After completing a 10-month pilot phase, the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) officially implemented its Component Modeling Approach (CMA) Product Certification Program in January. The NFRC is a nonprofit organization that administers an independent rating and labeling system for the energy performance of windows, doors, skylights, and attachment products. The concept behind the CMA program is to examine three components of a fenestration product to award one overall product performance rating.

Under the program, fenestration products are examined in terms of their glazing (with a focus on glazing optical spectral and thermal data from the International Glazing Database); frame (looking at thermal performance data of frame cross-sections); and spacer (examining the keff of space component geometry and materials). The NFRC’s Component Modeling Approach Software Tool (CMAST) maintains a set of performance libraries of these three components. Users can access CMAST for configuring fenestration products for a project as well as to obtain U-factor, solar heat gain coefficient, and visible transmittance ratings for products. How each product scores in these arenas is reflected in a CMA label certification for code compliance.

For more information, visit nfrc.org