Practical Preservation Podcast featuring Jay Reyher from Quanta Panel

Jay Reyher from Quanta Panel joined the Practical Preservation podcast to discuss:

  • How they began producing storm windows
  • The technology behind their system
  • Why saving your original windows makes sense from an engineering standpoint

Quanta Panel’s tagline is, “You don’t need brand-new windows.  Your windows need brand-new technology.”  We couldn’t agree more…and it helps that they manufacture less than a mile from our office – made in America and local!

Contact information:

Quanta Technologies, Inc.
1036 New Holland Avenue
Lancaster, PA 17601-5606
1.855.782.6821

Speaker 1:

Thank you for tuning in to the Practical Preservation Podcast. Please take a moment to visit our website, practicalpreservationservices.com, for additional information and tips to help you restore your historical home. If you’ve not done so, please subscribe to us on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud, and also like us on Facebook. Welcome to the Practical Preservation Podcast, hosted by Danielle and Jonathan Keperling. Keperling Preservation Services is a family owned business based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, dedicated to the preservation of our built architectural history for today’s use, as well as future generations. Our weekly podcast provides you with expert advice specific to the unique needs of renovating a historic home, educating by sharing our from the trenches preservation knowledge and our guests’ expertise, balancing modern needs while maintaining the historical significance, character, and beauty of your period home.

Danielle:

This is Danielle with the Practical Preservation Podcast. And today we have Jay Reyher with us from Quanta Technologies to talk about storm windows and their possibilities for use for retaining your original windows. So, thank you, Jay, for joining us today on the podcast.

Jay Reyher:

I’m glad to be here. Thank you for the invitation, Danielle.

Danielle:

You’re welcome. So, we talked a little bit before, before we hit the record button, and talked about storm windows and the different experiences that we’ve had. But I’d like to know a little bit more about you, how did you get started in preservation? Or if it’s a better question, how did you start your business making storm windows so that we can preserve the original windows?

Jay Reyher:

So actually, I approached it more from the technology perspective. Earlier in my career, I actually ran a fairly large business as part of a chemical company. And we produced coatings that were used on architectural glass for new construction in order to provide energy efficiency to buildings. And at that time we were looking at opportunities to grow the business and had worked on a project with the U.S. Department of Energy to demonstrate that you could engineer a storm window that would provide comparable performance to that of a brand new window. Having developed that, it sat on the shelves for several years, quite a few years in fact, until we decided to start this company to bring that technology to market.

Danielle:

Okay. And are the majority of your projects, are they new construction or preservation? What types of projects do you get involved with?

Jay Reyher:

Almost all of our projects are retrofit or existing construction. We do have some exceptions, for example, in Wilmington, Delaware, they’re going to be building a new apartment building that’s near a railroad track, and they’ll be using the sound reduction benefits of our window technology in conjunction with brand new windows in order to get a quiet environment for the apartment.

Danielle:

That makes sense. Yeah.

Jay Reyher:

But in most cases, it’s existing buildings. And many of those are either state properties where a residential property would have a very large number of windows, the original windows. The architecture is such that the owner wants to retain those windows, but once modern day window performance or historic properties, both commercial or multifamily and residential.

Danielle:

Very, very interesting. And you do both public and private buildings, that’s very similar to what we do. Why do you think that the preservation of our historic buildings is important for retaining the original windows?

Jay Reyher:

Well, I think windows actually end up being a significant architectural feature of every building, and most especially historic buildings. And you never really can replicate those to the same degree if you seek to manufacture those from brand new materials.

Danielle:

Right. Especially if you’re trying to do a mass produced replacement window option. You just can’t get the same look, and you even oftentimes make the opening smaller and change the complete appearance of the interior and exterior of the building.

Jay Reyher:

Exactly.

Danielle:

Yeah.

Jay Reyher:

So having been in this business for some time I guess I’ve become somewhat of a window snob. I find it difficult to see a beautiful historic property where the windows have been replaced by something brand new because I think it really detracts from the features of that property.

Danielle:

Right. Are your storm windows… Do you have interior options or just exterior at this point?

Jay Reyher:

We actually have both. We have three series. We have an exterior series which is our 500 series that installs on the exterior, and those can be either fixed or operational. So if it were a property or windows that you wanted fresh air ventilation, ours can open as well. We have an interior series, which is our 600 series, which is a really unique design. It’s patented in order to achieve a very low air infiltration amount, which is an important part of the performance.

