Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Good night!
Ratings Committee Advances Numerous Items to Board
The Ratings Committee wrapped up the day’s proceedings by moving numerous ballots to the Board of Directors, holding a lengthy debate on an implementation plan for 2010 documents, and conducting an informal straw poll.
After Steve Strawn of JELD-WEN opened the meeting, John McFee of WDMA, and chair of the Labeling Subcommittee, brought forward two action items on behalf of his subcommittee:
-A motion to move NFRC 700 Applied Film Ballot to the Board of Directors for approval upon which may be used upon publication and mandatory on July 1, 2010.
-A motion that the metric labeling requirements be allowed to two (2) decimal places and recommend that the NFRC 700 be revised to allow the requirements. Direct the working group to develop a recommendation as soon as possible and to bring that recommendation directly to the Board for final action.
The Ratings Committee passed both motions. The latter issue is on a fast track due to upcoming requirements in Canada.
The Certification Subcommittee, chaired by Joe Jonely of Amsco Windows, then presented five motions to the Ratings Committee, all of which passed:
-Move the NFRC 700-2010 Applied Films Ballot to the Board of Directors for approval and to be implemented upon publication.
-Move the NFRC 700-2010 Lineal Supplier Ballot to the Board of Directors for approval and to be implemented upon publication.
-Move the NFRC 700-2010 Thermo-Physical Ballot to the Board of Directors for approval and to be implemented upon publication.
-Move the NFRC 700-2010 Private Labeler Ballot to the Board of Directors for approval and to be implemented upon publication.
-Move to establish a mandatory date of April 1, 2010, requiring highlighting or circling the correct performance value on the door label as listed in NFRC 700 Figure B-2.
Gary Curtis of ECOS Consulting, who is co-chair of the Component Modeling Approach (CMA) Ratings Subcommittee, presented one action item from his subcommittee. The Ratings Committee considered and approved the subcommittee’s motion to approve the NFRC 705-2010 Ballot and forward it to the Board of Directors for approval with implementation upon publication.
Thoman Presents 2010 Procedures Plan
The agenda then turned to new business. NFRC Board Member Mike Thoman of Architectural Testing presented a recommended implementation plan for 2010 procedures. After a long debate, the Ratings Committee passed a motion to approve the following implementation plan for 2010 procedures.
Any existing certification shall be allowed to exist for the remainder of the existing certification life.
1) Certification of new products and recertification of existing products may use the 2004 ratings under the following conditions:
a) Testing and simulations shall be completed using 2004 procedures no later than 1/31/2010; and
b) The reports for testing and simulation using the 2004 procedures shall be submitted to an IA in their entirety no later than 2/28/2010; and
c) The IA may issue 2004 CARs through 6/30/2010.
2) Certification of new products and recertification of existing products may use the 2010 ratings starting 1/1/2010
3) Additions and revisions of existing certification shall be performed using the procedure of the original certification.
4) A product tested in accordance to 102-2004 prior to 2/1/2010 may be used as a validation test in conjunction with an NFRC 100 -2010 simulation until four years after the date of the thermal test.
This plan now moves to the Board of Directors for approval.
Ratings Committee Conducts Informal Poll
Strawn concluded the Ratings Committee meeting by conducting an informal straw poll on three questions:
1) To allow (encourage) that ratings and labeling plans be approved prior to technical committee work when starting on rating new products.
Straw poll result: 19 agree, 4 disagree
2) Allow sash kits in pocket windows to be considered as attachment products.
Straw poll result: 10 agree, 8 disagree
3) Allow optional bulk labeling of windows, doors, and skylights. Bulk packagers up to 20 individual like products would qualify for one bulk label.
Straw poll result: 9 agree, 8 disagree
(This article was updated on 11/19/09.)
CMA Ratings SC Moves NFRC 705 Ballot Forward
Kumar noted that earlier this afternoon the CMA Technical Subcommittee had passed a motion to delay the development of complex products ratings. This means that the task group now has to figure out what to do, he explained.
