Des Moines Window Pros provides professional high-performance glazing and energy-efficient windows in Des Moines, IA for residential and commercial properties across Greater Des Moines. Before we quote glass we ask what the attic measures. The Department of Energy puts heat gain and heat loss through windows at 25 to 30 percent of residential heating and cooling energy use, which leaves roughly three quarters of the problem somewhere else in the house.
The EPA's Seal and Insulate program puts the return from air sealing plus insulation in attics, floors over crawl spaces and basements at an average of 15 percent off heating and cooling costs, or about 11 percent off a total energy bill. That work usually costs a fraction of a window package, and it lands the same winter you pay for it.
So the first visit here is a walk-through, not a measure-up. We look at attic depth against the R-49 the state energy code asks for at the ceiling, at the top plates, bath fans, plumbing chases and dropped soffits where warm air actually leaves, and at the band joist above the foundation. If those are open, glass is the wrong line item to fund first.
There is a real other side to that argument, and we say it just as plainly. Windows move to the front of the queue when they are failing rather than merely old: broken edge seals, sash that will not lock, rot in the sill horn, single glazing with nothing over it, or a bedroom opening that does not meet egress. Those are not payback questions.
When glass is the right spend, buy it on the label rather than the brochure. ENERGY STAR Version 7.0 puts Iowa in the Northern zone and sets the prescriptive bar at a whole-unit U-factor of 0.22 with an SHGC of 0.17 or higher, with equivalent paths at 0.23 and 0.24 if SHGC reaches 0.35, and at 0.25 and 0.26 if it reaches 0.40.
The state energy code is a floor, not a target. Iowa has adopted the 2012 IECC, and in Climate Zone 5A, which covers Polk County, the prescriptive fenestration U-factor is 0.32. A stock builder unit that just clears 0.32 is legal and unremarkable. The distance between that number and 0.22 is the part of the quote you are actually paying extra for.
Ask for whole-unit ratings off the NFRC label rather than center-of-glass figures from a sales sheet, and ask what the air-leakage rating is. Then ask whether the price includes flashing the opening and packing the shim space with low-expansion foam, because a 0.22 unit set into an unsealed rough opening will perform like the 0.32 one it replaced.
We put the sequence in writing, including the parts of it we do not sell. If the honest answer is two thousand dollars of cellulose, a case of foam and a day of caulk before you think about glass again, that is what the estimate will say, and we will still be here in three years when the windows genuinely need doing.
Our licensed and insured team brings the right materials and equipment to every job — dense-pack cellulose and attic top-plate air sealing done ahead of glass, AERC-rated low-e interior and exterior storm panels, warm-edge spacers in replacement insulated glass units, pultruded fiberglass lineals with a glass-matched expansion rate, polyamide thermal struts in commercial aluminum framing, EPA Lead-Safe Certified containment on pre-1978 openings — and backs the work with a written workmanship warranty. We serve Des Moines and nearby communities including West Des Moines, Ankeny, Ames, Urbandale.
What We Handle
Everything our high-performance glazing and energy-efficient windows in Des Moines covers
One crew, one point of contact, and the full range of high-performance glazing and energy-efficient windows work in Des Moines, IA. If it is on this list we do it in house rather than handing it to a subcontractor:
- energy efficient windows
- low-E glass windows
- double pane windows
- argon filled windows
- ENERGY STAR Northern zone windows
- dual pane window replacement
- U-factor 0.22 windows
- warm edge spacer windows
- insulated glass replacement
- triple pane windows Des Moines
- air sealing and windows
- NFRC label ratings
- attic insulation before windows
- energy saving windows Des Moines
- Climate Zone 5A windows
Not sure which one describes your situation? Describe it in plain words and we will sort it out — or browse the rest of our Des Moines services.
Materials, equipment and how we do high-performance glazing and energy-efficient windows
The difference between high-performance glazing and energy-efficient windows that lasts and high-performance glazing and energy-efficient windows that gets redone in three years is almost always preparation and materials, not the finish you see on day one. We work with dense-pack cellulose and attic top-plate air sealing done ahead of glass, AERC-rated low-e interior and exterior storm panels, warm-edge spacers in replacement insulated glass units, pultruded fiberglass lineals with a glass-matched expansion rate, spec them to the job instead of to the invoice, and write the material grades into the free estimate so you know exactly what you are buying.
Every Des Moines job runs the same way: site walk and measurements, written scope and fixed price, protection of the surrounding area, then the work itself with a daily clean-up. Years of window work in Greater Des Moines means we have already met whatever your property is going to throw at us — awkward access, older construction, an HOA with opinions.
Where we do high-performance glazing and energy-efficient windows outside Des Moines
Des Moines Window Pros covers Des Moines and the surrounding communities of Greater Des Moines. Crews run out to the same nearby cities every week, so an out-of-town job does not mean an out-of-town price.
- High-Performance Glazing and Energy-Efficient Windows in West Des Moines, IA — Polk County, population 68,723 at the 2020 census
- High-Performance Glazing and Energy-Efficient Windows in Ankeny, IA — Polk County, population 67,887 at the 2020 census
- High-Performance Glazing and Energy-Efficient Windows in Ames, IA — Story County, population 66,427 at the 2020 census
- High-Performance Glazing and Energy-Efficient Windows in Urbandale, IA — Polk County, population 45,580 at the 2020 census
- High-Performance Glazing and Energy-Efficient Windows in Johnston, IA — Polk County, population 24,064 at the 2020 census
- High-Performance Glazing and Energy-Efficient Windows in Waukee, IA — Dallas County, population 23,940 at the 2020 census
Start on the Des Moines Window Pros homepage for a free estimate, or call (844) 511-2320 and describe the job.
Why Des Moines Chooses Des Moines Window Pros
- ✓We price the repair before the replacement, and we will take the smaller job
- ✓Whole-unit NFRC ratings on every quote, never center-of-glass numbers
- ✓Sloped sill pans with back dam and end dams on every opening we set
- ✓Insulated glass unit replacement offered on any sash that is still sound
The standards behind high-performance glazing and energy-efficient windows
Quality here is not a matter of opinion — it is written down. The high-performance glazing and energy-efficient windows work we do in Des Moines follows published industry standards: NFRC sets the U-factor and SHGC ratings on every window label, and ENERGY STAR defines the efficiency thresholds by climate zone. If a contractor cannot tell you which standard a detail comes from, that is worth asking about before you sign.
Every high-performance glazing and energy-efficient windows project in Des Moines gets the same attention, whether it is a single room or a full commercial job. We show up on schedule, keep the site clean, and stand behind the work — the estimate is free and there is no pressure.
Ready to get started? Call (844) 511-2320 for a free high-performance glazing and energy-efficient windows free estimate in Des Moines, or request a quote and we'll get right back to you.