Sustainable Product: JELD-WEN AuraLast Product Offering Expands, Offers Major Green Advantages

February 13, 2008 — ORLANDO, Fla. (IBS booth W-1701) – JELD-WEN’s efforts to revolutionize the wood window and door industry by inventing technology that creates longer lasting, more reliable products is a major hit with today’s growing market looking for green and sustainable solutions.

Called AuraLast The Worry-Free Wood®, JELD-WEN’s secret to longer-lasting wood windows and doors is due to an exclusive manufacturing process that forces protection against moisture saturation, wood decay and insect infestation all the way through to the core of the wood. This allows the company to offer an industry-leading 20-year warranty for its pine wood windows and doors manufactured with AuraLast® wood.

Now, three years after AuraLast’s introduction, the company is expanding its offering with a new exterior entry door frame made with AuraLast® wood. According to JELD-WEN experts, it’s a big opportunity to provide additional protection for this vulnerable exterior area and garage entries that also suffer from moisture and insect problems.

“People don’t want to have to worry about their windows and doors, nor do they want to wonder if the investment they make in the beauty of wood will last over the long run,” said Rod Clark, product marketing manager for JELD-WEN wood windows. “We’ve solved that problem and pioneered a better standard, which we’re continuing to expand with our new exterior door frames offered in all natural wood for staining or painting to match any door color.”

Environmental Attributes

Although maximum reliability was the main motivation behind JELD-WEN’s invention, AuraLast® wood also delivers a number of benefits that are attracting a growing market interested in sustainable building and design.  Key attributes such as reduced toxins, longer-lasting products and raw materials sourced within close proximity of its manufacturing plants have made JELD-WEN windows and doors with AuraLast® wood a strong option for architects, builders, remodelers and homeowners looking for environmentally friendly options. 

“Wood is a natural, renewable material, so it’s already preferred by many people who want to incorporate green attributes. AuraLast® wood takes it a step farther and provides additional benefits that fit with key elements of sustainable design,” said Clark.

Sustainable benefits of JELD-WEN wood windows, doors and door frames with AuraLast® wood include:

- Fewer toxins: JELD-WEN uses a closed-loop, water-based system to manufacture AuraLast® wood, which reduces harmful, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) by 96 percent compared to the industry standard method of ”dip treating” wood using petroleum-based solutions. Additionally, because of the intense vacuum pressure that JELD-WEN uses, less preservative is needed to achieve the same level of effectiveness. 

- Longer lasting: Having to replace windows, doors and frames less often means less waste and more efficient use of natural resources. Unlike the standard dip treatment method, JELD-WEN’s system forces active ingredients all the way through to the core of the wood. That means, even if the surface of the wood is compromised by nail or screw holes and other finishing processes, the wood will still be protected, allowing JELD-WEN to offer the industry’s best warranty for AuraLast® wood windows, doors and door frames.

- Energy efficiency:  Energy savings is a major component of green design. All JELD-WEN windows with AuraLast® wood come standard with Low-E glass and are suitable for extreme climate conditions.

- Locally sourced:  All JELD-WEN AuraLast® wood products are made in the United States, and the company has manufacturing plants throughout the nation. That means product travels shorter distances, reducing fuel consumption and its impact on the environment.

- Less waste:  Because JELD-WEN manufactures the most extensive lines of doors and windows, wood waste and chips are recycled and used by the company’s other plants to make a variety of other wood composite products.

For these reasons, JELD-WEN windows and doors with AuraLast® wood have been selected for a variety of innovative sustainable building projects. High-profile projects that are showcasing the use of AuraLast® wood include Brasada Ranch, a resort community in Oregon that is the first newly constructed destination resort to receive a LEED Gold certification for its Discovery Center building from the U.S. Green Business Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Additionally, AuraLast® wood windows are planned for the new American Institute of Architects (AIA) building in Portland, Ore., which is making headlines as a LEED platinum-rated project.

“When it comes to achieving LEED ratings, every aspect of sustainable building design is thoroughly reviewed and critiqued,” said Clark. “We’re proud of the fact that our windows made with AuraLast® wood are helping these projects live up to the highest environmental standards.”

For more information about the exceptional value and reliability of JELD-WEN products, or to find a dealer near you, please visit www.jeld-wen.com or call 800-877-9482.