The New Phius Windows and Doors Database is Here!

This blog is the second half of a two-part series. If you are not already familiar with Phius’ window and door certification program, we recommend that you read Part One from last year.

We’re proud to announce the release of our completely rebuilt Phius Certified Window and Door Database! This tool is a massive leap forward that benefits practitioners and manufacturers alike. Our old “spreadsheet” style listing page for Phius certified windows and doors served us well over the last decade, but both our users’ needs and the program’s growth demanded new infrastructure. The new tool provides a true database experience that offers the modern tools we have all come to expect. Users can search, sort, and filter options to browse Phius certified windows and doors. Here are some of the helpful new ways to find a Phius certified fenestration product in our database:

Separate Listings for Windows and Doors

We’ve made it easier to sort between windows and doors by creating separate listing pages for each. Users can now switch between each category by clicking the “Select Product Type” slider at the top of the database. The selected category will appear as a white bar with navy blue text, and “Search windows” or “Search doors” will appear in the search bar just below this slider, mirroring the selected category. Both pages have the same helpful search and sort features!

Search Filters

In the new database, users will see a teal tab labeled “Filters” on the leftmost side of the page. Clicking this tab will open up a range of options to narrow the list of Phius certified products displayed on the main page. We offer filters for key product specifications including: 

• Manufacturer name
• Operation type
• Frame material
• Number of glass panes
• Phius-recommended ASHRAE climate zones based on a standard size unit 

Users also have the option to narrow their search by setting minimum and maximum values for the SHGC-Center-of-Glass (COG) and Whole-Window U-value at standard NFRC model size. Don’t worry about doing any napkin math in order to switch between units: the filter tab now offers an option to change between Imperial or Metric units for both the filters and the displayed results.

Sort Results

In addition to preliminary filtering, users can click the up/down arrow icon next to each column heading shown in the results area. Clicking this icon will sort the list of products in ascending or descending order, by whichever column is selected: Manufacturer, Series Name, Whole-Window U-Value, or SHGC-COG. (Note: Users can sort the entire database without applying filters, but this will simply organize all entries by the selected column.)

General Search

The database now offers a general search bar, the broadest search option. We have indexed most of the text-based information for listed products, and the search bar allows users to find products with keywords or specifications. Ideal use of the search bar includes names of manufacturers or product lines, parts of IGU specifications, or even filterable items like frame material or operation types.

Give the search bar a try if you’ve got something specific in mind (a glass coating, for example). Try search terms like “i89” or “ClimaGuard” to find some of the trademarked glass coatings manufacturers use (i89™ and ClimaGuard^® are trademarks of Cardinal Glass Industries and Guardian Glass, respectively).

Individual Product Pages

Once you’ve found some products of interest, simply click on the underlined hyperlink in the listing to navigate to that product’s individual product detail page. These pages display products’ critical performance data for reference purposes and also provide downloadable, PDF format certificates with Phius certified product performance data. Again, the data on this page can be easily switched between Metric and Imperial units with a slider near the Frame Information table.

Updated Product Certificates

We also made sure to update our Phius product certificate format as well! Now, each certificate contains a separate page for Metric and Imperial units to help eliminate input errors in modeling software.

Additionally, the Frame Information table containing frame height, U-Frame, and Psi-Spacer performance data now mirrors the input table used in WUFI^® Passive. As always, this downloadable certificate contains everything practitioners need to properly model a window or door’s performance at actual size. This product certificate is also the document that helps Phius streamline your project certification submission process. Our Project Reviewers are already familiar with this new format, and the changes we’ve made have helped them make further reductions to review times on project submissions using Phius certified windows and doors.

The recent updates to the Phius Window and Door Certification Program and the launch of our new database represent significant steps forward for Phius as we work to continue supporting passive building practitioners. We’re grateful to our development team, manufacturer partners, staff members, and Phius constituents for their hard work, continuous feedback, and unyielding support. Thank you for helping us put critical data into the hands of professionals!