When Steve Rennekemp says that “windows are in his blood,” he’s not kidding.
The owner of Energy Swing Windows’ first job was testing windows for energy efficiency at ALCOA, followed by a position in window design. After creating a unique, patented swing-in window 23 years ago, he set up his own business to make and sell windows, and after 50 years in the business, he’s still going strong.
The reason for this is simple: since day one, Rennekemp has been committed to making sure that his customers are completely satisfied. In fact, the company’s customer satisfaction surveys show that 70 percent of clients feel that they got greater value than what they paid for, and 30 percent feel that they got equal value for their purchase. No one has ever felt that they did not get their money’s worth.
“My parents taught me to do the right things right,” said Rennekemp, who was born and raised in western Pennsylvania. “Part of that is building relationships with customers.
“Most companies look at selling windows as a transaction—they sell you a product and don’t expect to see you again. We are committed to our customers, and we appreciate the decision they made to invest in us,” he continued. “We’ve always done things that way, and we will continue to do things that way.”
Building this level of trust with customers is the backbone of the company’s success; approximately 60 percent of their business is repeats or referrals, which is three times the industry average.
“We’ve built our business one customer at a time,” said Rennekemp, “and we manufacture, market and install our products with our own employees. We do the whole thing so they never deal with subcontractors. And we offer a triple lifetime warranty on our product, installation and service.”
In addition to windows, Energy Swing also sells and installs entry doors and a basement finishing system. And while they are most often known for working on the residential side of things, they recently finished an impressive commercial project for Catholic Charities—the result of a customer being so pleased with their service that she recommended them to her place of employment.
“I brought Energy Swing into the picture because my parents got windows from them more than 20 years ago,” said Susan Rauscher, executive director, Catholic Charities. “They provided a fabulous product, and the quality of service in addition to the quality of product was just fantastic.
“We had 322 windows to replace, and while I know that they normally do residential work, I figured why not ask?” continued Rauscher. “When they said they would come look at the project, we were ecstatic. And the experience lived up to everything we thought it would be.”
Renovating St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality
According to Energy Swing Windows Client Consultant Chris Saxton, the St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality renovation was a massive undertaking that required far more steps than a residential install.
The project included replacing windows on each of the building’s five floors with a tempered glass product for durability and safety, as well as changing the color of the windows to match the building’s sandstone exterior. Because of the magnitude of the project, instead of manufacturing the windows themselves, Energy Swing sourced them from ProVia, a company with whom they’ve worked for the past 20 years. And then COVID hit.
“We had planned to do a floor a month for five months, but supply chain issues during COVID delayed our start,” said Saxton, noting that the project started three months after it was originally scheduled.
“We were in middle of fallout from the pandemic, and we fully expected the schedule to get completely annihilated because of supply chain shortages, but they were pretty much spot on with the timeline,” said Rauscher. “I thought it would take forever because there are so many issues that come up with a major renovation, but they stayed on task, on target, and on time.”
Catholic Charities, which provides services including homeless support, pregnancy support, free medical and dental care and counseling to individuals in six counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, was especially impressed with how the residents of the building were treated during the construction process.
“St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality is a residence for older homeless men and those at risk of becoming homeless,” explained Rauscher. “The crew was so respectful of our residents, who are not very used to being treated respectfully. I can’t tell you how important that is, and how much it meant to both staff and residents.”
At the end of the job, window manufacturer ProVia even made a $5,000 donation to Catholic Charities.
“It knocked our socks off,” said Rauscher. “They came out to see what the end project looked like and everyone had lunch with our residents; it was amazing, just wonderful.
“I can’t explain how grateful we are for the whole experience; I don’t think people understand that for our men in particular, to have a place that they can start to feel is home—to have it transformed in this way—I just can’t come up with words to convey it,” she continued. “While we are grateful for the windows and the savings that will come with better energy efficiency, more than that, Energy Swing Windows took an institutional building and made it feel like home.”
To learn more, visit Energy Swing Windows at www.energyswingwindows.com or call 724-387-2991.
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