NFRC Attempts to Solicit Approval from Designers

By Penny Stacey

The National Fenestration Ratings Council (NFRC) still is in the process of receiving commentary on the Component Modeling Approach (CMA) but in the meantime, is promoting the benefits of the CMA to architects and specifiers. The group says the CMA is designed to "simplify the ratings of non-residential products" and that it will "yield accurate energy performance data for use in code compliance and will pave the way for meaningful building energy analysis," according to the most recent issue of the NFRC Update, published in June 2007.

In addition, NFRC says CMA will make bidding an easier process for manufacturers, as they will be able to show that products meet bid specifications and code requirements under CMA. Likewise, the group says, "CMA will enable the design community to generate simulated ratings for different products quickly and simply."

At the NFRC's most recent meeting in Austin, Texas, in March, the group provided a draft of the CMA to the executive directors of the Building Owners and Manufacturers Association (BOMA), the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Construction Specifiers Institute (CSI). NFRC also is currently working on the label certificate format for CMA.

CLICK HERE for the review of the NFRC's most recent meeting held in Austin, Texas, in March, including coverage of the latest updates on the CMA.

Penny Stacey is a contributing editor for USGNN.com™/USGlass Magazine.