Pricing stain glass and other glass media products is still an evolving art.

One way of creating comparison value is to look at the replacement cost of current installations.

With stain glass still an important part of religous buildings, one comparison method is now available.

Thanks to the combined efforts of the religious community and the stained glass and insurance industries, however, the value of many of America’s most dramatic stained glass windows have been determined and compiled in a new book, The Stained Glass Appraisal Guide.

In addition to values of a range of stained glass windows found across the nation, The Stained Glass Appraisal Guide also provides guidelines for churches and insurance companies to determine the value of windows not featured in the 256-page book.

These guidelines can also help glass crafters set prices for their own works, whether for commercial buildings or domestic locations.

Researched and produced by stained glass consultant and author Dr. Gary M. Gray, The Stained Glass Appraisal Guide is filled will color photos portraying the diversity of stained glass windows found across America.

It can also be used by glass crafters to show the value of their work to prospective clients.

The book contains a brief history of each window and their value based on a consensus of a panel representing executives of the leading stained glass studios in America.

“The stained glass industry has long sought a consensus on replacement value of their work but was too competitive to collaborate on such a project alone,” said Dr. Gray. “Pastors and church lay leaders were increasingly concerned about the replication costs of some of their most prized and valued assets, but it ultimately was the urging of leaders in the insurance industry that led to the creation of this book.”

The book also includes guidelines to plan for new stained glass windows as well as instructions on how to restore, protect and insulate aging stained glass.

“Throughout America -- and the world -- there are stained glass windows in imminent danger of fire, accidents, vandalism, burglary and weather,” said Dr. Gray. “Among the many tragedies of Hurricane Katrina, for example, was the loss of many beautiful, historic stained glass windows.”

High quality pictorial stained glass currently cost from $800 to $1,000 per square foot. At those levels, it takes only 1,000 square feet of stained glass to top the $1 million mark in artwork.

Gray, who has inspected and appraised stained glass in more than 2,000 churches and synagogues throughout the United States, estimates that from 3,000 to 4,000 congregations in America have stained glass in excess of $1 million per site.

“The purpose was to create a single resource for church and synagogue leaders as well as the insurance industry that provides a consensus on the replacement value of stained glass,” said Dr Gray.

“But we also wanted to create a beautifully illustrated, comprehensive look at these art treasures that are on display to the general public daily,” he added.

“Often, stained glass is valued incorrectly because the story behind the window has been lost,” says Brock Bell, senior manager of loss control and property estimating for Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company.

Unless the stories of the windows survive as generations of leadership come and go, an insurance company will just estimate the stained glass at the going rate, and the church will not even know that it had something that was much more valuable,” he added.

The windows featured in the book represent a cross section of the stained glass in Catholic and Protestant churches and Hebrew synagogues in America.

Most of the windows featured were inspected by the American Consultation on Stained Glass. The remaining windows were provided by Rohlf Studios in New York, Conrad Schmitt Studios in Milwaukee, Judson Stained Glass in California, Reinarts Stained Glass in Minnesota and Salem Stained Glass in North Carolina.

“This guide is a must have for any religious institution that has stained glass or is thinking about commissioning stained glass,” said David Judson, president of Judson Stained Glass. “Religious structures hold some of the best examples of the medium and this guide will help ‘rediscover’ the value of these windows both artistically and financially.”

The book is  available at most books stores or online at PresidentialPress.com, Amazon.com and Americanstainedglass.org.