We're proud to partner with the Window Preservation Standards Collaborative (WPSC) and the work they are doing to promote the education and standards used in the window restoration trade.  

The Start

In the Fall of  2010 several window specialists realized the time was right to create national standards for the repair and weatherization of old and historic windows. The Window Preservation Standards Collaborative (WPSC) now includes over one hundred and fifty other window specialists from across the country and in Canada.

Why Now?

There is an immediate need for standards that include well researched energy data as well as a catalog of proven methods used to repair and restore historic windows. We cannot wait for years or decades for a standard to “evolve” since the replacement window industry is now actively destroying millions of historic and perfectly functional old windows every month. Obviously there is nothing green or environmentally sound about this tragedy.

Urgent Action

The quicker we put this effort into play, the less time the replacement window industry has to spend their tens of millions in marketing money to discredit this critical and objective effort. The window replacement industry’s aggressive marketing has bamboozled homeowners, contractors and property developers into believing window replacement is the only option.  Just because they claim their products are superior does not make it true. Act now or lose your historic windows forever.

New Hope

Over the last 30 years there have been a few window restoration experts, teaching, repairing, restoring and weatherizing historic windows. For years we all struggled to save windows. The scene has changed. From the National Trust for Historic Preservation to statewide preservation groups to State Offices of Historic Preservation to local preservation groups and Historic Preservation Commissions, saving historic windows has risen to the top of the agenda. Help us get the word out.

More and more architects and property developers are interested in specifying the weatherization and repair of historic windows with little information on standards they can use to do so. Many tradespeople and contractors are starting to do this work, but don’t always know the best methods and materials. It is our purpose to change this by providing standards for sustainable window restoration and definitive energy testing data for effective weatherization.

The Book

In the summer of 2013 the National Window Preservation Standards book was published and available for purchase. It  catalogs specific methods for the assessment, maintenance, repair, preservation and weatherization of older and historic windows. Many detailed methods, procedures and materials will be included, as well as basic strategies for saving older and historic windows.

National Window Preservation Summit, July 26-28, 2011

WPSC sponsored the first National Window Preservation Summit at The Pine Mountain Settlement School in Pine Mountain, Kentucky. The Summit was a critical research effort. Founders demonstrated the restoration & weatherization methods daily with comments by the advisers at the end of each morning and afternoon session. Energy testing was done to establish the efficiency of the various standards that were adjusted according to the Advisers comments and recommendations. We invited 35 key Advisers from across the country to attend. We also opened the Summit up to 15 Observers.

Fundraising

The WPSC is raising money support this project through bi-annual Summit gathers, silent auctions, sale of the first standards book and donations from the community and restoration trades people.  Every donation gets us one step closer to publication of the second edition of the Window Preservation Standards book.