can of spray foam wall insulation to seal up the area around the window.

Part 2: The Window Frame

Next, the window frame itself; this is less important than the sash for energy efficiency's sake, but can still figure in a significant way in the overall thermal effectiveness of your window. The design of the frame is probably the more important than the materials, since airtight, structurally sound frames can be built from uPVC (vinyl), wood, and aluminum. The question is whether the joints are sound and impervious to cracking and breaking. Once a corner joint has cracked, it will very likely become a source of air leakage and cost you month-to-month in your heating bill. There's not an obvious way to tell a good quality joint in a wooden or aluminum window from a bad quality joint, since the joints are mechanical (i.e., they're screwed/bolted/nailed together). However, with a vinyl window, you can tell easily: just see whether the corner joints are welded or mechanically joined. Welded corner joints are just about impossible to break, so you don't have to worry about the stress from the weight of your house forcing the joints apart and letting in the cold (or heat) from outside.

It's also frames made up of multiple closed chambers, which each act as a layer of insulation, since they contain a sealed pocket of air. This is much more effective insulation than a solid piece of uPVC.

Part 3: The Sash

The sash is the most important part of the window where energy efficiency is concerned. The sash contains the pane(s) of glass ("glazing(s)"), and thus ultimately controls energy input from the sun as well as most of the energy loss through glass and air leakage. First, you (obviously) want double or triple glazing windows---although the argument for three panes isn't as strong as it might at first seem, where energy efficiency-per-dollar is concerned.

Holding the two panes apart is a spacer, which must create a powerful seal to keep the gas between the panes (usually argon) of the window isolated so that it acts as insulation, and so that it stays free of moisture (otherwise, you'll get condensation between the glass, which is a bummer).

Next, you want to make sure you're getting the right sort of film coatings (or suspended film layers) for our heating climate, here in Metro Detroit. You want a Low-E layer, which helps to reflect radiant heat energy back into your home when it encounters the glass. This substantially improves the window's U-factor. Solar heat gain (SHGC) is not a number you need to worry about in this climate, since any heat gain from the sun during the summer that you have to counteract with AC will be offset by solar heat gain during the fall, winter and spring which reduce the need for heating.

Now, notice that I said you don't need to worry about solar control; I didn't say that you wouldn't want to fuss about it, since you can use solar control layers to achieve (or match) particular color temperatures of incoming light. If you have windows that dim incoming light somewhat, it will also affect the color temperature of the light, if only slightly. Having one window which looks greenish blue, and a number of others than lean yellow can create a lousy aesthetic. Make sure it's consistent.

Last---use good weatherstripping, to ensure that air isn't leaking in around the sash when it's closed.

Are Your Windows Leaking Cold Air?

The cold air below your window
probably isn't leaking from outside!

Homeowners often falsely believe that their windows are leaking when they feel cold air moving near the bottom, or below, the sill of the window. Now, on the one hand, it could well be that some of the draft that  one feels when placing a hand at the bottom of the window really is from a leak, but under no circumstance would that be the only source of moving air. Consider that the glass of a window gets fairly cold, even on the inside of the house, when the weather is cold outside. Now, since air is up against the window, the air cools as well. Now ask yourself: what happens when air cools? Right--it sinks! Then, warmer air moves in to replace it, only to be cooled in turn, and to then sink toward the bottom of the window. Even then, as the air is sinking, it remains in contact with the window and cools further as it drops.

This cycle of cooling and sinking air creates a spot on the base of your windows which is cold and feels drafty, given that the air is moving toward the floor. The bottom line is: your windows probably aren't leaking, or at least, not as much as you imagine from feeling the airflow. So relax. I've seen people threatening to sue over supposed "leaks" which were in fact just air circulation--and they make first-rate idiots of themselves in the process. Don't be one of those people. Of course, if you can see a gap, that's a different story.