# Window Material Inputs - Glazing System or Window?

**URL:** <https://discourse.ladybug.tools/t/window-material-inputs-glazing-system-or-window/17777>\
**Category:** ladybug-tools\
**Tags:** honeybee\
**Created:** [March 22, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://discourse.ladybug.tools/t/window-material-inputs-glazing-system-or-window/17777 "2022-03-22T16:07:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gzorzeto](https://discourse.ladybug.tools/user_avatar/discourse.ladybug.tools/gzorzeto/32/40395_2.png) [@gzorzeto](https://discourse.ladybug.tools/u/gzorzeto)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://discourse.ladybug.tools/t/window-material-inputs-glazing-system-or-window/17777/1 "2022-03-22T16:07:35Z")

</div>

@chris, I’m a bit confused with Honeybee’s nomenclature regarding windows. So, just to be sure, when the inputs of the HB Window Material component (U-Factor, SHGC and VT) refer to _glazing system_, it means the whole window (glazing + frame), as discussed [here](https://discourse.ladybug.tools/t/lbt-1-window-construction-u-factor-or-u-value/11790/11), right?

![image](https://discourse.ladybug.tools/uploads/default/original/3X/8/3/83fc4fb06363c931225065ca36070cc5b4597422.png)

I’m asking this because I’m used to the LBNL Window nomenclature, which considers a _glazing system_ as the ensemble of glass/gap/shading layers, while the _window_ effectively includes the _glazing system_ and the frames.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chris](https://discourse.ladybug.tools/user_avatar/discourse.ladybug.tools/chris/32/10179_2.png) [@chris](https://discourse.ladybug.tools/u/chris)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 1:03am UTC](https://discourse.ladybug.tools/t/window-material-inputs-glazing-system-or-window/17777/2 "2022-03-24T01:03:00Z")

</div>

Yes, that is correct, @gzorzeto . That particular material is usually meant to represent an entire glazing system so the u-factor should include both the frame and the air films.

I should also admit that we don’t yet have the means of specifying detailed frames in Honeybee but it will be implemented soon. You can follow the progress on this GitHub issue:

> <https://github.com/ladybug-tools/honeybee-energy/issues/209>
>
> This is a feature that most users probably don't need but it will be really help…ful for THERM integration and for the users who care deeply about modeling window U-values as accurately as possible.
> 
> I just wanted to record how I think this should be implemented. Specifically, I think it should be a property of the WindowConstruction and not a property of a fenestration surface (as it is in E+). This is because the frame performance is often tied to the type of window construction and not to a specific property of a specific window. So, on the GUI end, the user would have something like this:
> !\[image\](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/5567574/83357373-f198ae80-a339-11ea-83fc-4cb33d3fa388.png)
> 
> And the honeybee-openstudio-gem would take care of assigning the frame object to all Apertures that have the WindowConstruction with the frame.

Once that is implemented, you will have the option of specifying the frame characteristics separately from the glazing materials if you don’t want to use a single material to represent both.