NFRC Presents Proposed Document Changes to Membership with 17 Ballots

Ratings Committee

 1.       NFRC 700 Glazing Description

The purpose of this ballot is to change the required information for the temporary label on certified products.

• The change makes all the glazing description optional instead of mandatory.
• The number of glass panes has also been added to the text describing the glazing description.
• The tint colors also have been incorporated into the single glazing description paragraph.
• Manufacturers that currently print a glazing description on their label may continue to do so.
• There are no required or mandatory changes that a manufacturer must make to their labels as a result of this ballot.

2.       NFRC 700 Condensation Index

The purpose of this ballot is to remove the NFRC 500 Condensation Rating and replace it with the ANSI/NFRC 500 Condensation Index.

• Implementation will not take place until the LEAFF pilot program is completed in late 2020.
• PCP participants that want to utilize the NFRC 500 Condensation Resistance Rating in certification authorizations can do so until the implementation of the ANSI/NFRC 500 Condensation Index and implementation or publication in the NFRC 700 PCP.
• Implementation of the Condensation Index will require modification to the Certified Products Directory.

Technical Committee

 1.       ANSI/NFRC 100 Reporting Ratings

The purpose of this ballot is that ANSI/NFRC 100 is corrected to strike any reference to report metric U-factor to the nearest .05 W/m²K and strictly use proper rounding of the result to two decimal points.

2.       ANSI/NFRC 100 Spandrel

The purpose of this ballot is to add language to include the simulation of all spandrel panel systems to the NFRC program.

• The Spandrel Validation Task Group has met a few times to address all questions and negative comments from the NFRC Fall Membership Meeting in Charlotte in 2019.
• Previously, spandrel glass only was able to be simulated, which has always been a limitation to the NFRC program for commercial manufacturers of glazed wall systems. 
• Research was conducted and presented at the NFRC Fall Membership meeting in Albuquerque in 2018 that proved that spandrel systems with interior opaque metal insulation panels can be simulated and backed up by validation testing.
• The conclusions of the research indicated that more than 63.5mm of glass edge is required and that 254mm of glazing edge shall be required for an accurate simulation.
• The simulation methodology shall be presented to TIPC for their review and approval and inserted into the Simulation Manual upon approval of ANSI/NFRC 100.

3.       ANSI/NFRC 200 Equation 4-3

This correction to NFRC 200 will make any work done for the LEAFF program consistent with the calculations WINDOW has always used.

• During the work to move forward with the LEAFF program, it was discovered that the exterior heat transfer coefficient in Equation 4-3 was in error. 
• The value of 30 W/m²K in the equation is for the winter conditions and the SHGC is calculated under summer conditions.
• The WINDOWS program from LBNL has always used the summer exterior heat transfer coefficient of 20.6 W/m²K.

4.       ANSI/NFRC 200 Spandrel

This is the second ballot to add language to include the simulation of all spandrel panel systems to the NFRC program. 

• Previously, spandrel glass only was able to be simulated and that has always been a limitation to the NFRC program for commercial manufacturers of glazed wall systems. 
• Research was conducted and presented at the NFRC Fall Membership meeting in Albuquerque in 2018 that proved that spandrel systems with interior opaque metal insulation panels can be simulated and backed up by validation testing.
• The research findings indicated that more than 63.5mm of glass edge is required and that 254mm of glazing edge shall be required for an accurate simulation.
• The simulation methodology shall be presented to TIPC for their review and approval and then inserted into the Simulation Manual upon approval of ANSI/NFRC 100.

5.       ANSI/NFRC 500

This ballot is to make further refinements to the new Condensation Index procedure and to also address some comments that came from NFRC's ANS Committee.

6.       NFRC 501

This ballot is to change the reference to the distance the glass edge temperature is to be taken. 

• All documents and the software tool referencing the Condensation Index shall have consistent language that the glass edge temperature shall be obtained at 25mm and not 25.4mm.  
• Only section 1.2 of NFRC 501 is shown with Underline/Strikeout for balloting.

Research and Technology Committee

 1.       NFRC 101 Appendices

This ballot is intended to update the source references for the material properties listed in Appendices A and B and to update the properties based on those new references.

• This is a follow up to the ballot from the Virtual Spring Committee 2020 meeting.
• The changes marked in this ballot are the last remaining changes that had negative comments associated with them from the previous ballots.
• All other changes have been approved from the previous ballots.

Staff does not anticipate any additional document changes, no legal review, or additional cost for implementation. The default THERM materials library will be revised to incorporate the changed Appendices after final approval of the document.

• The implementation plan suggested by the task group is for the new appendices to be used no earlier than Jan. 1, 2021.
• Once implemented, the new data shall be used for all new certifications, revisions, and addenda to existing product lines.
• All existing product lines and products in the CPD at the time of implementation will be able to remain until the end of the certification cycle for that product line.

2.       NFRC 101 Non-homogenous Spacer

This ballot revises Section 5.1.7.2 relating to conductivity measurements of non-homogeneous spacer samples. Four changes are proposed:

• An upper limit on the thickness of the foam rubber sheets.
• Test method revisions based on the laboratory equipment capability
• Specifying the removal of the contribution of the glass to the thermal resistance of the specimen
• Clarifying the reference to EN675.

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