The National Fenestration Rating Council's (NFRC) membership meeting begins tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.

Check back often for updates.

Two construction firms recently celebrated the dedication of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) $135 million Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) in Golden, Colorado. The facility, which uses operable windows to enable natural cooling and ventilation throughout the building, is home to the most powerful and energy efficient data center in the world dedicated solely to renewable energy and energy efficiency research

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NFRC News Now recently visited a solar-powered house bound for the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon competition this fall to get a sneak-peek at its high-performance fenestration. The "Harvest House” is being built on a parking lot at Catholic University just 10 miles from NFRC’s headquarters.

Project Manager Bobby Blabolil and Revit Manager Jeremy Haak conducted a tour for NFRC’s Tom Herron and Jessica Finn, pointing out the house’s high-performance features, including its energy-efficient windows and doors.

Students from Catholic University of America, George Washington University, and American University have joined together to form Team Capitol DC to build the house, which they have entered into the Solar Decathlon. This year’s competition will take place in Southern California, marking the first time the event will be held outside of the nation’s capital. The competition challenges college students to build well-designed, highly efficient, and comfortable homes that are only powered by the sun.

High-Performance Fenestration

All of the windows in the Harvest House are custom-built and NFRC-certified. The windows are double-pane, argon filled. The Sanders Company was the window distributor, and NFRC participant, Western Windows Systems, manufactured the windows.

The team installed large windows and doors on the south and north sides of the 850-square-foot house to let in a good deal of daylight, to allow a cross breeze, and to provide a view to the outdoors from the living room. The windows and door on the house’s south side have NFRC ratings of .38 for U-factor, .22 for Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC), and .51 for Visible Transmittance (VT.) The south-facing glazing will feature a passive, louvered exterior shading system to help lessen the intensity of the warm California sun.

The windows and door on the north side have NFRC ratings of .51 for U-factor, .19 for SHGC, and .39 for VT. The operable window on the east side of the house has NFRC ratings of .45 for U-factor, .18 for SHGC, and .4 for VT. And, the east door has NFRC ratings of .33 for U-factor, .24 for SHGC, and .55 for VT.

The team considered triple-pane windows, but decided that the extra cost was not reason enough for the incremental improvement in energy performance. Part of the judging criteria for this competition involves affordability. Blabolil explained that it may have been a different consideration if the event took place in a colder climate, but the team was less concerned about U-factor for a house that will be sited in Southern California.

A Good Deed

The net-zero-energy house is designed to be accessible to someone with a disability. For example, the door sills are ADA-accessible allowing for easier wheelchair access than a traditional sill. Following the competition, Team Capitol DC plans to donate Harvest House to a U.S. war veteran.

NFRC News Now will continue to follow the story. Look for updates this October following the competition.

NFRC’s certification and labeling program requires that a temporary and a permanent label be affixed to each product in order to be considered certified.

When you purchase NFRC-certified windows, doors, or skylights, the product(s) should arrive with both labels applied. The following describes these labels and explains the difference between the two:

Temporary Label

The temporary label is generally printed on adhesive paper, about the size of a large index card, and affixed to the interior glazing surface.

This label explains the product’s energy performance ratings, including U-factor, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient, and Visible Transmittance. If the temporary label is missing, the product is considered not certified, whether it is authorized for certification or not.


Any product labeled after April 1, 2012 will display a NFRC’s Certified Products Directory (CPD) number, which you can use to verify the performance information on the NFRC Search Directory. If the CPD number is not displayed, the description and performance values can be verified as well, with tools available on the NFRC Search Directory and the NFRC website.

Permanent Label

NFRC’s permanent label can be an adhesive label, such as a tab included alongside other information, or a series of marks, or etchings. The permanent label can be found along the side jambs, at the top on the header, at the bottom on the sill, or between the panes of glass on the spacer of the product.

The manufacturer’s or product’s NFRC identification codes are typically found on the right-hand side of the label. Unlike the temporary label, however, the permanent label does not display performance information. This label may, however, display a NFRC’s Certified Products Directory (CPD) number, which you can use to acquire the performance information. If the permanent label displays NFRC’s CPD number, you can enter it here to acquire the specific product line’s performance information.

See illustrations below:

 
Visit our website or contact NFRC’s Product Certification Program Coordinator (PCP), Airienne Jeffery, at 240-821-9518 for more information.

A real estate listings service known as NorthstarMLS has collaborated with the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC) to add energy performance information to new home listings in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The move is intended to provide prospective buyers with easily-accessible and independently-verified information to assess a home’s level of energy efficiency.

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