Somfy Highlights Commitment to Z-Wave Technology

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Joanne Fischetti
R&J Public Relations
908-722-5757
jfischetti@randjpr.com

INDIANAPOLIS, I.N. (September 8, 2011) – Somfy Systems, Inc. is a proud supporter of the Z-Wave® protocol – an interoperable, 2-way RF mesh networking technology. As the world’s largest manufacturer of radio-controlled motors for interior and exterior window coverings, Somfy has enthusiastically adopted Z-Wave and its robust wireless solutions to offer the convenience of home automation without the hassle of wires.

At CEDIA, Somfy highlights that commitment with a lineup of its latest Z-Wave enabled interface devices: the Z-Wave to Radio Technology Somfy® Interface, or ZRTSI, the Z-Wave Digital Motor Interface, or ZDMI, and the new Glydea Z-Wave card.

At the center of Somfy’s Z-Wave ecosystem is TaHomA™, their new Total Home Automation solution. TaHomA provides a simple, intuitive interface to maximize energy efficiency by setting up automatic control of the “Energy Triangle” –motorized window coverings, lights and thermostats. Using Z-Wave, the TaHomA controller serves as a bridge between these devices and the user, creating effortless total control over energy management.

Somfy’s Z-Wave® to RTS Interface (ZRTSI) converts Z-Wave® transmissions to control commands for Somfy’s full range of interior and exterior RTS motors. The ZRTSI has 16 virtual Z-Wave® nodes and is capable of controlling up to 16 individual or groups of RTS motorized products including shades, blinds, rolling shutters, awnings, and projection screens. It is easily installed since it conveniently plugs into any standard outlet. The ZRTSI was honored as the benchmark 500^th certified Z-Wave device by the Z-Wave Alliance.

The Z-Wave Digital Motor Interface (ZDMI) translates commands for Somfy’s line of digital motors. A simple plug-in device, the ZDMI requires no external power and takes just a minute to install. The ZDMI uses the benefits of 2-way communication for real-time status reports into TaHomA for motorized blinds and shades. Using the TaHomA GUI, users can click and drag the device’s icon to their exact specifications – from totally open to fully closed and anywhere in between.

Glydea motors with the Z-Wave interface feature integrated Z-Wave communication, eliminating the need for wiring additional controls thus adding to Somfy’s family of Z-wave products.

Somfy’s three Z-Wave bridge devices – the ZRTSI, the ZDMI, and the Glydea Z-Wave card – provide integrators with a complete offering for enabling Z-Wave wireless control of a wide range of motorized window coverings including roller/solar, pleated/cellular, 2-inch horizontal blinds, sheer horizontals and roman/woven shades, awnings, rolling shutters, and projection screens.

About Somfy Systems, Inc.

Somfy, the world leader in manufacturing of specialized motors and electronic controls for residential and commercial interior and exterior window covering markets, has North American headquarters located in Dayton, N.J. For more than three decades, engineers at Somfy have been designing products to motorize interior and exterior window coverings such as interior shades, wood blinds, draperies, awnings, rolling shutters, exterior solar screens, projection screens and more. Somfy motorization systems are easily integrated with security, HVAC, and lighting systems, providing total home or building automation. For more information, visit www.somfysystems.com.

B&W Window Fashions Launches First Cordless Standard Roman Shade

Horizons/B&W Window Fashions today introduced the Vitalé roman shade featuring Cordless ONE Controls™ a proprietary cordless system. The Cordless ONE Controls™ are free on Vitalé shades and all shades made with the customer’s own material (C.O.M.) The Cordless ONE Controls™ are a charged option on Horizons™ Natural Woven Shades and Horizons™ Soft Treatments Shades.

“Consumers who buy window fashions should demand beautiful products that are inherently safe,” said Bill O’Connor, president, B&W Window Fashions. “We have developed a durable, easy-to-use technology at no additional cost to consumers which offers a more attractive, clean design by eliminating unsightly cords.”

The Cordless ONE Controls’ patent pending design enables consumers to raise and lower a shade with one hand by pulling on a concealed ring at the bottom of the shade. Additionally, the network of inner cords found in the shade is encased in a proprietary “safety sleeve.” See the Cordless ONE Controls in action at www.horizoshades.com.

