People who pursue ENERGY STAR ratings or “Green” products typically do so from the motivation to save energy and/or to use renewable resources – rarely is the motivation to brag about the certification itself. This is a good thing for the window tinting industry because no window tinting product is currently ENERGY STAR rated because the complicated approval process only rates the EXACT product and construction being tested and is therefore predisposed to the special interests of the window replacement industry.
Therefore, although the solar heat gain coefficient for many window tints qualifies under the ENERGY STAR system, the rating on one type of glass would only certify that precise glass and film combination. Of course, with dozens of glass types and dozens of window tinting films, testing all combinations is cost prohibitive.
What does all this mean?
As an example, for the South/Central climate zone, windows and doors that are ENERGY STAR qualified must have NFRC certified performance ratings U-factor less than 0.65 and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) less than 0.40. Let’s say you have Low-E dual pane windows with U-factor of 0.50 but SHGC of 0.76 (typical residential window). In order to achieve ENERGY STAR, you would need to replace all the windows. However, there are dozens of window tinting films that will maintain your U-factor below ENERGY STAR levels and get your SHGC down below ENERGY STAR levels. Essentially – you can get better performance than ENERGY STAR ratings by leveraging the performance you already have and adding ONLY WHAT YOU NEED!
Again, ENERGY STAR rates appliances with returns on investment of 4-5 years while window tint can offer much faster return while at the same time making you more comfortable.
The point with true “green” projects and products is that you need to look at the whole picture – don’t think you are saving the world at your house because you put bamboo flooring under three commercial refrigerators and two dishwashers in your 1,000 SQFT kitchen.
You can probably guess that ENERGY STAR does not rate cars - however, 2009 laws in California are requiring new cars to start integrating heat reflective films into the glass because the cars can then have smaller air conditioners. While this is not per se window tinting, you can see that whereas the State of California recognizes the impact on gas mileage for new cars, you can have the heat rejection added to your existing car with automobile window tinting.