Danielle:

Right. How do you seal then the edges? I know that we’ve used some that were like the magnets, but how do you seal your edges?

Jay Reyher:

Well, that particular product has a box beam type design on the frame. And the frame actually has which create insulating barriers between the existing jam and the storm window system. And in addition to that, it has a compressible seal, which is around the perimeter that actually helps to seal even if you have a slightly out of square condition of the original window.

Danielle:

Right. Okay.

Jay Reyher:

We also have just launched our 700 series, which is an architectural series, which is incorporates the features of the interior product, but on an exterior product, and achieves an even lower profile than our 500 series.

Danielle:

But then that’s an exterior?

Jay Reyher:

Exactly.

Danielle:

Okay. Okay. The low profile is usually what our clients are looking for because they don’t want to see it. So you didn’t start out from a preservation background, but you’ve become a preservationist. What do you wish that you knew when you started that you know now?

Jay Reyher:

I think… And that was a great segue into the question. I think we originally focused solely on energy, and that was a limitation.

Danielle:

Right.

Jay Reyher:

And as we’ve had the product in the market, and as we better understood the market, we now offer a product which improves performance, and it’s broader than just energy. It’s performance in terms of energy, comfort, reducing a problem, for example, condensation associated with temperature, reducing or improving acoustical performance within a room or noise propagation from outside, and all of those things that can be done while allowing the building owner to retain the original windows.

Danielle:

Right. And that usually what people want to do, at least from a preservation standpoint, is to retain the windows, but then also get those modern benefits so that it is comfortable. And maybe you’ve already kind of told us, but I was curious as to what your biggest mistake was, but maybe it was focusing on energy rather than preservation to begin?

Jay Reyher:

I would say so. Most of my experience prior to this has been with very large organizations. It just took longer, I think, and has taken longer to really get the product into the market and get it accepted than I thought it would.

Danielle:

Right. Right.

Jay Reyher:

Having said that, what’s kind of interesting right now is that we actually have a very nice portfolio of buildings. Everything from very large high rises to single-family historic properties, churches, schools, you name it. And I often ask myself, was that a necessary step? But in other words, is it necessary to build that portfolio? And could we have done that any faster? And I’m not sure that we could have. [inaudible 00:08:51]-

Danielle:

Right. It takes a little bit for the market. And as we were talking about before we started recording, it’s an education process too, because people don’t always know what their options are for making the original windows energy efficient, because they just hear that you have to replace and you have to replace, and there are options for making it just as energy efficient as a replacement window.

Jay Reyher:

Exactly.

Danielle:

Right. Right.

Jay Reyher:

It’s always a pleasure when you find someone who is a historic preservationist or who appreciates that historic properties, and they find us or find our product and make a remark like, “We’ve been looking for this. This is exactly what we need.”

Danielle:

Yes. Yes. So, what do you see as the biggest preservation challenge? Is it the education component? Or is there something else that you’re finding as you learn about this niche market yourself?

Jay Reyher:

I think it probably is education and it’s creating awareness by all of those parties that have interests, that there is an option available. The replacement window marketers and manufacturers have done an exceptional job in convincing everybody that that’s the only solution that’s out there. There are very few companies like Quanta that actually have an innovative solution that allows you to retain your windows. Our biggest challenge is creating that awareness for people that have interest.

Danielle:

Right. Right. And I was thinking too, that’s why we pretty much tell people that we work on buildings that were built before the end of World War II. And really there wasn’t a lot of building being done during the depression of World War II because all the resources were going towards either there wasn’t money to build us big public works projects or the resources were going towards the war. But because after that, we did, we got products that could just be installed. And that’s what the replacement window did, and they took that mass marketing mindset of the fifties and sixties, and they’ve continued to push and push and push the replacement window rather than retaining what was there. And it does put you into a replacement windows cycle because those windows don’t last 200 years like our original windows do.

Jay Reyher:

Absolutely. In fact, I think that’s the biggest shame of it. There’ve been several instances where we’ve encountered people that had beautiful, original divided light windows. We’re actually looking at a courthouse in Pennsylvania right now that has beautiful mahogany windows. They’ve been there for 75 to a hundred years. They’ve speced and will install our interior product, but if they would have been convinced to install a replacement, more likely than not, that would have lasted between 15 and 25 years and had to have been replaced again. So not only does it take away architecturally it, as you say, puts them in the replacement windows cycle.

