Welcome

With the end of the year drawing closer every day we can look back at what has been achieved this year and what our plans are to take us into the new year.

On the 1st December, 2007 we saw the release of the first set of NFRC data and since then the WERS Certified Products Directory has continued to grow on a daily basis.

WERS currently has 220 members Australia wide contributing to approximately 28,000 ratings in our database.

AFRC Visit - Jim Benney

Using NFRC results enables us to compare window ratings on an international level. At the AWA national annual conference, Jim Benney, Executive Director of the NFRC spoke about the value and importance of international harmonisation and sharing window rating files.

Jim took advantage of his Australian visit to attend an extraordinary meeting of the Australian Fenestration Rating Council (AFRC) board and AFRC Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) offering support and sharing ideas. Jim gave an Internation update from the NFRC. Look out for the full article by Jim Benney in the next AWA windows Newsletter.

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International Update:

Carbon footprint will be set for building and if not met a tax will be applied

Labeling development process, 2 labels are used; 1 temporary and 1 permanent

Mutual Recognition: This will help the AFRC to evolve and grow.

With Prime Minister Rudd's decision to commit Australia to the Kyoto Agreement energy efficiency is as important as ever. We look forward to continuing to grow our relationship and future work with our US NFRC partners.

Mike Palin
WERS Administrator

New WERS Window Search Function

With 200+ members, 5000 prime ratings and the introduction of international ratings, it became obvious that a user friendly search engine was needed to assist the industry, builders, architects and consumers in looking for windows.

The WERS web site, when released on the 1st December, 2007, had an advanced search engine built in. The purpose of the engine was to enable users the ability to search through thousands of ratings to find what they were looking for.

The search was effective, but as the rating numbers grew, the engine needed upgrading to cope with the number of entries in the database.

With the upgrade to the engine and database, extra parameters were added and a new display was created to make the search more user friendly.

We currently have almost 28,000 results available, while also giving the user the options to search by manufacturer, window

type, glazing type (even applied films), state, material, cooling stars and heating stars.

The most useful search is in the U value and SHGC search. This was designed to match the requirements of the Whole of House energy rating regulations. When a user inputs a U value and SHGC, the engine will look for a window that has a U value less than or equal to the input and a SHGC within 10%, making it a great tool for compliance.

Visit www.wers.net/residential/search

Important Notice:
It has come to our attention that members are having difficulty meeting SHGC requirements from energy reports.
WERS is collating data to use to help resolve this issue.
If you have any reports that can't meet the SHGC requirements please email them to Mike Palin