he Glass and Window ToolBox has been launched, which is a joint development between the AustralianGlass and Glazing Association (AGGA) and Arup Facade Engineering. It follows three years of extensive research and dialogue with regulators, designers and suppliers. The goal is to make it easier and more efficient for builders and designers to comply with new energy building regulations.
The first web based software program of its kind, the ToolBox will assist in the energy assessment of buildings. Designers, architects, and energy assessors can now clearly identify and easily specify windows and frame requirements to builders, fabricators and suppliers by talking in performance terms, enabling every job to comply with new energy building regulations.
The new energy rating software will soon become a critical part of achieving speed to market for window fabricators and the ToolBox will give the opportunity to ensure window systems are rated and registered for use with rating software such as AccuRate, BERS or FirstRate.
The ToolBox offers 17 standard window configurations with 84 representative glazing variations with timber, uPVC, aluminium and thermally broken aluminium representative frames. This extensive range of representative products will enable the ToolBox to cover the full range of available window products and verify their performance.
The ToolBox is affordable, instantly calculates the performance of glazing and framing options (both residential and commercial) and gives clear specifications on the requirements to achieve the necessary U Value and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient for each job.
The development team checked its progress with Dr Angelo Delsante, a CSIRO scientist and developer of AccuRate, to ensure that the window data files created were compatible with AccuRate.
“The Glass and Window ToolBox fills a need for the efficient creation of valid, technically correct window data files for new window systems,” Delsante says.
“The benefit to the industry is particularly demonstrated in cases where a custom-designed building requires the use of glazing that is a one-off design for that building: that is, glazing that is not standard stock and for which there is no AccuRate window data file. The ToolBox will bring extra flexibility and efficiency to the rating of residential buildings,” he says.
The Glass and Window ToolBox is web-based and designed specifically to determine thermal performance of complete glazing and window systems. It creates a complete building window schedule and will produce a supply certificate for building inspectors to review.
It has been fully validated by NFRC-trained specialists, is open for peer review, designed to be fully transparent and all calibrations are readily reviewed. The ToolBox will generate window data files for NatHERS window library and will accommodate the updated version of AccuRate to accept NFRC input. It has been developed by Specialist Facade Engineer Stefan Brey in association with Arup and the AGGA.
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