The NFRC (National Fenestration Rating Council) is an independent non-profit organization that establishes objective window, door, and skylight energy performance ratings to help builders and consumers reliably compare products to make informed decisions. The NFRC communicates these performance ratings using the standardized NFRC label system. NFRC is not responsible or involved in product testing. The labeling system helps customers determine how well a product will help to cool building in the summer, warm buildings in the winter, and reduce the wind coming in. Helping educate consumers on the different categories of energy performance, providing a manufactures search Certified Product Directory, and a strong commitment to the advancement of windows, doors, and skylights are all goals of the NFRC.
U-Factor measures how well a window prevents heat from escaping your home. The lower the number, the better the window is insulating and keeping heat inside. U-Factor ratings generally fall between .20 and 1.20, with .20 being an exceptional rating. Old single pane wood windows fall somewhere around 1.04 U-Factor during the winter and don’t insulate well. Look for: Low numbers
Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) measures how well a window is blocking unwanted heat from the sun that comes in your home. SHGC is expressed as a number between 0 and 1 and the lower the number the more heat is being kept outside and the less you’ll spend on cooling your home. Old single pane wood windows fall somewhere around .86 SHGC during the summer and don’t keep much heat outside. Look for: Low numbers
Visible Transmittance (VT) measures how well the glass lets daylight come into your home. Potentially impacting how much money you will spend on artificial lighting and how light your home feels. VT is expressed as a number between 0 and 1. The higher the VT, the more light is transmitted inside. Old Single pane wood windows have a very high visible light transmission falling somewhere around .9 as the glass is clear with no LoE glass to reduce solar heat gain. Look for: High numbers
What is ENERGY STAR®? It is a government based organization that regulates, standardizes and
represents energy efficiency. There are actually over 40 types of products that can go into a new or existing home to
help the homeowner save money and have increased personal comfort. ENERGY STAR® qualified windows are substantially more energy efficient than products that may look the same. Windows come in many grades and qualities and it is hard to discern energy efficiency just by physical appearance alone. Qualified windows are commonly 30% to 40% more energy efficient than non qualified windows.
To be come ENERGY STAR® partner qualified a product must be manufactured by an ENERGY STAR® partner, be independently tested, certified, and then verified by the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC), and have NFRC product ratings that meet strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Quality is our passion, and Windowcrafters has been committed since 2005 to a voluntary partnership with Energy Star and to the manufacturing of high performance windows. Working together we help protect the environment.While it is easy to claim you produce energy efficient products we back that up by having Windowcrafters windows tested and certified by independent testing through the NFRC (National Fenestration Rating Council). All our ENERGY STAR® partner qualified windows are independently verified by a third-party test labs to ensure they meet or exceed ENERGY STAR® partner specific testing criteria for energy efficiency established for climate zones in the United States.