Just like private individuals, companies are currently suffering from the consequences of inflation. Above all, the increased energy prices are causing operating expenses to explode. As a result, profits fall and many a company is exposed to the risk of an explosive economic situation. It is all the more important to initiate countermeasures in good time. One way to do this is to modernize the windows.
State helps to finance new windows
It is currently particularly lucrative for companies to Consider upgrading the windows. This is ensured by the federal funding for efficient buildings, through which there are funds for individual measures on the building envelope for the renovation of non-residential buildings. The contact for applications for funding is the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA for short). In the list of objects to be funded, the Federal Office explicitly mentions the replacement of windows and the retrofitting of non-residential buildings with external sun protection devices.
Which: Antranias / pixabay.com
So if you want to buy new windows for your commercial building and have them installed, you can currently save 15 percent of the costs incurred thanks to federal funding. Energetic window renovations are eligible for funding from 2,000 euros per individual measure. However, the Federal Office points to two other limit values. The subsidies are granted for investments of up to 1,000 euros per square meter of floor space. There is an additional limit of 5 million euros per year per building. Anyone who fully exploits the maximum value can save up to 750,000 euros on their investments in the energetic renovation of the building shell through the subsidies.
What savings are possible by replacing windows?
The extent to which operating expenses can be reduced with window modernization can be seen in a few figures. The insulation value is shown with the heat transfer coefficient (called Ug value for short). In older windows with double glazing it is around 1.1 W/(m² K) and can be reduced to as little as 0.6 W/(m² K) by replacing them with modern models with triple glazing. With oil heating, a reduction of just 0.1 W/(m²·K) saves 1.1 liters of heating oil per square meter and year. At the beginning of July 2023, the price of heating oil was around 90 cents per liter.
A sample calculation shows how immense the savings potential is in terms of operating expenses. With 1,000 square meters of heated usable space, around 5,500 liters less heating oil are consumed per year after replacing the windows (taking into account the above-mentioned difference in the Ug value). This corresponds to an annual cost saving of 4,950 euros with the same heating oil price. The conclusion is that investing in new windows will definitely pay off in the long term.
New windows not only save heating costs in companies
There is a good reason that the Federal Government also offers subsidies for external shading systems via the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control. Expenditures in companies for cooling indoor spaces in the summer are also increasing due to the consequences of global climate change. Good external venetian blinds, which let air and light through even when lowered, ensure that long-wave solar radiation does not reach the panes and frames. So it cannot heat up the interior as much as without this protection. As a result, electricity costs drop in the summer months.
The new windows themselves also contribute to reducing the need for cooling in summer, because the thermal insulation of the frames and glass surfaces works in both directions. This means that it reduces both heat fluctuation in winter and heat input in summer.
The mobile air conditioners, which are mainly used to cool offices, are real “power guzzlers”. On average, they consume at least three kilowatt hours of power per 8-hour working day. If you have equipped 25 offices with it, you have to reckon with costs for a consumption of more than 800 kilowatt hours per month for a 5-day working week.
Choosing windows for non-residential buildings: what is important?
In the commercial sector, the protection of business and customer data plays an important role. Businesses should not only think about this with regard to the use of communication networks. This requirement must also be reflected in the selection of new windows for offices, law firms and medical practices. The most important point of reference for this is the resistance class, which is given as the RC standard after the English designation “Resistance Class”. The RC standards are defined in Germany in the DIN EN 1627 standard.
The RC 2 standard is usually considered sufficient for equipping business premises that are not on the ground floor. The situation is different for business premises on the ground floor that are easily accessible from the outside through a ground floor position. Insurance companies and the police recommend windows with resistance class RC 3 for such areas based on their evaluation of burglary statistics, because these models must also be able to withstand attacks by habitual criminals for at least 5 minutes. Such windows must also have safety glazing according to the specifications of DIN EN 356.
Lack of space in offices? – PAS windows help solve!
Do you know the problem that you cannot put a PC display on a desk in front of or to the side of a window because it gets in the way when the window sash is opened? This location of the workplaces would be very practical, because the use of natural daylight saves electricity costs for artificial lighting. There is an intelligent solution for this. Use comfortable and safe sliding windows instead of the usual tilt and turn windows when redesigning your offices! Such PAS windows do not need any additional space to fully open the sliding sash and offer even more security than traditional tilt and turn windows with partial ventilation via the opening function. The sliding window can be opened horizontally to the left or right. Alternatively, models with a vertical sliding function are available.
A little tip at the end: Pay attention to a “warm edge”!
Are you regularly annoyed by glass surfaces that fog up on the edges, despite optimal ventilation and heating on cold winter days? This problem is due to a “cold edge” that is unfortunately present on many windows from the past few decades. It reveals itself when looking at the material that ensures the necessary distances between the panes on the edge seal. Up until now, aluminum has mainly been used, which is known to be one of the best conductors of heat. This means that thermal bridges are created along the edges, which significantly reduce the insulating effect of the frames and glazing.
Nobody has to put up with such a disadvantage today, because high-quality plastic windows are presented with two new types of spacers. Plastic profiles are used in the cheaper models, the material of which has the same insulation values as the frame profiles. If you want improved mechanical resistance, you can optionally treat yourself to spacers made of stainless steel with a plastic coating. As a “warm edge”, they also reduce the heat loss at the edge bond of the glazing.
Published by: ARKM Central Editors