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The research and development department at Dickson-Constant, a leading European manufacturer of awning fabrics, has developed the Light & Comfort study, in collaboration with the CSTC (Centre Scientifique et Technique de la Construction/Scientific and Technical Centre for Construction) and Dr Marc Fontoynont. Blinds & Shutters finds out more...
This study has revealed that the key to comfort and well-being under an outdoor awning fabric is strongly associated to the colour scheme. A system of simple-to-use decision making tools which revolve around four criteria - UV protection, thermal comfort, visual protection and colouring of light - is now in place to help the general public in selecting their awning fabric. Dickson-Constant has already categorised the Orchestra collection's 162 references on the basis of the Light & Comfort study. Selecting an awning fabric on the basis of the cool, temperate or warm ambiance produced beneath it by factors such as light intensity, thermal comfort and virtually total UV protection, has become a reality with Dickson fabrics. With a nomenclature that is both amusing and scientific the public can now, on the basis of four criteria, select the awning fabric that best corresponds to their preferences in terms of colour as well as their needs, expectations and desires. The Light & Comfort study was conducted by Dickson-Constant's Research & Development department during the heat-wave of summer 2003, in collaboration with the CSTC and Dr Marc Fontoynont, Director at the Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Habitat (Laboratory of Sciences of the Habitat), has thus highlighted the role of colour in the thermo-optical behaviour of awning fabrics.
Colours have an impact on our well-being and contribute to the overall ambiance, colouring sun light and changing the way in which we perceive it. The degree to which solar radiation is filtered depends on the fabrics, the temperature can therefore be modulated beneath the awning, as can brightness and colour. Such effects can be pre-calculated using fabric characteristics determined in the laboratory.
The general public select their colour schemes on the basis of the following four main criteria, key factors in terms of comfort and well-being: - UV protection. Dickson awning fabrics filter at least 90% of UV rays, whatever their colour. Three index types were updated in the course of the study: UPF 12+ (UV Protection Factor) - over 90% of UVs are filtered by the fabric; UPF 30+ - over 95% of UVs filtered; and UPF 50+ - 100% of UVs filtered (total screen). Diffused and direct UV transmission factors were calculated for Dickson fabrics by the CSTC in compliance with standard EN 410.
- Thermal comfort. Dickson awning fabrics block out at least 70% of solar heat. All references have been categorized with a solar factor, a precise reference index that measures the quantity of direct heat transmitted by a fabric. This Solar Factor (SF) is used to evaluate the temperature drop recorded beneath the fabric under reference summer conditions. Three levels: SF <0.1 (90% of solar heat blocked), SF between 0.1 and 0.2 (80% to 90% of solar heat blocked), SF between 0.2 and 0.3 (70% to 80% of solar heat blocked).
- Visual protection. Dickson awning fabrics provide effective protection from brightness, with maximum 28% of light transmitted. An awning fabric filters the sunlight and generates, in summer and depending on the colour scheme, a brightness between 1,000 and 5,000 lux. The palest fabrics thus filter out sun rays whilst bringing luminosity and "second daylight" inside the house. The darkest fabrics provide effective protection from solar light intensity under conditions of strong sunlight. Three indexes were established to measure the visual transmission of fabrics; under 10%, from 10 to 20% and over 20%.
- Colouring of the light. This is the most subjective criterion of the 4 defined by the Light & Comfort study, but certainly the most influential in terms of ambiance beneath the awning fabric. Each Dickson reference now falls into one of three categories representing the atmosphere generated by its light: cool, temperate or warm. A colour such as yellow, for example, will lower the temperature of the colour of natural light and "heat" its shade, thus creating a lively and stimulating ambiance beneath the awning fabric.
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