Aug 18, 2016 -- The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) is acting on the findings of a four-month-long, independent study that assessed its current commercial program and opportunities for its future.

The Cadmus Group, a nationally recognized, high-performance building and sustainability-consultant specializing in delivering solutions that transform markets, carried out the study.

Through the course of its work, Cadmus conducted interviews with commercial manufacturers, building code officials, and design-build professionals in leading cities. The results shed light on the state of commercial certification throughout the country, better positioning NFRC to reinvigorate its program in alignment with substantiated market needs.

As NFRC undertakes this initiative, CEO, Deb Callahan, recognizes the importance of remaining steadfast in fulfilling the organization’s mission. While manufacturers offer the knowledge and insight required for building an efficient tool, the commercial program itself must ultimately serve the public.

“Residential manufacturers often tell us their customers value the NFRC label, but any financial gain they realize is a byproduct of NFRC’s work, not the purpose of it,” Callahan said. “This also needs to be the case with our commercial program.”

Next Steps

NFRC has already begun taking its next steps. It has assembled teams, which include members of its commercial work group, to focus on market development and program design.

In addition to engaging commercial manufacturers in further interviews aimed at revealing their motivation for pursuing certification, the teams will investigate several other areas to guide NFRC’s path forward:  

Market Development and Program Design

• Better understanding the commercial manufacturers’ value chain and what will encourage them to adopt the program
• Uncovering specific challenges associated with building customized fenestration systems
• Establishing how code officials, design-build professionals, energy officers, and other organizations need to be involved

Discussions in Denver

The Cadmus Group will deliver its findings during NFRC’s fall membership meeting, which will be held at the Grand Hyatt Denver, October 3-5.

Cadmus will also host a number of breakout sessions. Discussions will include codes and government groups, component system suppliers, and design professionals.

Additionally, green building expert and NFRC Board member, Daniel Huard, will deliver a presentation intended in part to explain how the LEED and WELL Building Institute certification programs figure into NFRC’s commercial program.

NFRC will publish a more detailed schedule of its planned commercial discussions within the next few weeks. 

“The report findings and these discussions will help us guard against making assumptions and allow NFRC to proceed based on research,” Callahan said. “Now, the real work begins.”

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About NFRC

The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) is a non-profit organization, third-party ratings organization that empowers people to compare the energy performance of windows, doors, and skylights before making a purchase.