NFRC Chair Joe Hayden then reiterated that the negative comment from Pella/EFCO that called for shelving the ballot for a year did so because the ballot referred to all attachment products. However, he said that the negative comment did not mean to discourage individual complex products from coming forward in that period.
The subcommittee then proceeded to act on the NFRC 705-2010 Ballot. After the subcommittee found the single comment on the NFRC 705-2010 ballot to be editorial and persuasive, it passed a motion to approve the NFRC 705 -2010 Ballot and forward it to the Ratings Committee for approval with implementation upon publication.
Labeling Subcommittee Passes Two Motions
Before it did so, the subcommittee heard reports from task groups. Charlie Curcija of CARLI, Inc., reported that the CMA Label Task Group doesn’t have any further work. “We developed a label, we finished a label, it is being used,” he said. McFee said that even though the task group has been suspended, any action items that come through in the future will be directed to it.
Mike Cienian of Hunter Douglas, chair of the Attachment Label Task Group, reported on its activities, and read a statement from Co-Chair Thomas Morrissey. The task group’s first official conference call will be held in mid-December, and Morrissey, also of Hunter Douglas, has drafted a proposed scope statement that Cienian shared with the subcommittee.
The subcommittee then passed a motion that metric labeling requirements be allowed to two (2) decimal places and that the NFRC 700 be revised to allow the requirements. The motion also directs the working group to develop a recommendation as soon as possible and to bring that recommendation directly to the Board for final action.
Business then turned to the NFRC 700-2010 Applied Films Ballot. After all negative comments were withdrawn, the subcommittee passed a motion to move the ballot to the Ratings Committee for approval and implementation upon publication.
Sponsor Spotlight: PAMA
The Professional Awnings Manufacturers Association (PAMA) is the silver-level sponsor of the NFRC 2009 Fall Membership Meeting. With more than 300 manufacturing members, PAMA is the only international trade association that supports the awning industry.This afternoon NFRC News Now spoke with John Gant, of Glen Raven, Inc., who serves on PAMA’s Board of Directors and is a member of NFRC. He is actively involved in about a half dozen attachment task groups.
In early 2008, PAMA joined NFRC, before the Spring Membership Meeting in Nashville. “Glen Raven and PAMA joined to pursue energy ratings for window awnings,” explained Gant.
PAMA has sponsored NFRC meetings because it’s a good opportunity to get its name and mission in front of the NFRC membership, said Gant.
He noted that awnings fell out of favor in the 1960s as air conditioning became common in the United States, but these products are making a comeback. They become a lot of more popular especially when energy prices rise, he explained.
The green building movement is drawing attention to attachment products as well, said Gant. He explained that green building and energy efficiency programs should have technical information on the energy performance of attachment products.
Gant said that other manufacturers are interested in developing attachment ratings and are getting involved in the NFRC process. “There is broad industry support for this work.”
Certification SC Moves Four Ballots
The Certification Subcommittee, chaired by Joe Jonely of Amsco Windows, moved four ballots forward to the Ratings Committee, including the:- NFRC 700-2010 Private Labeler Ballot
- NFRC 700-2010 Thermo-Physical Ballot, but only after vigorous discussion of a negative, submitted and withdrawn by Jim Krahn of Marvin Windows & Doors regarding Appendix B of NFRC 101
- NFRC 700-2010 Applied Films (U-Factor) Ballot
- NFRC 700-2010 Lineal Supplier Ballot
The subcommittee concluded its business by passing a motion that the Certification Subcommittee establish a mandatory date of April 1, 2010, requiring the highlighting of the door matrix label as listed in the NFRC 700 Figure B.2.
Technical Committee Moves 11 Ballots
Wrapping up an extended Technical Committee Block that spanned two days and 10 hours, the Technical Committee - under the leadership of Vice Chair Steve Johnson of Andersen Corporation - passed 11 motions on to the NFRC Board of Directors for review and approval. These motions included:From the AEP Subcommittee, to approve changes to NFRC 901-2004, to move it to the Board of Directors for approval as NFRC 901-2010 to be implemented upon publication, and to sunset NFRC 901-2004.
