As Australia is a wide and diverse country it can be difficult to select the best window for your climate. For this reason the Australian Glass and Window Association (AGWA) is developing an industry-wide strategy to deliver more sustainable residential buildings through energy-efficient windows and doors.
The SWA project has run over 4000 simulations in all eight BCA climate zones in three house types with a wide range of windows to show the impact of high performance windows on the energy efficiency or star rating of the home. All results have been peer reviewed by a panel of Australian and International scientists. From the SWA project there have been three Simple Guides to Window Selection developed. These guides focus on providing the information to allow you to select the best windows your climate. The three guides cover heating areas (BCA Climate zones 6, 7 & 8), cooling areas (BCA Climate zones 1, 2 & 3) and mixed areas (BCA Climate zones 4 & 5).
SWA - Climate Zones 1, 2 and 3 (2071 KB) Northern Australia, Brisbane and Darwin
SWA - Climate Zones 4 & 5 (1937 KB)
Sydney, Perth and Adelaide
SWA - Climate Zones 6, 7 & 8 (1919 KB)
Most of Victoria, ACT, Tasmania and Southern parts of NSW and WA
Download this guide for further information:
A Guide to Energy Efficiency Compliance
The report will list one or many values for windows, these being U value and SHGC. In order to comply the window system must perform to the set parameters. It's important to note, that these values are 'whole window values', not glass alone. When looking for a U value, it's important to find a window with a U value Lower than or equal to specified. The SHGC must be within 10% of the set value. For help searching for windows, visit our advanced search engine which has these calculations and many more features built in.
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