Colorado leaders and White House officials toured the U.S. General Services Administration's Denver Federal Center to witness improvements from its Green Proving Ground Program and discuss the climate crisis.
LOUISVILLE, Colo., April 18, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- ALPEN HIGH PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS INC., a longtime U.S. leader in high efficiency window technology across commercial and residential markets, was highlighted at a U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) press conference Wednesday at the Denver Federal Center as a part of GSA's Green Proving Ground (GPG) Program. GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan joined National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Governor Jared Polis, Congressman Ed Perlmutter, and Mayor Adam Paul to discuss the importance of combating the climate crisis through the means of promoting climate and job investments in Colorado.
Federal programs like GSA's GPG Program actively evaluate emerging building technologies to demonstrate its applications towards achieving clean energy and sustainability goals. GSA recently finalized and published the results of its nearly year-long testing and evaluation of WinSert® secondary window inserts and lightweight Quad-Pane windows manufactured by Alpen. In discussing the GPG Program, Administrator Carnahan pointed out Alpen windows as an example of what these program investments aim to achieve. "That's where we use innovative, new products and test them out on these federal buildings, and one of them is here today. It's the Alpen glass quad-panels. It's a Colorado company that has been doing that here on the [Denver Federal Center] campus and saving a lot of money, creating jobs in Colorado."
National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy expanded on Carnahan's comments about demonstration programs like GPG, explaining how the 'code red' status of climate change can be turned into opportunities. "The more we can show and demonstrate that climate change can be solved today by the innovations already today as we move forward to create the next round of opportunities, the more that people will begin to demand the solutions that will benefit them today."
Reducing energy costs by making buildings more energy efficient is one key factor in combating the climate crisis, as well as the importance of futurizing buildings beyond the federal portfolio. "The challenge is to try to get folks to understand and embrace the efficiency that you can get with new buildings, but also the efficiency you can achieve through retrofitting and rethinking the way in which energy cost is spent," said McCarthy. "It can make a huge improvement, if you think about it, over time. By making a small investment, you can accrue that payback… and the payments just keep paying after that. Every single year you benefit… Part of the biggest strategy to address climate change is as simple as reducing your energy bill."
Through the GPG studies, Alpen's WinSert secondary window inserts, made with 'thin' glass and super-insulated fiberglass frames designed to turn existing low-performing windows into high performance windows, demonstrated up to 18% whole-building energy savings based on energy modeling. Alpen's quad-pane windows, made with either 'thin' glass or suspended film center panes to create a high performance window in a lighter-weight profile, demonstrated an average simple payback of less than two years. GSA will be installing Alpen's quad-pane high performance windows throughout building 40 at the Denver Federal Center as a part of its goal to use energy efficiency to get to net zero through electrification of its buildings.
"We are pleased to be invited into GSA's Green Proving Ground Program to demonstrate the promising capabilities of our quad-pane windows and WinSert secondary windows," said Brad Begin, CEO of Alpen High Performance Products. "Climate change is here, and high-impact technologies that reduce the footprint of the built environment have never been more imperative."
GSA's Green Proving Ground program hosted two webinars for Alpen's products where researchers and facility managers discussed findings from the project evaluation, shared operational guidance and answered live questions. The webinar recordings for Lightweight Quad-Pane Windows and Lightweight Secondary Windows can be viewed here. More information about these GPG Program studies and their findings is available on http://www.gsa.gov
About GSA's Green Proving Ground (GPG) Program
GSA's Green Proving Ground program works with third-party evaluators to test innovative early-commercial building technologies in federally owned buildings. The program enables GSA to make investment decisions in next-generation building technologies based on actual performance. To date, following favorable evaluation results, 23 GPG-evaluated technologies have been deployed in more than 500 facilities in GSA's real-estate portfolio. For more information about the GPG program, please visit http://www.gsa.gov/gpg.
About ALPEN HIGH PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS INC
Alpen High Performance Products manufactures super-insulating, thermally efficient commercial and residential windows and architectural glass with four decades of industry leadership in high performance windows and glass unit manufacturing. The exceptional thermal performance of Alpen's window and glazing solutions grants the freedom to design with maximum glass across all building types and climate zones. Whether for new construction or retrofit applications, Alpen products provide a powerful combination of blocking summer heat, retaining winter warmth, eliminating harmful ultraviolet rays, reducing noise and maximizing natural daylight while providing exceptional energy savings. Visit Alpen's website to learn more.
Media Contact
Danielle Birdsall, Alpen High Performance Products, 1 (303)834-3509, [email protected]
Craig Maierhofer, Alpen High Performance Products, (303)834-3600, [email protected]
SOURCE Alpen High Performance Products
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