From the Air Leakage Subcommittee, to reaffirm NFRC 400-2004 as NFRC 400-2010 and to forward it to the Board of Directors for approval and implementation on 1/1/2010.
From the U-factor Subcommittee, to approve the NFRC 100 Applied Films Ballot and to forward it to the Board of Directors for approval and implementation on 1/1/2010.
From the U-factor Subcommittee, to approve NFRC 102-2010 and to forward it to the Board of Directors for approval and implementation on 1/1/2010.
From the U-factor Subcommittee, to approve the NFRC 100-DASD Ballot and to forward it to the Board of Directors for approval and publication into the NFRC 100-2004 and NFRC 100-2010 documents, with implementation of the revised NFRC 100-2004 immediately upon publication and implementation of NFRC 100-2010 on 1/1/2010.
From the U-factor Subcommittee, to approve NFRC 100-2010, the NFRC 100 Garage-Rolling Door Ballot, and the NFRC 100 Validation Matrix Ballot and to forward them to the Board of Directors for approval and implementation on 1/1/2010.
From the SHGC Subcommittee, to reaffirm NFRC 200-2004, with approved changes, as NFRC 200-2010, to forward it to the Board of Directors for approval and implementation upon publication, and to sunset NFRC 200-2004 at same time.
From the SHGC Subcommittee, to reaffirm NFRC 201-2004, with approved changes, as NFRC 201-2010, to forward it to the Board of Directors for approval and implementation upon publication, and to sunset NFRC 201-2004 at same time.
From the SHGC Subcommittee, to approve the NFRC 200 Applied Films Ballot, to forward it to the Board of Directors for approval and insertion into NFRC 200-2010 and implementation upon publication.
From the SHGC Subcommittee, to approve NFRC 200 DASD, to forward it to the Board of Directors for approval into the NFRC 200-2004 and NFRC 200-2010 documents and implementation upon publication.
From the CMA Subcommittee (Technical), to approve the NFRC 100 Section 5.9 Ballot and forward it to the NFRC Board of Directors for approval and implementation upon publication with the entire 2010 documents.
Proposed Implementation Plan and New Task Group
Mike Thoman offered an implementation plan for all the new 2010 documents, and agreed to bring it forward for formal review and approval during the Ratings Committee block on Wednesday afternoon.
The committee also formed a TDD Testing Task Group under the SHGC Subcommittee.
CMA Tech SC Advances NFRC 100 Sec. 5.9
Among its business this morning, the Component Modeling Approach (CMA) Technical Subcommittee advanced NFRC 100 Section 5.9 and delayed development of a rating procedure for complex products.TRACO’s Mike Manteghi, chair of the CMA Technical Subcommittee, opened the meeting, followed by a report from the subcommittee’s CMA Technical Task Group.
Sneh Kumar of TRACO gave an update on behalf of the task group noting that it had balloted NFRC 100 Section 5.6 language and decided to move CMA to a new Section 5.9.
The task group is working to clean up the document and make it more consistent with what’s been approved so far, he said. Later in the meeting, the subcommittee passed a motion to move NFRC 100 Section 5.9 to the Technical Committee for approval.
Complex Products Ballot Delayed
The subcommittee then focused on the CMA Complex Products – NFRC 100, Section 5.9.6 ballot. The ballot involved the development of a rating procedure for all complex products.
The subcommittee discussed the first negative, from Birch Point Consulting, LLC. Its negative said that corner products should be removed, due to the level of complexity it would add to the CMA at such an early stage of the program. The subcommittee passed a motion finding the negative comment to be persuasive and substantive.
Next, the group discussed Pella/EFCO’s recommendation to shelve this ballot for at least one year to allow the industry to focus on getting CMA up and running with simple product configurations. The negative comment went on to state that after “CMA is established...we can regroup and draw on a year's experience with CMAST to determine how best to tackle complex products.” The subcommittee passed a motion finding the comment to be persuasive and substantive.
