As part of the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) Spring Committee Meeting, held in St. Petersburg, Fla., this week, attendees were invited to participate in an optional evening excursion Monday night to view the first area net-zero building as well as tour the Madico Window Films plant.

At the first stop of the night, the first net-zero building, developed for several commercial business tenants, Tom Hall, building developer and manager of All Florida Management, says the energy-efficient building has generated credits with the power company.

“Since we started this project December 2, 2012, we have yet to have a power bill; in fact, we’ve only generated credits,” he said.

Hall said he projects the average energy credit at full production to be around $700 per month. Hall also said the building had submitted to platinum LEED certification and had recently received an Energy Star® designation.

Current highlights of the project include window tinting, solar photovoltaic panels, electric vehicle charging stations, a geothermal HVAC system, tankless point-of-use water heaters, a foam-insulated building envelope, independent recycling, green spaces that include indigenous plant life and rainwater harvesting.

One of the highest-performing products, noted Hall, was the Madico window films used on the building on low-E windows, as opposed to insulating glass windows which Hall said would not perform as well in the warmer environment.

The films, according to Hall, offered a lower-cost option that boosted the overall efficiency of the windows, helping to bring down the cost of the project without lowering the efficiency. The SunGard dual-reflective Optivision 25 film used on the building was also installed with an exterior perforated jet-tinting image film with one of the tenant’s logos. Hall said the use of the decorative film also helped the company get around a town ordinance on street signage.

The next stop at Madico’s plant offered attendees a glimpse into the manufacturing and assembly process for developing window films. Attendees were welcomed with a reception while Darrell Smith, NFRC member and executive director of the International Window Film Association, explained the assembly and coating processes as well as the benefits of film in a presentation.

Attendees were then invited to tour the facility with staff and review the many components to window film construction.