1. Caulking- Check the caulking around the outside of your windows to see if it is beginning to crack or peel. Caulking is very important because it waterproofs the seams of your windows and prevents them from rotting . If caulking failure is caught early enough it is relatively easy and cheap to fix the problem.

I’ll warn you ahead of time its not very exciting and unless you get geek out by molecule compounds you might end up in a science como. So I will try and make this as painless a possible. When describing solid materials you can categorize them four ways; metal, ceramic, composite and polymer. What separates polymers from other solid materials is its carbon atom formation and its molecular structure that is long and chain-like. There are two subcategories of polymer; synthetic and natural. Natural polymers include materials like leather, wood, and paper. Synthetic polymers were developed in the late 1920 and consist of products like plastics, rubber and adhesives. Scientist developed synthetic polymers after studying natural polymers and their compounds. Synthetic material have grow widely popular in all industry and proven to be very useful. Polymer products have reshape the home improvement industry by replacing wood products(natural polymer) with synthetic polymer materials like vinyl and fiberglass. Siding manufactures started adapting to this new technology in the late 1950s with the invention of vinyl siding for the home. Today Synthetic Polymer Siding is the most widely used type of siding and it continues to change as new technology and innovations help increase its durability and strength. No longer are we dependent on wood products to protect the exterior of the home. Synthetic polymer products have the ability to withstand water and will add year of life to your home. Purchasing siding can be a very big decision, make sure you do your research to find the best option for your home.

For most people, window technology is boring and doesn’t spark an interest like electric cars or wind turbines but that’s all about to change. News of new window technology that uses electricity and Nanocrystals  to save energy have started to grab peoples attention. Since the 1970s there has been a push for more efficient and better insulated windows. Double pane windows have taken over the market and the use of triple pane windows have started to grow in popularity. But windows are still responsible for major energy losses in the home and have problems maintaining efficiency throughout the year.

Ideally, you want windows to allow sunlight and heat transfer into your home during winter months and in the summer block the heat but keep the light. Up until this point, windows technology has offered no answers to maintaining efficiency all year round. But Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories has come up with a solution. Researchers have developed a replacement window that uses Nanocrystals to either allow or deny heat transfer through a window. When an electric current is applied to a Nanocrystals coating on the window, it blocks the heat from the sun while still allowing the light. Take the current away and the heat is able to transfer freely through the window. The electrical current will hooked up and controlled  through the HVAC system and only requires a couple of volts. According to Stephen Selkowitz, head of the building technologies at Berkeley Lab “it cost homeowners about $40 a year” in energy cost, he says “i’d rather have the $40 billion in my pocket instead of sending it out the window.”

Smart Windows could be available on the market within 3 years but the price tag wont be cheap. The hope is that once the manufactures start adapting to the new technology and start producing them in bulk it will drive down prices and make the windows affordable.