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Portland startup is quickly growing its weatherization business.

The 16-person company isn’t even two years old, but in the past two months it has gained national recognition and a partnership with a leading Oregon contractor.

Sam Pardue founded Indow Windows as he sought a cost-effective and energy-efficient replacement for old or drafty windows. He developed a customized insert, edged with patent-pending compression tubing that creates a seal similar to one of a refrigerator door.

The innovation advanced the company to the national , where it was awarded a total of $60,000 in cash and services. Some of the winnings will likely help pay for legal expenses associated with a Series A round of venture funding that Pardue is aiming to complete by the end of this year.

Indow Windows has already raised $375,000, but Pardue is targeting a total of $750,000 鈥� enough to pay for an expansion up to Vancouver, British Columbia, and down to San Francisco. A planned second round of funding would be used to cover marketing, sales and operating costs of a national expansion.

鈥淚t’s purely by happenstance that we were born here (in Portland),鈥� Pardue said. 鈥淎 huge percentage of our potential customers are in the Northeast, for fairly obvious reasons.鈥�

He cited a market-potential analysis that looked at factors including weather patterns and utility rates.

A few weeks before the national CleanTech Open ceremony, Indow Windows forged a new partnership with 鈥� one of the Northwest’s most prominent design-build and remodeling companies.

鈥淣eil Kelly has a well-deserved reputation for being on the cutting edge when it comes to green remodeling,鈥� Pardue said. 鈥淎nd they certainly have shown that with their aggressive adoption of Indow Windows as a key part of their service and product offering.鈥�

More than 150 Portland homes are now outfitted with Indow Windows, and the number is 鈥渞apidly rising,鈥� according to Pardue. Neil Kelly is the largest dealer, with contracts to represent Indow Windows in Seattle, Portland, Salem, Eugene, Bend, Hood River and Astoria.

Also, the partnership with Neil Kelly brought Indow Windows into the nonprofit program that to date has helped more than 1,000 homeowners finance remodels to increase energy efficiency.

鈥淥ur contractors kept saying over and over again how much they loved the Indow Windows product, so we’re just trying to serve that market,鈥� said Derek Smith, CEO of Clean Energy Works Oregon.

CEWO usually settles on product recommendations by relying on Energy Trust of Oregon standards, but it made Indow Windows an option because of a high level of interest.

鈥淲indow replacements aren’t always an affordable option for a range of our customers,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淎nd we haven’t heard of interest anywhere near this on any other product.鈥�

At $20 per square foot, the acrylic inserts boost the performance of single-pane windows to the equivalence of standard, double-pane windows at about 20 percent of the cost.

鈥淲e’re getting orders left and right,鈥� said Chad Ruhoff, general manager for Neil Kelly’s home performance division, which in 2011 has grown from five employees to 31 because of the CEWO work.

Ruhoff said the training for contractors is 鈥減retty intensive,鈥� and requires several computer tutorials, tests and a half day of on-site training.

Part of the instruction focuses on Indow Windows’ customized software, which enables technicians to measure windows with a laser tool, and then wirelessly transmit the dimensions to a web application installed on a laptop at the Indow Windows manufacturing facility in North Portland.

Although the software still has some kinks, its success is also the key to expansion.

鈥淎bout a year and a half ago I basically had a heart attack when I realized how complicated it was going to be to set up a national dealer network with the precision required to scale our business up,鈥� Pardue said. 鈥淏ut we’ve been working on the IT system ever since, and the platform is stable and fully functional.鈥�

Pardue recently hired three part-time production staffers through Portland Youth Progress, a nonprofit that helps high-risk youth, many whom have cognitive disabilities, have suffered abuse or have spent time in juvenile corrections facilities.

鈥淲e are ready to scale up nationally just by hiring more people,鈥� Pardue said.