This can't be energy-efficient

We live in an older apartment building. At the start of the winter last week, when the first snow fell, our management company sent us a letter advising us not to open the windows when temperatures are below zero degree Celsius. I wished I could! The windows consist of two single panes each in a metal frame. The outside pane froze the day the temperatures dropped. With current highs of - 20 C we have ice on the inside of the inside pane! That's how cold the windows are despite the fact that the thermostat is constantly on + 20 C. In the living room we have only one single pane window but the balcony outside seems to protect it enough from the cold that it does not freeze. The condensation on the windows reminds me of Dunedin, New Zealand, only that Edmonton has an arid climate and Dunedin a humid climate and temperatures don't usually drop below zero. 

Either way these windows can not be energy-efficient. What we experience does not seem uncommon here with heating costs in winter being the major utility expense for lots of people. Why these windows were put in in the first place is a question I can't answer. Maybe it was the standard of the day but technology has improved. Why don't the buildings get upgraded then? Surely, instead of paying hundreds of dollars every month in heating cost it must be better to put in proper windows, better for the wallet and the environment. Lack of funding can't be it then. Human inertia? Wrong priorities? Meanwhile I open the not quite yet frozen balcony door every day for 10 minutes to allow some of the stuffy air  to be replaced with fresher air. I simply can't breathe the same air over and over again for 5 months.