As glass technology and efficiency improve and become more capable of preventing heat loss during the winter, more people in colder climates are thinking about creating better indoor-outdoor connections in their new homes. There’s an undeniable appeal to living in a glass house, or at least a room that blends surrounding natural features like a garden, woods, or water with living space. Expansive patios are also popular and in the warm months, they create the feeling that one’s home has grown beyond its shell.
Energy Efficiency
Window glazing is the biggest technological advancement in improving the energy efficiency of houses and allowing homeowners to start using more glass and opening their interiors to the outside. However, you can also use treatments such as awnings (which can reduce solar heat gain by 65-77%, dependent on whether they are south or west-facing), blinds, or drapes, though many architectural designs that favor a lot of glass are not made to work with treatments.
Party Space
The indoor-outdoor flow between the kitchen or living room and an expansive patio area makes entertaining easy and reduces divisions in the party over the threshold. Wide and tall openings create that seamless experience that conjoins inside and outside, and keeping an area covered (particularly around the entrance) means you can still open up your home in the rain. Design experts also recommend maintaining the same floor level inside and outside, whereas in the past most patios have been a step or two lower than the inside.
Private Garden
Many homeowners are adding sliding doors to their bedrooms that lead out to small gardens, especially with water features and Zen elements. Zen gardening is a very expressive, meditative practice that uses sound features (like a quiet water fountain or a wind chime), aromatic plants, and visually appealing features. The right patio doors allow homeowners to move seamlessly between their private indoor and outdoor sanctuaries.
Sliding glass doors are a great way to blend indoor and outdoor space through the warmer months, especially if a house is built with a deck or a patio leading out from a breakfast nook or casual dining room. If you want to design a new home to create a better flow between the inside and the outside, our team at Golden Windows can help. We have decades of experience working with architects, builders, and contractors to provide high quality, high-performing windows and doors for new and older homes.
Many contractors who work with us already have their client’s design specifications, and now all they need to do is find products that meet certain physical and thermal performance requirements. Many Golden Windows products have the Energy Star symbol, and you can look up the specific U-values of our sliding patio doors on our website. All of our glass products come with Low E coating, available at various strengths, which use argon gas to deflect heat energy. You can also check out our doors’ physical performance results according to North American Fenestration Standard specifications, including water penetration resistance, air infiltration/exfiltration, and positive and negative design pressure. We specialize in windows and patio doors and manufacture all of our products at the Golden Windows plant in Kitchener, Ontario with a commitment to environmentally-friendly manufacturing. Give us a call and we can help you find the patio windows and doors that will meet your specifications.
