Preserve Historic Windows with Indow Inserts

Historic preservation enriches our communities by preserving homes and buildings that tell stories about our past and guide us into the future. It pushes back against the cultural ethos of “new is better”; that anything old should be scrapped in the name of progress or better living. Home insulation tips and energy upgrades don't need to include destruction. That way of thinking has no endpoint and devours buildings, history, time, and energy.

We come at historic preservation through windows. Their design and placement determines the balance and beauty of a home or building. But, the window replacement industry has many people mistakenly believing that to make their homes energy efficient they need to replace their windows and that restoring old windows is more difficult than it is.

Many of America's historic windows were made from trees 200-300 years old at the time they were logged. The wood is dense and rot resistant. You can't find it anymore. And a lot of the glass was handblown before modern, machine-made optically-perfect float glass became widely available. Read our paper on Why Historic Windows Matter or check out our Window Zine to see how Young Preservationists turned their passion for window preservation into an artistic form.

We're honored to work with historic preservation organizations all over the country and regularly host free Window Hero Webinars featuring window restoration experts and master craftsmen who teach people how to care for their old windows.

Our inserts have helped preserve some really cool spaces: an iconic Case Study home; a Frank Lloyd Wright house, a pre-Revolutionary War Colonial in New Hampshire; the Homewood Museum at Johns Hopkins and many more.

We even preserved windows at Alcatraz, the former federal penitentiary and National Historic Landmark when the artist Ai WeiWei did a human rights installation there.

Explore our work in the preservation world:

Window Hero Webinars

In these recorded video seminars with some of the nation's best window restoration experts, learn everything from how to replace sash cords to lead paint safety to the value of original steel windows.

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Tour of Homes

Take a tour through some landmark homes throughout major architectural eras in American history. Historic preservation is about more than conservation of materials and resources. If we raze our history from our landscape, we may also erase it from our minds.

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Why Historic Windows Matter

Our downloadable article on why historic windows matter. A great resource for those considering replacement or for those trying to advocate for the preservation of windows within their community.

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Window Zines

Every year, with the help of community members, Indow creates a Window Zine to talk about why place matters. Read through our previous zines in our zine library to celebrate preservation.

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