“We consider cordless safety to be similar to the shift when consumers began expecting such standard features as seat belts and airbags from the auto industry,” said O’Connor. “Our industry has lagged behind most others in our ability to provide safe products to consumers without cost increases. Our hope is that the Cordless ONE Controls encourages innovation in our industry to create a safer generation of window shades and to protect children in their homes.”

About the Vitalé Collection

The Vitalé Collection is a new line of soft window fashions, such as fabric Roman shades, marketed under the Horizons brand. Vitalé features attractive, clean designs by eliminating unsightly cords and every treatment can be fully customized in more than 100 on-trend fabrics and styles. As an additional feature, all shades are seamless up to the full 96” wide. Furthermore, Horizons/B&W will craft shades from the customer’s own material resulting in a virtually limitless selection. The Vitalé Collection comes with the proprietary Cordless ONE Controls safety system standard in every product. For more information about the Vitalé Collection, please visit www.horizonshades.com.

About B&W Window Fashions

B&W Window Fashions manufactures the Horizons brand, a collection of elegant, handmade window treatments. Horizons products include natural woven shades and soft treatments such as fabric Roman shades. All Horizons window fashions are made in the United States and sold through select dealers. B&W Window Fashions recently launched the Vitalé Collection featuring Cordless ONE Controls, the only price-neutral, cordless standard Roman Shade in the window fashions industry. For more information on B&W Window Fashions, please visit www.horizonshades.com.

Green Redefines Design: Hunter Douglas Brings Windows to New Heights

“Green is never going away. It has redefined how we design,” says acclaimed interior designer Scott Salvator. Glass tile, natural materials, appliances and other products that conserve energy and resources are increasingly sought after and are here to stay.

Long a pioneer in energy efficiency at the window, Hunter Douglas has introduced new fabrics for its Duette® Architella® honeycomb shades that bring energy savings and style to new heights. New this year, Duette Architella shades with IllumiCell™, a clear inner honeycomb engineered to provide greater light transmission than the original and less transparent inner honeycomb. Both options offer superior energy efficiency, thanks to the patented cell-within-a-cell design that traps more air before it enters the room. The light transmitted through the new IllumiCell emphasizes the texture of the room-facing fabric. It is available in two fabrics, both of which contain recycled materials. Architella Batiste Textured™ is a linen-inspired fabric, and naturally textured Batiste Bamboo is highly sustainable with 45 percent of its content from one of nature’s most renewable resources, bamboo.

Like most Hunter Douglas product offerings, these shades have passed rigorous standards and test procedures and are GREENGUARD Indoor Air Certified® and also certified by GREENGUARD for Children & Schools^SM

Many Duette® Architella® Shades Qualify for Federal Energy Tax Credits

Opaque Duette Architella shades can reduce heat loss through windows by up to 40 percent in winter; they can also reduce solar heat gain through windows by up to 80 percent in summer. Additionally, Federal Tax Credits for energy-efficient products are available for 10 percent of the cost of most Duette Architella® shades, up to a maximum of $500 in total, when purchased and installed through December 31, 2011. These are the first and only window shades to qualify for the tax credit without add-on insulation systems. More information on the tax credit is available at hunterdouglas.com/taxcredit.

Hunter Douglas Inc. is a national sponsor of Habitat for Humanity, covering windows in every Habitat home built in the U.S. and Canada. Headquartered in Pearl River, N.Y., the company is the leading manufacturer of custom window coverings in North America.

For more information, visit www.hunterdouglas.com or call 800-274-2985.

Innovations in textiles and sun protection

Industry hoping for a further boost to growth at R+T 2012/Energy efficiency and quality of life as the key topics

2011 has so far been a good year for the sun protection and textile industry due to the very sunny spring and the positive economic situation in the construction sector. After a period of caution, the buying mood among consumers could be clearly felt‛, says Gertrud Müller, Managing Director of the Industrial Association for Technical Textiles, Roller Shutters and Sun Protection Systems (ITRS). Even though sales in the summer months decreased slightly on account of the indifferent weather, the ITRS is hoping for an increase in sales that will primarily be boosted by R+T 2012. The leading world trade fair for roller shutters, doors/gates and sun protection systems will take place at the Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre from 28 February to 3 March 21012. ‚Past experience shows that sales rise after the trade fair. The weather, economic activity in the construction sector and raw material prices also naturally play an important role‛, says Gertrud Müller. The automation, roller shutter and sun protection industry has an average turnover of €2.5 billion and employs a good 20,000 people in Germany. This figure also includes the internal and external sun protection segment.

