Passive House
Passive House performance.
Certified low-energy buildings live or die on the window line. Every F-Series fiberglass frame suits Passive House work; the GR85 Dual Action is tested and rated to PHI (Passive House Institute).
The lowest U-factor in our range
ZERO 04 hybrid vacuum glass reaches U 0.044 at the center of the glass, and complete windows reach R-12.
Glass packages › The warrantyOn the vacuum glass
A 25-year limited warranty on the vacuum insulating unit, covering loss of vacuum and seal failure.
Warranty terms › The frame- Four times stronger than aluminum
- Expands with the glass, so seals stay tight
- Will never rot, rust or warp
- Insulates without a thermal break
- Built for salt air and the coast
- Fire-resistant and recyclable
Pultruded fiberglass, tested to CW-PG45 for air, water and structural load.
Why fiberglass ›Passive House sets the tightest thermal and airtightness targets in the industry, and the window is usually the weakest point in the wall. A fiberglass frame is the right answer: it barely conducts heat, needs no separate thermal break, and moves with the glass so the seals stay tight for decades.
Every fiberglass frame in the F-Series is suitable for a Passive House project. The GR85 Dual Action is the system that has been tested and rated to PHI (Passive House Institute), so specify it when the target is certification or the lowest possible whole-window U-value. The hybrid vacuum glazing carries the assembly toward a U-value approaching zero.
A window certified by the people who wrote the standard.
The GR85 dual-action window is a Certified Passive House Component, phA, the highest efficiency class, for both cold and cool, temperate climates. Pair it with our hybrid vacuum glazing and the whole window goes well beyond what the certificate requires.
Warm glass, even on the coldest night: at −10 °C (14 °F) outside, the coldest interior surface of the certified window stays at 13.2 °C (55.8 °F), well above the point where condensation and mold begin. Certified
See the certified values ›
Our best numbers
Hybrid vacuum glass in six ZERO packages, in a fiberglass frame tested for air and water tightness.
Energy performance
Passive-house-grade glazing that pays for itself.
Because the hybrid vacuum glazing meets international passive-house window requirements on its own, the wall can reach certification without over-building elsewhere. It cuts reliance on heating and cooling equipment and lowers energy use per unit of floor area by roughly 20% against the same building glazed with a conventional insulated unit. Specified during design rather than added later, the upfront premium typically pays back in about two years.
Window and door types for this building
GR85 Dual Action
The Passive House workhorse — 85 mm fiberglass frame, triple or vacuum glazing, tested and rated to PHI (Passive House Institute).
Deep fiberglass frames
GR85 casement and GR85 swing door carry the same 85 mm depth through operable windows and doors.
Hybrid vacuum glazing
An argon unit stacked with a vacuum unit reaches wall-level insulation in an ordinary glazing pocket. See the Glass page for how it works.
Which product families apply
Passive House projects use the fiberglass F-Series. The hurricane A-Series aluminum line is not part of the Passive House offering — aluminum conducts far too much heat to approach certification-level U-values, so it is reserved for impact-driven coastal work.