Pultruded Fiberglass - choosing the right material for the future

Windows and doors have been created from a wide range of materials, ranging from wood to steel to aluminum to vinyl and more recently to pultruded fiberglass (See how Pultruded Fiberglass is created ) . Each of these materials have unique characteristics but some materials are technically more suitable for the creation of windows and doors in our environmentally sensitive world.

Let’s consider the important factors and compare the advantages of Pultruded Fiberglass:

Energy Efficiency / low conductivity:

Pultruded fiberglass materials have MUCH lower conductivity than materials such as aluminum. The low conductivity of the material allows the creation of more energy efficient window and door frames. Insulating the frame and sash components reduces the conductivity even further, allowing for the creation of some of the most energy efficient details in the world. (Need to add conductivity graph comparison)

Strength / Durability:

Pultruded fiberglass materials have similar strength to aluminum when compared generally on a weight per foot comparison. Furthermore, pultruded fiberglass retains its strength through a wide range of temperature extremes, unlike materials such as vinyl. This means pultruded fiberglass window frames provide some very desireable advantages, especially when compared to the softening and reduced strength than can happen with vinyl materials.

Low maintenance:

Pultruded fiberglass window components are not complete until a high quality is baked onto the surface. This finish is very durable and provides the designer/ end user with a very durable, low maintenance window or door. In fact, independent experts have estimated that it is the most durable window material currently available.

Environmental Considerations:

The creation of pultruded lineals with 60 -70% inert glass involves the lowest embodied energy of comparable materials. In essence, this means the materials do not “consume as much energy” in their creation. Pultruded fiberglass lineals have projected life expectancy equal to or longer than any other materials. Pultruded fiberglass materials can be re-cycled at the end of an extremely long life cycle and provide excellent energy efficiency. All of these advantages provide for environmental advantages.

Stability / Predictable performance:

The material characteristics of pultruded fiberglass includes very low rates of expansion and contraction. This characteristic provides an excellent advantage in maintaining good seal contact in hot or cold weather due to reduced relative movement of frames, sash and glass relative to each other.

Custom flexibility / finishes:

Stability of the material also provides for greater flexibility in finish (dark colors such as black) as well as options such as real wood veneers.

Non corrosive characteristics:

The non-corrosive characteristics of the material is an advantage when considering coastal applications, especially in hot or cold climates. Materials such as aluminum can be become pitted and deteriorate when exposed to the corrosive effects of salt water.

Pultruded fiberglass : what it is and how it is made

Pultruded fiberglass is an engineered material that has been created from a matrix of components with approximately 60 – 70% glass content, an intert and natural material. The material has evolved for many years with thin wall pultrusions for windows becoming available beginning in the early 1980’s.

Pultruded fiberglass is created through a process where strands of glass and glass matting is literally PULLED through a heated die. The glass is bonded together with a matrix of “heat setting” resins as it passes through an extremely hot die. The resulting lineals (customized to specific window component requirements) are cut to length and shipped to dedicated window manufacturers. Pultruded fiberglass lineals have a finish topcoat applied “inline” during the pultrusion process or “off” line at a later stage to suit the color/finish required.