The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) announced yesterday during its membership meeting that it will soon release its fastest-performing version of CMAST, the organization’s commercial fenestration rating tool.

“Calculations that used to take 19 minutes now take about 11 seconds,” said Una Moneypenny, NFRC’s Director, IT Solutions. “It’s a vast improvement that answers our users’ call for a more efficient tool that determines commercial fenestration product energy performance.”

NFRC will soon announce the dates for a series of Webinars intended to help users navigate the upgraded version of CMAST, which is targeted for release in early November 2015.

NFRC’s Interim CEO, Deb Callahan, praised the accomplishment. She called it the realization of the organization’s goal to provide commercial fenestration product manufacturers with an immediate tool while it continues exploring the evolving needs of the commercial sector.

Callahan also pointed out that developing CMAST over the past several years has given NFRC additional insight for collaborating more effectively with industry players to create a scalable tool that aligns with the direction the industry is going.

“This is an important victory for NFRC and for the industry,” Callahan said. “We have a viable tool for use today, and it’s positioning us to create a sustainable business model for the future.”