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Picked windows for our #greenbuilding in #houston - Pella Impervia

We have picked windows for our house. Several things led us to this choice:

 1) Our builder recommended Pella as a good deal, and mentioned that he was very familiar with their quality and installation

 2) A good friend gave us a reference, saying she had had Pellas for over 30 years, and was always content with their quality

 3) We experienced new Pella's in the vacation rental house we staid in for 10 days, and liked their quality and hardware

 4) We checked them out at the local showroom, and liked the hardware

 5) Pella has a line of windows made from fiberglass and with good environmental ratings (see below)

 6) We had decided to make a decision in a timely manner to help expedite design and planning by the architects

 We chose the Impervia line (http://web.pella.com/products/productlines/impervia/Pages/impervia.aspx) which can achieve very good SHGC or solar heat gain coefficients, a measure of how much of the sun's energy is allowed in.

 Although not obvious yet on the Pella website, these are now available in casements, which is our preferred style. We like the idea of being able to open windows when the weather is nice. In addition you can get them in some fixed funky shapes!

 The exact specs of the windows are not yet determined - there are variations in the glass and coatings and the frames insulation, which affect the exact performance and of course the cost. Remember, we are doing "light green" here, so it is not obvious that we'd get the top of the line. In addition, the $1,500 tax credit, while nice, may not be enough to push us to a higher cost just for its own sake.

 Oh, and we chose the white finish.