Differences in Design Pressure and Performance Grade

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Door& to Some BasicsDifferences in Design Pressure and Performance GradeB Y K E N B R E N D E NFenestration products areundeniably becoming morecomplex as performanceexpectations diversify and same is true of the standardsthat guide those who Design andspecify these products. The lynch-pin of these standards is theAAMA/WDMA/CSA 101 , The North AmericanFenestration Standard/Specification[NAFS] for Windows, Doors andSkylights, the latest version ofwhich is 2008 although the 2011version is waiting in the wings foradoption into the 2012 is apparent widespreadmisuse of certain NAFS perform-ance terms within the industry,especially Design Pressure per-formance class and performancegrade. At times, marketplace con-fusion has led to specifying thewrong product for a given build-ing application.

test pressures and water penetra - tion resistance test pressures for the four NAFS performance classes are indicated in the table on page 18. Optional higher performance grade may be specified in each per-formance class (except AW) above the minimum gateway requirement in increments of 5 psf (240 Pa), up to a maximum cap of 100 psf (4,800 Pa).

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