PPG and ADCO Submit Spacers into CMAST, NFRC Board Waives Component Fees for 2010

First Spacers Submitted to CMAST

PPG Industries of Cheswick, PA and ADCO Products of Michigan Center, MI have become the first spacer manufacturers to submit products into NFRC’s Component Modeling Approach Software Tool (CMAST) database.

According to John Lewis, NFRC’s Director, New Business Programs, PPG has placed both its tin-plated steel spacers and its stainless steel Intercept ® spacers in the database Both types of Intercept spacer are available in 21 widths ranging from 5.08 mm (0.200”) to 20.96 mm (0.825”). ADCO’s thermoplastic spacer is available in 10 sizes from 6.35 mm (0.250”) to 20.65 mm (0.813”). Both the PPG and ADCO products are configured in CMAST as ‘Path III’ spacers, which means they provide CMAST users with the ability to fully define the geometry and effective conductivity (Keff) for each of the numerous spacer widths.

Lewis adds that this calculation occurs ‘on the fly’ with CMAST as THERM 6 is running in the background to complete thermal analysis of the spacers once the CMAST user configures a spacer edge seal assembly.

NFRC’s Board Waives Component Fees for the remainder of 2010.

In an initiative to facilitate implementation of the component modeling approach (CMA), NFRC’s Board of Directors will waive spacer and frame component fees for the remainder of 2010.

Ordinarily, submitting these components into the Component Modeling Approach Software Tool (CMAST) would require a nominal per-component fee. NFRC and its Board, however, view waiving these fees as an effective means to allow the CMA program to continue to gain traction as a viable modeling tool that will ultimately prove invaluable to the fenestration industry.