It’s exciting times for the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC). As we closed the month of March with a successful Spring Committee Meeting, we heard about innovative, long-term technological progress for fenestration and short-term anticipation, as the U.S. economy begins to normalize after the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to carrying out committee business, our virtual […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently completed its Draft Research and Development Opportunities (RDO) assessment for windows, and it is available for the industry to download on the DOE website The Building Technologies Office (BTO) at the DOE periodically updates its multi-year planning documents that help define its future programs and research investments. BTO has […]

Larson Manufacturing recently earned the Attachment Energy Rating Council’s (AERC) certification for energy efficiency on its storm windows. The company’s storm windows also recently received Energy Star certification. An initiative supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), AERC is an independent, third-party group of manufacturers and researchers that rate, certify and label the energy […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced it will offer up to $33.5 million in funding for the research and development of projects aimed at reducing energy bills through advanced building construction techniques. According to DOE, residential and commercial buildings account for approximately 40% of the nation’s total energy demand, costing more than $380 […]

The U.S. House and Senate recently passed a Department of Energy (DOE) funding bill that will give a funding boost to many programs. The new plan provides many funding increases including: building technologies, advanced manufacturing, weatherization assistance and advanced research projects agency-energy (ARPA-E). According to the Joint Explanatory Statement of the Committee of Conference, the […]

Where does time go? We’re already a little over halfway through 2018, and what do we have to show for it? By many accounts, it has been a pretty rough six months with DOE and EPA program defunding threats to tariffs wars. But there has been some silver lining. Let’s take a look back. Energy […]

Last week, the White House rolled out an ambitious plan to reorganize the federal government that would consolidate several energy and environmental programs, including one that has a direct effect on the door and window industry. The administration’s 132-page plan, Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century, would create a new Office of Energy Innovation […]

The Attachment Energy Rating Council officially launched Phase 1 of the window attachment certification program, which includes residential cellular shades, blinds (slat shades), roller shades, storm windows and panels, pleated shades and solar screens. The launch is three years in the making – and has left replacement window manufacturers wondering if this will affect sales. […]

Vitro Flat Glass is working on a project to reduce industry cost and energy use by developing a neural network model for glass furnace operations. The goal is to enhance its reduced-order model for glass furnace operations with real-world production data. According to the project details of Vitro’s proposal, a machine learning approach will be […]

The White House released its 2019 budget proposal on Monday, and the popular Energy Star program is once again facing major changes. While Energy Star continues under the 2019 plan, it  wouldn’t be funded by taxpayer money. Instead, the budget seeks to authorize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to administer the program entirely through user […]