Danielle:

Right, it does. And thinking about that, it also changes the way the building works energy wise, especially if you’re not planning on using centralized air conditioning and you want to be able to open your windows, that the buildings were designed to have the windows open so that the air could flow through, and you’re taking that away also. Our old office none of the windows would open. And that was my biggest complaint about that because we don’t live at our house in air conditioning all the time, and I loved to open the windows and have fresh air. And so, yeah, I would be very upset if I got replacement windows. Well, except the one thing that I do love about replacement windows is my public confession is the tilt on. But I just solved that by not cleaning my windows. So, what trends do you see in preservation?

Jay Reyher:

I would say we see a lot more enthusiasm. I think there is interest in maintaining the buildings that are out there. There’s adaptive reuse I think has become a very interesting trend.

Danielle:

Right. In development.

Jay Reyher:

Exactly. A, I think it is cost-effective. B, certainly it’s supported by using innovative ways to finance including historic tax credits, whether they be federal or state, provide a very good opportunity from a financing standpoint. But it really allows a developer to create a very unique building that’s going to be substantially different than if he would’ve leveled and built a brand new building that would have looked like any other building.

Danielle:

Right. Right. And it’s reusing what’s already there. So it’s the ultimate green building too, because you already have all that embodied energy that you’re not tearing down to build new and using more resources and everything else. There was an old, probably from the early eighties, probably right after the energy crisis, it’s the National Trust ad. And it’s a building that looks like a gas can, and it tells you how many gallons of gas it takes when you tear down a building in a comparison. And I love that ad. When we are posting for Earth Day I always pull that up and repost it because it really does show you that the amount of energy to do a new building if you’re tearing down something that’s already there and usable doesn’t make sense, fiscally or environmentally.

Jay Reyher:

Yeah.

Danielle:

Yeah.

Jay Reyher:

There’s another aspect, I had a conversation earlier this week with an engineering company that’s working… Well, it’s doing some ESCO projects. And I was asking them the question with respect to, “While energy prices are down substantially, and we expect it to stay down, does that make ESCO or doing projects that improve energy consumption less attractive?” And the response was interesting, they said, “Absolutely not,” because you really have to separate energy and the source of energy, and let’s say, renewable energies. And you really want to think about the economics of those renewable energies actually don’t compete economically with some of your fossil fuels at the moment. And perhaps at a certain point in time they will. But if we are making investments in our building stock in this country, trying to reduce the overall energy consumption, that’s a good investment irrespective of what the source of energy is.

Danielle:

Right. Right.

Jay Reyher:

And the other thing, the reduction in demand is actually very attractive because that enables the utilities to either idle or not utilize their lower cost production, energy production, in times of peak demand. So the whole ESCO aspect of the market just in terms of the energy I think is also a very, very interesting driver.

Danielle:

It is. It is. And it makes sense to… It’s balancing present day needs with future development. And we try to take that approach with people when they’re looking at their homes and what they want to do, I’m like, “You’re going to live here. You have to be comfortable. You have to balance what today’s needs are, but then don’t do anything that’s going to hurt the building.” So, it’s the same kind of idea that you have to have a present day, but also a future and a past mindset.

Jay Reyher:

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.

Danielle:

Yeah. So, are there any ways that you keep up with preservation trends? Or is there anything that you follow or watch or read?

Jay Reyher:

Not really. I mean, I try to stay abreast of it as much as I can and really try to understand what technology is being offered, but that would probably be the limit.

Danielle:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I’m coming from a technical background.

Jay Reyher:

That makes sense.

Danielle:

So, do you have a favorite resource for preservation or energy, or anything along those lines that you would want to recommend for our listeners?

Jay Reyher:

We’ve actually worked a lot with the Department of Energy, from an energy and a comfort standpoint. Like many products… And again, I guess this comes back to my technical background, like many projects, products, excuse me, there’s a lot of technology that’s built into it. And the same as the case with windows. And so, we have worked with and used the Department of Energy, we’re also working with the EPA, and actually in the process of, or they’re in the process of coming up with an energy star label for architectural low-e storm windows, which should be available sometime in 2018. So I like having those resources, and I think it helps to give an unbiased objective view of technologies and how they need to compete.

