Phius Product Certification Manager Michael Franco details the advantages of the revamped Phius Product Database.
The Phius Product Certification team is thrilled to announce the release of our new and improved Certified Product Database!
The first phase of this database rollout focuses on fenestration — it’s never been easier to find the Phius-certified window or door for your project. The Phius Certified Window and Door program is the most robust of our lineup of Phius Certified Products, and it has a long history of supporting the Phius mission and its dedicated practitioners.
Since 2013, Phius has worked to put verified thermal performance data into the hands of professionals. Our program provides the component-level data necessary for modeling a product’s exact performance at actual size; this plug-and-play data offers not only a significant time savings, but also an extra layer of confidence. Phius-verified data is accepted at face value in all Phius projects and streamlines the documentation process for project submissions. Manufacturers benefit similarly since they are able to point to Phius product certification as both a source of third-party-verified data and their commitment to producing industry-leading products for the high-performance sector.
Over the last decade, the Phius Certified Window program has brought certified data to end users, all hosted on a humble but frequently referenced public spreadsheet of certified product listings. The old spreadsheet format served us well for many years, but it didn’t allow for the effective searching or sorting of products as the program and its listings continued to grow. With well over 500 certified fenestration combinations listed, and a rapidly-growing number of Phius-certified passive projects under our belt, it was time for an update.
Now, practitioners can find the right Phius-certified window, door, or skylight for the job with a proper user interface. Our new database allows professionals to search, sort, filter, and browse Phius-certified products all supported by a completely overhauled database on the backend. Some key filters include:
Manufacturer name
Product line
Product operation type
Frame material type
Double, triple, or quad pane IGU
Min/max values for SHGC and U-value
Recommended climate zones
All Phius-certified products will now also be assigned unique serial numbers, making it easier than ever to identify exact product combinations. This serial number, in addition to other key attributes, will also be indexed in our database’s search tool. Each product will have its own detail page where professionals can view the component-level performance data they’ve come to expect from Phius-certified products.
Downloadable PDF certificates will remain a key feature of our program, and yes, we’ve updated them as well. Each certificate now contains separate pages for data in IP and SI units with dedicated sections for data specific to energy modeling. This crucial performance data is now organized to allow for speedy input into software such as WUFI® Passive and other tools.
Our team is hard at work finalizing all the major technical program changes and sunsetting the outgoing, legacy certificate format. Both manufacturers and practitioners alike will have access to the new certificates in the coming weeks, and project teams will be instructed to submit certificates in the new format as of Jan. 1, 2024.
The Phius Product Certification team is extremely grateful to the Phius professionals, fenestration manufacturers, development team, and staff members who provided insights, advice, feedback, and countless hours of time that made this vision for a modern database into reality. We sincerely hope you find it helpful, and we certainly won’t stop here.
