I mostly use Marvin and Andersen. Your builder may have some insight and/or preferences.

Thank you. Our builder is on vacation, but we'll talk to him and see what is preference is when we return. I hope to make a trip to at least one showroom this week just to start to get the lay of the land in the meantime. It sounds like I should add Marvin and possibly Andersen to my list to consider.

You won't get what you won't pay for with windows. And a whole host of other building choices. Good windows are expensive for a reason. You can spend 1000 per window pretty easily by starting to specify non standard sizes, shapes, or colors. Or you can buy white vinyl double hungs that meet minimum standards for $200 a piece.

Pella is expensive crap.

My favorite US brand as long as you want fairly standard colors is Okna.

They make vinyl, not fiberglass. My house is pricey, but it isn't valued at $1.5 mil plus (anymore, hahaha), so I wouldn't put fiberglass on it. Extra expense. No extra performance.

Actually, if I had that kind of house, I'd get steel for looks.

Any company should have a U value of .29 or better even for horizontal sliders. Beware of companies that do this by reducing glass size, though! Foam insulation, thermal breaks, low E--all standard now. Argon fills are $5 a window.

What sets good companies apart is the air infiltration rate. Okna's are fabulous. And they are absurdly cheap for the quality.

Okna specialized in replacement but will do new construction.

Marvin has very good quality and superb finish level.

Anderson is better than Pella but definitely meh.

We used Marvin Integrity, fiberglass outside, wood inside, and we love them.

Thanks, all! I visited a showroom today and really liked the Marvin Integrity with fiberglass outside, wood inside (though all fiberglass was nice, too). For whatever reason (pricing is weird in all things house, I've discovered) fiberglass isn't THAT much more expensive than high quality vinyl in our area - he said the Integrity windows were comparable in price to the high end Milguard vinyl, which are popular here. I really appreciate all the input and guidance. We'll also be working with our architect to stick to standard sizes to help reign in costs (plus with new construction seems like we should be able to design with that goal in mind...)

There are a lot of compromises I would make before ever putting vinyl windows in a house. We had them in a house. By year 10 they were starting to fall apart. When we sold the house in year 18 several of the window frames were cracked all the way through. Good windows should last the life of the house. There's no way vinyl would ever last more than a few decades.

I generally let the general contractor make the recommendation as to window brand because they will be the one dealing with the service technicians. Lots of stuff happens to windows on the job and afterwards. Glass is scratched, seals break, doors need to be adjusted, etc. If the windows all arrive in perfect condition someone will invariably stick a ladder through one.

A popular brand here for service and quality is Sierra Pacific. I've also used Marvin, Hurd, Jeld-Wen, Anderson, Weathershield etc. usually because that's what the contractor liked working with.

I would not allow Sierra Pacific, Hurd, Jeldwen or Weathershield in my dog's house, even if I didn't like him...........

Your dog doesn't Pella either . . .

"Your dog doesn't Pella either . . ."

Exactly........