Danielle:

Right. And I know for a brief moment in time during the economic downturn they were actually offering tax credits for storm windows. And then I think that probably the replacement window lobby got that removed, but there was a brief moment where that was being offered. So the energy star though I think will help that then become more mainstream. So I’m excited to hear that. So what makes your storm window different from other storm window companies?

Jay Reyher:

So I would say, number one, we focus on performance. Our product is designed to provide the same performance, and in some cases, better performance than what you would get if you replace your windows. And it’s designed from an architectural standpoint, not to be seen. So really whether it’s installed in the interior or the exterior, what you will see and should see is your original window. And we do that in any number of ways, the specific design of the product. We also have a custom color line of colors, which isn’t truly custom because it’s a siliconized polyester powder coat, but we’ve got 225 colors that we offer. So that almost, in any case, a homeowner or a building owner can find one of those that’s close enough to match, that our own product once installed integrates with the existing…

Danielle:

It blends it.

Jay Reyher:

Exactly.

Danielle:

Instead of those chunky old mid-century aluminum, that’s just the aluminum finish.

Jay Reyher:

Exactly. Exactly.

Danielle:

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So did you want to make an offer or a promotion for our audience?

Jay Reyher:

Sure. So, we use, and it’s certainly appropriate with our website, which is www.quantapanel.com. We use that for both our commercial business as well as our residential business. And we actually have the ability on our website for consumers who would seek to DIY, to install themselves, to place an order directly.

Danielle:

Oh, that’s great.

Jay Reyher:

So I would offer that if anybody would go to our website and be interested in doing so, there’s plenty of information there. But if they go to the buyer’s guide, that’s where they can construct an order. And if they used a promo code QP1703, we would be willing to give a 10% discount for a limited time.

Danielle:

Very good. Thank you. Thank you very much for that. I will sure that that gets added to our website also if you didn’t have a chance to write that down so that you can take advantage of that offer. Thank you very much. So I know you just gave us your website, you can give it to us again though. And how can our audience get ahold of you or find out more information? And I know you’d said that there’s a way to order online, which is great because that makes it easy. You can decide on a weekend that you want to do this, and take your measurements, and get your order in.

Jay Reyher:

Yeah, that probably would be the easiest way. Of course, we can be reached by phone, and presumably that will be on your link as well.

Danielle:

Yes. Yes. We’ll put all your contact information on our website. And then it’ll also be in the transcript too.

Jay Reyher:

Okay.

Danielle:

Yeah.

Jay Reyher:

And as you get to our website, you’ll see that you can follow a residential path if it’s a single-family home. Yeah. You can follow a commercial path or you can follow a buyer’s guide, which would help anyone who is interested in actually DIY and buying it yourself. And often what we do, we’re perhaps trying to become, I jokingly say the Amazon of the architectural low-e storm window business. We have developed the ability, or developing the ability, if someone has the interest, we have measurement guides. Often we will FedEx a small sample so that a customer can see the product before they make their purchasing decision. A system with measurements that can place the measurements directly on our site, and then we shipped direct to their home. So, that’s the way that we’re really trying to target the direct consumer in addition to working through contractors, and then certainly the commercial businesses that’s all contract.

Danielle:

Yes. Yes. Okay, very good. Well, thank you very much. Is there anything else that you wanted to share or that you thought about while we were talking?

Jay Reyher:

I think this is an incredibly interesting space. I am happy that it’s evolved me into the restoration area. A lot of my prior experience has been in building product. And this is one area where I think it re the restoration is really prominent, and that’s exciting.

Danielle:

It is.

Jay Reyher:

It’s a very exciting [inaudible 00:23:09].

Danielle:

Okay. Very good. Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. And we will have all of Jay’s information on our website and you can go there and find what you need to, and it’ll link right to his site. Thank you for listening to the Historic Restorations’ Podcast.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening to the Practical Preservation Podcast. The resources discussed during this episode are on our website at practicalpreservationservices.com/podcast. If you received value from this episode and know someone else that will get value from it as well, please share it with them. Join us next week for another episode of the Practical Preservation Podcast. For more information on restoring your historic home, visit practicalpreservationservices.com.

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