NFRC Board of Directors Gives Direction for Long-Term and Annual Energy Performance

The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) board of directors has 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, according to the association.

"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; and
  
• 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; and
  
• 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. The association's intellectual property rights in any proprietary product produced by NFRC for AEP must be protected.

The NFRC says that work will continue on both of these projects before the next member meeting in late November.