NFRC's First Virtual Committee Week Closes with BOD Meeting, Chair Commends Staff for Managing Power Outage

NFRC’s inaugural Virtual Committee Week Meeting drew to a close this afternoon with the Board of Directors (BOD) meeting.

Chairs from the Research and Technology, Technical, and Ratings Committees addressed the BOD, which approved all eleven motions that were presented.

Research and Technology Committee

Chair, Warren Lichtenberger, presented three motions to the BOD.

1.) A motion to extend the Window 6/Therm 6 Validation Research project deadline until the fall 2010 membership meeting was approved by the Board, 8-0-0.

2.) A motion to extend the Complex Visible Transmittance (VT) Ratings Research project deadline until the fall 2010 membership meeting was approved by the Board, 8-0-0.

3.) A motion to approve the Ventilating Rating Task Group scope was also approved by the Board, 8-0-0.

The scope of the Ventilating Rating Task Group project involves creating an NFRC Ventilation rating system utilizing net clear opening less a screen factor. The process for developing the rating will be in three phases: 1) Standardize the method for calculating fenestration net clear ventilation area dimensions, 2) Standardize the effect of screen mesh for two or three representative screen cloth categories, and 3) Develop a rating system for NFRC certification purposes based on current standardized sizes.

Technical Committee

Chair, Jeff Baker, brought forth seven motions.

1.) A CMA Subcommittee motion to approve Sneh Kumar as co-chair of the CMA Subcommittee under Technical was approved by the Board, 7-0-0 with one recused.

2.) A Solar Heat Gain Subcommittee motion to approve the NFRC 200 Garage Door Ballot with implementation upon publication was approved by the Board, 8-0-0.

3.) A Solar Heat Gain Subcommittee motion to approve the NFRC 200 Section 4.5.G Ballot with implementation upon publication was approved by the Board, 8-0-0.

4.) A Software Subcommittee recommendation for approval of W6/T6 version 6.3 for both programs when available in accordance with the stipulations indicated in the June 1, 2010 letter revised at Software Subcommittee was approved by the Board, 8-0-0.

5.) A U-factor Subcommittee motion to approve the NFRC 100 Garage Door Ballot with implementation upon publication was approved by the Board, 8-0-0.

6.) A U-factor Subcommittee motion to approve the NFRC 100 Table 4-3 Wall and Sloped Glazing Ballot with implementation upon publication was approved by the Board, 8-0-0.

7.) A Technical Committee motion for Tina Jenkins of Simonton to serve as the Vice-Chair of the Technical Committee was approved by the Board, 8-0-0.

Ratings Committee

Chair, Steve Strawn, presented the BOD with one motion.

1.) A motion that originated in the CMA Subcommittee for Sneh Kumar to serve as Co-Chair for the CMA Subcommittee under Ratings was approved by the Board, 7-0-0 with one recused.

Concluding Remarks

The BOD meeting concluded with NFRC Chairman, Joe Hayden, commending the NFRC staff for successfully managing yesterday’s power outage, which he said could have been catastrophic to the proceedings but amounted to nothing more than the proverbial blip on the radar.

Neither Rain Nor Sleet Nor Dark of Night...

Participants in NFRC's first Virtual Meeting may not have realized it, but NFRC headquarters experienced a power outage in the middle of the Attachments Subcommittee meeting Tuesday afternoon.

Fortunately, NFRC IT Manager Maggy Thomas had created a contingency plan for just such an occurence.

Thomas took swift action after the lights went out, executing the plan behind the scenes. She also worked on restoring NFRC email and phone servers, which went down as a result of the outage, too.

Meetings Manager Cheryl Gendron and Certification Program Associate Sherri Wendt ensured a smooth transition as Wendt took control of the meeting remotely from Minnesota, while other NFRC staff members provided support by troubleshooting technical issues.

"Thanks to advanced planning and action by Maggy and our staff, the on-line meeting proceeded without a hitch even as the lights went out in Greenbelt," said Jim Benney, NFRC's CEO.

After temporarily relocating to a neighboring hotel during the outage (pictured here), NFRC staff returned to headquarters. We're back up and running in Greenbelt, and ready for another productive day.

Technical Committee Forwards Five Action Items to NFRC Board

The Technical Committee met this morning and passed a number of motions that will be forwarded to NFRC’s Board of Directors this afternoon.

Software Subcommittee

The Technical Committee passed a motion from the Software Subcommittee recommending the approval of WINDOW6/THERM6 version 6.3 for both programs when available in accordance with the stipulations indicated in the June 2010 letter revised at Subcommittee.

This motion passed, 36 -1.

U-Factor Subcommittee

The Technical Committee passed a motion from the U-factor Subcommittee to move forward the NFRC 100 Garage Door language as balloted for approval and to be implemented on publication.

The motion passed, 34-0.

The U-factor Subcommittee also made a motion to move forward the NFRC 100 Table 4-3 Wall and Slope Glazing Ballot language as balloted for approval and to be implemented upon publication.

The Technical Committee passed this motion unanimously.

Solar Heat Gain Subcommittee

The Technical Committee passed one motion to move forward the NFRC 200 Garage Door ballot for approval and to be implemented upon publication.

The motion passed, 32-1.

The Technical Committee passed a second motion to move forward the NFRC 200 Section 4.5 G language for approval and to be implemented upon publication.

This motion passed, 30-2.

CMA Subcommittee

The only action item in the CMA Subcommittee is for Sneh Kumar to serve as co-chair of the subcommmittee under ratings.

New Business

Tina Jenkins volunteered to fill the Vice Chair position for the Technical Committee.

The NFRC Board of Directors meeting is currently underway.

Focus on ISO 18292 During Yesterday's AEP Subcommittee Meeting

The Annual Energy Performance Subcommittee met yesterday afternoon, and the International Standards Organization (ISO) 18292, Energy Performance of Fenestration Systems— Calculation Procedure figured prominently in the discussion.

Tom Culp of Birchpoint Consulting suggested that NFRC’s Board of Directors consider using the ISO 18292 since it is emerging as an international standard.

According to Bipin Shah of WinBuild, Inc. (NFRC Research Subcommittee Chair), most international companies in the fenestration industry are already doing this. Like Culp, Shah believes the prevalence of ISO 18292 warrants NFRC’s consideration.

The ISO 18292 is a calculation procedure enables the energy performance rating of a window, door or skylight, rather than just the thermal transmittance. The standard offers a procedure to calculate the energy performance of fenestration systems based on the effects of the frame, sash, glazing, and shading components combined with building heating/cooling loads and environmental conditions

ISO standards are available globally and offer an opportunity to achieve international harmonization. The ISO 18292 is voluntary standard that local, state, or national governments may adopt and enforce.