Verosol presents the new product ClearView

Breakthrough in view through

View through, view through, is actually quite difficult to quantify. It's much more about experience and emotion. So says Lindsay Hovenier, Product Manager Fabrics at Verosol. A leading and progressive international company specializing in the design, manufacture and distribution of top quality metallized window coverings. With its new product ClearView, the company has made a real breakthrough in transparency.

"Verosol stands for 'heat control, light control & view through,'" continued Hovenier. "With our Heat & Light Kit, we can show those first two USPs directly to our customers. But how are you going to explain something as non-technical as 'view through' if people don't experience it on site?" Verosol has thought about that too!

ClearView fabric sample. The chosen black color is the interior side and silver metallized color is the window side. (Image: Verosol).

Experience

"People need perception and recognition to understand what the added value of a product is," Hovenier knows. "In this day and age where a lot of work is done at home, as well as in larger office buildings, everyone is familiar with the annoying glare that can fall on a screen. Yet you also don't want to feel 'trapped' the moment your blinds go down. So a product that keeps out heat and glare, while maintaining transparency. Let us offer you a successful solution have for it!"

ClearView

Verosol has struck the perfect balance between see-through and control of heat, light and glare. "When developing, the goal was: create a fabric with the best see-through combined with a low openness factor. More than 50 tests later, there is the ClearView."

"Currently, the European standard EN14501 is used to quantify transparency. However, this is very generic. However, our ClearView indoor blinds have such a nice transparency, much better than other textiles with similar openness factors, that we opt for a different classification method."

Bizarre but true - this microscope image of ClearView shows that due to its metallization and structure, the transparency is rated as Excellent. Better than other textiles with similar openness factors. In practice, this leads to excellent transparency while ensuring visual comfort. (Image: Verosol).

Proof of concept

"Therefore, we asked ITA RWTH Aachen University to assess our project portfolio according to the classification they designed method. The independent institute, which has extensive experience in the field of external blinds and transparency, has conducted tests with the ClearView, among others, whose certificates and technical report are available. As a proof of concept, we did a variant of an optician's test which ITA built out and evaluated based on five criteria. Among other things, they looked at cognitive perception and how homogeneous the material is. The regularity of structure is an important factor in the transparency of a fabric. In addition to the openness factor, they looked extensively at light transmission. If it is not good, you will get a blurry effect when looking outside. All of these factors were considered by ITA in evaluating the fabric and the degree of transparency."

Advantages

- Exceptional Visibility - all colors score 'Excellent Visibility' (the highest attainable score according to ITA RWTH Aachen University)

- Exceptionally high solar reflectance of 74% (unique in the market on metallized polyester) - Very environmentally friendly application (PVC-free)

- BREAAM; GreenGuard Gold + HPD2.1

- Very good fire classification - score European test EN13501-1: B-s1, d0

- Glare control class 3 (BREAAM HEA 3 - counteracting glare)

The highly sophisticated and precise composition of the textile, combined with a relatively low openness factor of 3%, provides an excellent balance between countering light interference while maintaining excellent transparency. In addition, its superior performance provides excellent visual and thermal comfort.

"For the first time, an independent institute examines the view through rate of interior blinds and links a view through rate to it. A classification that is completely new in our field. Verosol is very proud to have been at the forefront of this." Hovenier concludes, "As always, from Verosol's R&D, we look for fabrics that really add value. Where thermal comfort in combination with visual comfort is in optimal balance, but with retention of transparency. We have succeeded in this to the maximum extent with the ClearView interior blinds." 

This article previously appeared in Facade Construction.