City County Building

The City/County Building of South Bend, IN, had been struggling to maintain a comfortable climate by running heating and cooling equipment 24 hours a day, often at full capacity. A major problem was inefficient windows.

Rather than replacing the old windows, the local authorities decided to install interior insulating vinyl windows by Maine Glass behind the existing windows, creating a thermal pocket of air. In winter, the room is warmed by direct solar heat gain. In summer, between-the-glass blinds reduce direct solar heat gain.

Since installing the units the City/County Building has reduced the temperature of the air delivered by the steam coils from 120 to 140 Fahrenheit down to 95 Fahrenheit. During the summer, one 350-ton chiller handles the entire complex, rather than the two they had been using. And they no longer need to run their HVAC system 24 hours a day.

The units were installed 19 years ago (1984). “the payback was faster than we thought,” says John Embrickson, building engineer. Eight years ago, Embrickson had new units with low-e glass installed for additional energy savings. “In the past 19 years the windows have been trouble free,” he says.