A Technology-Driven Market Hurricane windows are the leading edge of a window revolution that’s been unfoldingsince the 1970s. Huge changes in the product and available amenitieshave taken place. Where single-pane windows were once the norm, home improvementcompanies now market high-performance double- or triple-pane windowswith insulating gas and low-E coatings, not to mention glass packages, hardwareoptions, and trim choices.

Ironically, the elegance and efficiency of today’s windows has created a wholeunexpected market niche of new-home buyers seeking to upgrade from builder-qualitywindows to quality replacement. Contractors across the country agreeit’s common now to replace windows in two- or three-year-old homes. “Thatjust didn’t happen five years ago,” Woody Ayers says.

So what’s the next big leap? Don’t expect to see a quadruple-paned windowanytime soon. Or ever. Experts say that design innovation in the way ofextra panes, coatings, and gasses has reached its limits. “The technologyof developing energy-efficient window products with conventional manufacturingtechniques and materials has pretty much reached a peak,” Lowinskisays. “There isn’t a whole heck of a lot of improvement we cangain making windows the way we’re making them now. By and large, where thehigh-end products are is about where they’re going to be.”

That’s not to say that incremental improvements can’t be achieved by fine-tuningvarious window components. One window manufacturer in the Northeast believeslow-E glass will continue to evolve. “The gas technology may getbetter and there are other glasses that may work, but they are ridiculouslyexpensive right now,” he says.

Instead, Lowinski says, the next major product innovation the market can anticipateis dynamic glazing, “which changes its state or appearance orperformance based on its exposure, or exposure of a remote sensor, to theenvironment.”

Windows with dynamic glazing could darken when the sun shines directly on themand clear again for more light transmittance at other times, for example. Anotherexample is privacy glass: Push a button and the window goes opaque.

“They’re all fairly expensive now, but as demand grows and productiontechniques improve, the price will come down and make them more attractive,” Lowinskiadds.