NNN's Global Reach
After Peter Lyons mentioned that some of his colleagues are following the Fall Membership Meeting through NFRC News Now (NNN), we decided to check Google to see if people in any other countries are checking in.SHGC Subcommittee Addresses Several Ballots
The Solar Heat Gain Coefficient Subcommittee convened Wednesday morning under the leadership of Vice Chair Bipin Shah, WinBuild, Inc., and addressed several ballots.First up was the NFRC 200 Dynamic Attachments for Swinging Doors ballot, which received no negatives or approvals with comment and which was approved and moved forward to the Technical Committee for approval into the 200-2004 and 200-2010 documents, with implementation upon publication.
After disposing of several negatives and approvals with comment, the subcommittee next approved the NFRC 200 Applied Film Ballot and moved it forward to Technical Committee for approval into the 200-2010 document, with implementation upon publication.
The NFRC 200 WINDOW6/THERM6 Software ballot did not fare so well, as multiple negatives were ruled persuasive and the subcommittee voted to return the document to task group for further review. The group did the same with the NFRC 200 Garage Door Ballot.
Subcommittee Reaffirms NFRC 200, 201 for 2010
As its final actions, the subcommittee reaffirmed the NFRC 200-2004 and NFRC 201-2004 documents with approved changes as NFRC 200-2010 and NFRC 201-2010, and forwarded them to the Technical Committee for approval, with implementation upon publication and direction to sunset the 2004 documents at the same time.
U-Factor SC Passes Motions, Forms Task Group
The third day of the NFRC Fall Membership Meeting got underway with the U-Factor Subcommittee passing a handful of motions.After the subcommittee’s chair, Michael Thoman of Architectural Testing, Inc., opened the subcommittee meeting, attendees heard reports from task groups, including updates from the Garage Rolling/Door Task Group and the Door Task Group.
Joe Hetzel of DASMA reported on the Garage/Rolling Door Task Group, noting progress is being made on the research project and that it’s in its final phase. He said the task group may look into presenting a ballot in the future about developing a standardized spreadsheet for simulation of rolling doors and garage doors.
Dave DeBlock of ODL Incorporated updated the subcommittee on the Door Task Group’s activities. He reported that the task group efforts to try to coordinate simulation for doors, including looking to create a universal spreadsheet for simulators.
The subcommittee then turned it attention to ballots. It passed several motions, including:
· To forward the NFRC 100 Garage/Rolling Door ballot to the Technical Committee for approval into the NFRC 100-2010 document with implementation upon publication.
· To forward the NFRC 100 Dynamic Attachments for Swinging Doors (DASD) ballot to the Technical Committee for approval into the NFRC 100-2004 document and NFRC 100-2010 document with implementation upon publication.
· To find the negative comment from Architectural Testing, Inc., on the NFRC 100 Window 6/THERM 6 Software ballot (i.e., can’t approve without having the results of the Window 6/THERM 6 project) to be persuasive.
· To find the negative comment on section 4.3.1.C.ii in the NFRC 100 Window 6/THERM 6 Software ballot to be persuasive and return the ballot to task group.
· To move forward the NFRC 100 Validation Matrix ballot to the Technical Committee for approval into the NFRC 100-2010 document with implementation upon publication.
· To approve the NFRC 102-2010 ballot and move forward for publication.
· To find the one “approved with comment” on the NFRC 100-2010 ballot to be non-persuasive and change the ¼ lite size designation to include everything up to but less than 410 sq. in.
· To move the NFRC 100-2010 ballot to the Technical Committee for approval with implementation upon publication.
The subcommittee then reviewed negative comments to the NFRC 100 Applied Films ballot, and after finding them to be non-persuasive, passed a motion to move forward the NFRC 100 Applied Films ballot to the Technical Committee for approval into the NFRC 100-2010 document with implementation upon publication.
New Task Group Will Look at Test Sizes
The subcommittee concluded its business by forming a new task group, to be chaired by Mike Manteghi of TRACO, to focus primarily on testing sizes for casement windows and awnings. Some members expressed concern that the way these products are currently tested provides misleading ratings to consumers who compare different product types such as double-hung and casement.
Technical Committee Reconvenes
We're back up and running on Wednesday morning, with the U-Factor Subcommittee, chaired by Mike Thoman of ATI, leading us off.
