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When Cranford, N.J.-based Construction Specialties’ founder, Ed Hallock, developed the industry’s first extruded aluminum louver in 1955, he did not have to concern himself with how an architectural louver would look, but rather how it performed.
In the 57 years of C/S Louver development, keeping a balance between performance and attractive architectural appeal has resulted in hundreds of louver models, each with specific characteristics intended to meet the ever-changing demands of the architect, the engineer and the project’s owner. Even though the louver product line has been around for over a half century, C/S never adopts the attitude “that just about everything possible that can be done to louvers has been done.”
Faced with that perception, C/S’ research and development and sales/marketing teams held an innovation session to identify new louver design concepts. Over the course of two days, presentations on architectural design trends and unique products well beyond louvers were covered.
Teams were formed and sent off to come up with any reasonable or outrageous design for a louver product that they could imagine. The designs with the most votes were presented by the marketing department to architectural firms for interest and evaluation. The two highest-rated louver designs were then put through a year-long process of development, testing and market feedback. The result, C/S is pleased to introduce the Bold Line and the Perform louver product lines.
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C/S Bold Line Louvers allow architects to use a variety of blade depths, color and shadow lines to turn standard louvers into a dramatic design element for his or her project’s façade. C/S BoldLine lets the architect place those features and accents anywhere on the louver elevation without compromising the louvers AMCA-tested air or water performance.
C/S’ other new louver design is the Perform Louver Line. The Perform Louver’s inspiration comes from the desire of many architects to “make louvers disappear.” The idea of hiding a louver behind something is not completely new; however, what is almost never known is the effect of exterior elements on the critical performance aspects of the louvers. Perform is custom-engineered so that the exterior perforated sheet is at the optimum spacing and pattern to allow maximum performance. Architects can now confidently specify a product that hides a louver’s blades yet still meets the HVAC requirements of the projects’ engineers.
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Eric Wiedman, LEED Green Associate, has been with Cranford, N.J.-based Construction Specialties (C/S), a company specializing in architectural products, for 30 years. He is currently the vice president of sales for the Cranford Division, which includes louvers, sun controls and grilles. For more information on C/S, visit www.c-sgroup.com.