Fenestration. 
Are you experiencing fenestration in your daily life? You may not know it, but I bet you are, that is unless you live in a yurt above the meadows in Asheville. Or simply have your head in the clouds.
Have a clue? Go on, take a guess! WHAT is "fenestration"?
I asked my friend the green builder that question.He just grinned. He likes words like riparian and fenestration. He likes the way they roll off his tongue. He's into the curious spark in people's eyes.
He wouldn't tell me. Sent me to Wikipedia... OK... I'm game... According to Wikipedia, fenestration refers to "products that fill openings in a building envelope, such as windows, doors, skylights, curtain walls, etc., designed to permit the passage of air, light, vehicles, or people.
(With reference to people, the word defenestration refers to being thrown from a window.)
NOW... If you are an eco-savvy REALTOR® or client, this is an important word having to do with efficiency and saving money. So before you defenestrate me for bringing this word to your attention...let me take you on over to the US Department of Energy for a small "lecture" on a subject close to home.
Fenestration graphic is courtesy of The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC)
Hop on over, if you will, to the NFRC.
Here you will find help on how "you [can] identify fenestration characteristics and select products!
In fact, the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) has developed a rating system based on whole product performance. You can compare products using the NFRC label, which appears on NFRC-certified products."
So here's the deal: Fenestration has to do with features such as daylighting, solar heating, shading, ventilation, and aesthetic value. And this is important when it comes to making purchase decisions. I'm not kidding myself, though. When it comes to all of this, I'm no pro. It could be a challenge for me to tell the difference between different types of windows. This I'll leave that to my son, the Energy Rater who knows all about how to evaluate window performance and make recommendations. He might suggest these links . . .
OK...it's your turn.. give me a word as intriguing as "fenestration"...
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Great Bolg Jane. You caught my attentiion and kept it (as always). And now I have one for you. PURLINS
Almost everyone knows what a truss is, right? At its simplest, it's a wooden triangle, combined with more wooden triangles to support a roof. Most conventional homes use plywood sheets on top of the trusses. If you use wooden planks instead of plywood, those wooden planks are called PURLINS, and are used in corn cob cottages and straw bale houses.
I got this info from Building Green: A Complete How To Guide to Alternative Building Methods by Clarke Snell and Tim Callahan.
A very good read for those who are ready to experiment with alternative building materials.
Have a great day!
Frances Sanderson, Franklin, NH REALTOR®, Certified EcoBroker®
Jane, great education on new words. I think you need to belong to my word of the day club :)
This reminds me of a class I was in a long time ago when we were trying to build our vocabularies -- and we had to look up a word, find out what it meant and then use it in a sentence. A great new word -- thank janeAnne
goodness, and I thought I was doing good to know what 'plenum-rated' was!
I'm coming to Asheville, so's I can fenestrate a yurt...
Frances~
PURLINS, eh? Figures you would find that from Clarke! I serve on the Board of the NLJ here in Asheville with him, and he is a mighty knowledgeable and articulate person...now all I need is a good story to bring out the quality of PURLINS..=)
Gary~
I may not belong to your word of the day club...but I have subscribed to your BLOG...and a very interesting one it IS!
THX!
Joan~
Now all I need to know is what sort of energy efficient fenestration applications you enjoy in your home and office...I'm thinking something remarkable...you might need this in NH
Hi Loretta~
I can hardly wait to see your yurt...I got the impression it could have pink curtains...would that be cool or what?
Aloha JaneAnne,
Fenetre is French for window and fenestra is Latin for opening. I had never heard of fenestration before and now I have, Thank you for the great information.
Peace,
I do not like being challenged on the stop with new words. I do however like learning them. Thanks for sharing.
When I first clicked on your Blog I thought I was going to get to give you some medical advice, I am glad you are OK.
Thanks for using your blog to educate the public about the great tools of NFRC! We help make it easy to choose GREEN!! www.nfrc.org
Aloha Kimo~
Ouvre les fenetres! Mais, don't throw me out! Thanks for reminding me of the root word...and to know where to go for answers when looking for derivations.. I learned something new about ya' today...and I like it!
Susan~
Now when you come to visit Asheville, I have a few fenestrations you will not believe that I want to show ya'...maybe not so much fun as visiting the Biltmore Estate eh?
Don~
I thought I might need some medical advice when I first encountered the word, too...I'm glad, that I didn't too. ... THX for your comment and kind thoughts...anyway...maybe we should keep our windows open for those nice cool breezes...best advice of all??
Cheryl~
Happy to meet you and especially happy to know that ..."We help make it easy to choose GREEN!! ..."
I had first heard the word 'fenestration' from an underwriter who wrote something to the effect of 'describe the fenestration of the subject vs comparable sales... ' - I think she just entered that so she could use her 'word for the day' :-D