NFRC Board of Directors Provides Guidance
For Long-Term and Annual Energy Performance
Silver Spring, Md. – September
14, 2005 – The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) Board
of Directors provided detailed direction to its Long Term Energy
Performance (LTEP) and Annual Energy Performance (AEP) Subcommittee
and Task Group leaders at a recent working meeting in Reston,
Va.
When discussing long-term
energy performance's role within NFRC, the Board directed the
LTEP Subcommittee to revisit its scope and identify a series of
questions that may result in the development of an educational
effort providing consumers with variables that may impact fenestration
energy performance over time. “As we work to determine whether
we can develop an LTEP rating that meets NFRC's high standard
for integrity, we'd like to help consumers understand what can
potentially affect the energy performance of windows over time;
and what alternative programs or additional information is available.,”
said Jim Benney , NFRC executive director.
Marvin Stover, NFRC chair,
summarized the Board's direction to the AEP Subcommittee by saying
that, “Developing an annual energy performance rating that will
be useful, accurate, meaningful, and easy to understand could
be very difficult, but homeowners, builders and designers alike
would benefit from an annual energy performance rating. As an
organization that operates in the public interest, we should pursue
this,” he added.
The Board suggested that
the AEP Subcommittee first develop a calculation procedure known
as “NFRC 901” and then a rating following Board review. They also
required that any procedure brought forward from the membership
must:
-
Provide for variability.
The final product must be a range and may include other considerations
like climate zones, ENERGY STAR, or code maps.
-
Provide for a minimum
of at least two ratings – it will include heating and cooling
and might also reflect climate zones or other factors.
-
Include user-specific
variable behavioral inputs/modifications (i.e., thermostat
set points, shading, and orientation).
The Board also provided
guidance regarding approval requirements. Specifically:
-
Any assumptions must
be supported by research and technically sound.
-
The intended audience
is the consumer and/or builders in both new and existing markets.
Any rating procedure is not intended for code use.
-
The rating program
that is developed for AEP must be administrable by NFRC within
fiscally responsible parameters and must be consistent with
NFRC's 501(c) (3) tax exempt status. NFRC's intellectual property
rights in any proprietary product produced by NFRC for AEP
must be protected.
Work will continue on both
of these projects before the next member meeting in late November.
To learn more about NFRC's various committees, visit www.nfrc.org/committeesinfo.aspx
.
About NFRC
NFRC is a non-profit organization
that administers a voluntary, uniform rating, labeling and certification
system for the energy performance of windows, doors, curtain walls,
skylights and other fenestration products. Its members include
manufacturers, suppliers, utilities, consumer groups, representatives
from the building and code industries, scientific and educational
organizations and government agencies.
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