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NFRC to Look at Window Attachments
The National Fenestration Rating Council has started the process to potentially develop ratings for three new sets of fenestration products—dynamic attachments and exterior and interior window coverings. NFRC’s board of directors approved the establishment of a new attachment subcommittee and several task groups to explore the technical aspects of developing rating methods, during its fall membership meeting last week in Tempe, Ariz.
“We received numerous requests for new product ratings at our summer meeting in Denver, and the board evaluated them to ensure they fell within the mission and scope of NFRC,” said Jim Benney, NFRC executive director. “We hope to add these new products into NFRC’s rating and certification program and will closely monitor the progress of the task groups.”
The Tempe meeting also featured more discussion about the component modeling approach under development for commercial fenestration products. Marcia Falke, NFRC board chair and president of Keystone Certifications Inc. acknowledged industry calls for a simplified CMA program during her opening session report. However, she added, NFRC needs to ensure the program has sufficient independent verification first.
Falke discussed a recent board decision to rule against a proposal that would have allowed random auditing of product ratings developed by an approved calculation entity or ACE instead of 100 percent review by an inspection agency. “We want something that is easy and user friendly...but we cannot sacrifice independence and integrity,” Falke said. “We don’t have enough information to determine whether random sampling offers enough of a safeguard.”
The board could reconsider its decision in the future, once a scaled program can be proven successful. “We like the idea of random sampling, but to allow it right now is just too big of a leap,” Falke said. “We need to kick the tires for a little while longer before we make another decision.”
—Additional reporting by Katy Devlin, e-glass weekly e-newsletter editor
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