A new technical bulletin clarifies the definition of a window opening control device (WOCD) to promote greater understanding of the role of WOCDs and provide an understanding of a WOCD’s function.
\When properly designed, tested, specified, and installed, WOCDs can help prevent or reduce accidental falls from windows, while allowing the ability to open the window fully as may be needed to exit in the event of a home emergency, according to a news release from the Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA) and the Window & Door Manufacturers Association (WDMA).
The document, AAMA/WDMA TB-24-01, “will help users understand the important role of WOCDs, and how to tell the difference between them and other window hardware types like vent limiters or night latches, designed for different purposes,” said Dan Raap (AmesburyTruth), co-chair of the FGIA Window Opening Control Device (WOCD) Update Task Group.
WOCDs were introduced as a new window fall prevention device starting with the 2008 version of the ASTM International (formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials) (ASTM) F2090, Standard Specification for Window Fall Prevention Devices with Emergency Escape (Egress) Release Mechanisms. ASTM F2090 is a standard for window fall prevention devices that are releasable such that a window can be fully opened for emergency escape or rescue.
Related Stories
| Aug 16, 2012
CSI webinar on August 21 focuses on electronic energy control
The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) is sponsoring a free webinar on August 21 at 2:00 p.m. (EDT) on electronic energy control.
| Aug 16, 2012
Public sector pushes sustainable building forward
Not usually noted for its innovation, the public sector has done the most to advance sustainable building, according to a recent panel of green building professionals.
| Aug 16, 2012
Canada’s first net-positive building under construction in Milton, Ontario
The GreenLife Business Centre in Milton, Ontario near Toronto is set to become the first net-positive energy building in Canada.
| Aug 9, 2012
Tornado-ravaged Greensburg, Kansas’s new green buildings save $200K a year
The town of Greensburg, Kan., virtually destroyed by a tornado in 2007, decided to rebuild 13 public buildings according to green standards.
| Aug 2, 2012
NIBS council recommends private and public measures to improve building sustainability
A new report by the National Institute of Building Sciences Consultative Council highlights four several areas that need focus to improve sustainability in buildings and infrastructure.
| Aug 2, 2012
Greenbuild summit will focus on greening affordable housing
A two-day summit focused on green building in the affordable housing market will be held Nov. 13 - 14, 2012 in San Francisco, Calif. at the Greenbuild International Conference & Expo.
| Jul 26, 2012
New NRCA photovoltaic roof systems guidelines released
The National Roofing Contractors Association’s update of its Guidelines for Roof Systems With Rooftop Photovoltaic Components is now available.
| Jul 26, 2012
DOE/ASHRAE design guide aims to cut energy use at hospitals, schools, retail stores
The Advanced Energy Design Guidelines from the Department of Energy and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers aims to provide ways for hospitals, schools, and large retail buildings to trim their energy consumption by 50%.
| Jul 19, 2012
Glass ‘biodome’ helps Parkview Green FangCaoDi project in Beijing achieve LEED Platinum
A glass envelope acting as a kind of biodome encapsulates four mixed-use towers at Parkview Green FangCaoDi, an 800,000 sf mixed-use development in Beijing. The glass structure helped the development to achieve LEED Platinum certification.
| Jul 19, 2012
UMass-Boston's Bevington: 'Financing alternatives crucial to energy-efficiency upgrades'
It’s conceivable that innovation in project finance can do for building efficiency in the coming century what 30-year mortgages did for home ownership in the last, this article asserts.
