Scaled NFRC U-Values: Our Newly Available Scaled Energy Calculations Can Save You Money And Improve Your Energy Performance
Default NFRC U-Values are Still Included
At Awake Window & Door Co., most of our products are taken through NFRC and FGIA testing by independent third-party laboratories to determine suitability and performance for important criteria such as energy efficiency as well as wind, air, and water resistance. For the products we have tested, you can review and see our published NFRC results by visiting www.nfrc.org. When customers purchase Awake window and door systems that we have tested they will include an NFRC energy rating label that is based on energy performance calculations at a default gateway size for each specific product line. Knowing the default NFRC value for each product family is a fairly typical part of the window ordering process and will continue to be so at Awake.
Scaled U-Values are Now Available
That said, we are excited to announce our new ability to provide our customers with scaled energy values based on data informed by the THERM software utilized in NFRC testing. Different than default NFRC values which provide performance data based on a specific size, our new scaled energy values utilize the performance data associated with our windows and doors but scale that performance data based on the actual sizes and configurations used on the project itself (rather than a default test size). Scaled performance values are generally accepted in most inspection processes in various counties across the United States, and often result in improved building envelope performance as a result of the large sizes and configurations used on our projects.
Default Test Size vs Actual Job Size – How does it work?
For example, the NFRC default test size for our 905 Series Multi-Slide is 79” x 79 XO configuration. With Cardinal 366 and Argon, the NFRC default u-value is .34. If the multi-slide on the actual project happened to be 360” x 144” 5XO Configuration, the scaled u-value with Cardinal 366 and Argon would drop down to a .28. This 22% decrease in u-value is due to the scaled actual configuration utilizing much more glass and less aluminum than the test size. Thus, if your project utilized a lot of large multi-slides, the u-values on the scaled total weighted average could move down. If scaled values move down, you can potentially utilize a less expensive glass option and lower investment required in other building envelope items such as insulation, HVAC, etc. On the flip side, if a unit is smaller than the default test size it will perform worse as there is less glass and more aluminum.
Scaled U-Values VS Simulated U-Values
Scaled Values not yet available in V6 – but are coming soon
Currently, if you need scaled u-value performance data on your project, you need to contact your Awake Territory Manager or inside sales support specialist to get scaled results pulled from Awake’s internal quoting tool. It is our plan to add scaled values into our external dealer quoting software (V6) in the very near future. If you want to see how scaled u-values could impact your project please let us know.
Let us know if we can help get you scaled energy performance numbers for your project.