Opening Thoughts from the Western Region Board of Directors
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the Western Region 2012 Spring Meeting, which proved to be an excellent opportunity for attendees to learn from industry experts about hot topics, as well as take part in an immersive learning experience via a tour of the Cardinal IG Hood River Facility. The meeting held April 10-11 in Portland, OR, truly symbolized the Western Region Board’s commitment to the pursuit of education and the fostering of relationships among likeminded industry professionals.


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BIM: An Accelerating Game Changer
"Building Information Modeling will change everything," said Dennis Neeley (SmartBIM), noting that "the change is becoming very evident [and] is happening at unprecedented speed." During his presentation at the AAMA Western Region 2012 Spring Meeting, Neeley shared his analysis of the rapidly evolving acceptance and use of BIM.

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NFRC Independent Verification Program Nears Launch
True to the EPA’s initiative to employ market-based testing to verify continued compliance of ENERGY STAR®-rated products, the ENERGY STAR Windows, Doors and Skylights program has established new requirements for the sampling and verification testing of products as they are sold in the marketplace. This effort focuses on producing the NFRC 713, Independent Verification Program Document, which is scheduled for implementation in January 2013.

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The U.S. Economic Outlook
During the Western Region 2012 Spring Meeting, Dr. Esmael Adibi, Director of the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research and Anderson Chair of Economic Analysis at Chapman University, provided an update on the U.S. economic outlook.

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California Poised to Issue 2013 Title 24 Building Efficiency Standards
The California Energy Commission is in the final stages of adopting changes to the 2008 Building Energy Efficiency Standards contained in the California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 24, Part 6 (also known as the California Energy Code). The revised standards were approved May 9, 2012 and are scheduled to take effect in January 2014.

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NAFS-11 Changes Highlighted
Western Region members received an overview of the changes brought about by NAFS-11 (AAMA/WDMA/CSA 101/I.S.2/A440-11), courtesy of Kim Flanary (Milgard), Immediate Past President of the AAMA Western Region. Flanary traced the evolution of AAMA standards since 1947 and focused on the updates since the landmark AAMA/NWWDA 101/I.S.2-97 was issued, noting that the updates have tracked and been sequentially adopted by the I-Codes (IRC and IBC) in their three-year code change cycles.

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