A study of energy performance calculation comparison of fenestration products using environmental conditions and procedures used by various country codes

Bipin Shah

With the cost of oil skyrocketing and being already at $100+ per barrel (5 times the cost of a barrel just couple of years ago), with the electric generation rates increasing exponentially and humans awakening to global warming problems, energy effi ciency and conservation have become a top priority for any country. Many countries are developing or have already developed building energy codes to enforce energy effi cient design and construction and are mandating their implementation. These rapid developments have resulted in adoption of standards which are not fully harmonized and are causing concerns to manufactures that trade internationally. In the absence of harmonized standards, the same set of products may require different ratings, resulting in duplication of testing and simulation efforts, thus putting unnecessary burden on the manufacturers and in the process increasing the end cost for the consumer. In this paper, fenestration energy performance indices are compared for several different boundary condition requirements, found in building codes of a selected set of countries. Impact of these differences on energy performance of buildings is also analyzed to determine if simplifi cation and harmonization can be achieved.

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The Authors

Bipin Shah WinBuild, Inc. Mr. Shah has 15 years of experience in the building industry, codes and standards development. He served NFRC in different capacity for the last 10 years and has represented NFRC in national and inter... Read more