The industry now primarily relies on individual solutions with energy efficiency as one focal point. Modern and sustainable architecture makes provision for the use of solar energy. Large window areas, which create a connection to the outside world, are now a standard feature, for example in office and administrative buildings or in private houses. ‚Warema is systematically developing ideal sun protection systems. Warema Optisysteme, which were presented for the first time in 2011, are being continuously extended and are characterised by energy efficiency along with important factors such as visual and thermal comfort‛, says Gerhard Mader, Sales Director of WAREMA Renkhoff SE. According to Mader, however, the ideal sun protection product does not exist and the demand is currently for solutions matching the particular beneficial situation. These solutions normally comprise flexible external Venetian blinds or awnings and an internal sun and anti-dazzler protection system combined with an intelligent control unit. High flexibility and progressive automation are clear trends in the planning of climate-active building shells. ‚Together with our partners, we want to hold discussions at R+T 2012 to show how this is possible and how Warema imagines the future of sun protection systems‛, says Mader. He adds: ‚When designing our exhibition stand, we paid close attention to communication and the exchange of opinions and information with our partners. Extremely interesting innovations from all product areas will naturally again be presented. To sum up, it can be said that the role of sun protection in the area of sustainable building must be communicated to a greater extent. Based on the individual aspect of energy conservation, integrated solutions including the feel-good factor are required.‛ According to Mader, it is now necessary to firmly anchor the extraordinarily important contribution by integrated sun protection solutions towards the air-conditioning of buildings in standards and regulations. The industry still has a lot of catching-up to do. Warema is strongly convinced that R+T 2012, as the leading world trade fair for sun protection solutions, will help in this respect.

Consideration of energy-optimised architecture

Martin Egger, Head of Corporate Marketing at STOBAG AG, believes that business success can be achieved through a first-class product portfolio and the provision of market services on time in a flexible manner. According to Egger, purchasing, production capacity and logistics are key aspects for the company. On the product side the Swiss firm is focusing on large facade shades for energy-optimised architecture, terrace roofs with flexible glazing systems, HoReCa weather protection systems, solar technology and integration in building automation systems. With regard to sun and weather protection, the topic of energy conservation and building automation is becoming increasingly more important and planners and architects will require more easy-to-integrate shading solutions in the next few years. Sun protection systems are also frequently used as an individual design element. ‚Thanks to this diversity, we are producing less and less for stock. Optimised and ecologically sound production is therefore vital for a successful future for our company as a worldwide supplier‛, says Martin Egger. ‚The topic of ‘homing’ is very much in vogue. People are spending more and more time in their own garden or on the terrace. They also want to experience this open-air feeling, independent of the weather, from spring to late autumn and are investing in large sun and weather protection systems. We are therefore also enjoying great success with the Terrado glass roof system. This system offers great benefits due to ideally integrated shading, freely selectable side glazing and numerous extension options. The clever design of the Terrado glass roof system and the large number of options guarantee ideal flexibility in planning. The system can be easily installed – almost ‚round the corner‛ - even in complex building situations such as balcony sofffits.‛ Egger is expecting ‚a large number of motivated trade visitors and many interesting contacts and discussions‛ at R+T 2012.

The French textile company Dickson-Constant recognises energy efficiency in sun protection as a trend topic: it is currently focusing on the systematic integration of sun protection systems in public and commercial buildings since sun protection in general and awnings and roller blinds in particular visibly improve the energy performance or rather the energy efficiency of buildings. High-quality sun protection systems on the facade – affixed either inside or outside – regulate thermal build-up and sunlight. With Orchestra Max, Dickson-Constant offers an ideal fabric for use in public areas such as cafés, hotels and restaurants (HoReCa). ‚The material is extremely durable, waterproof and easy to clean. This is especially true of the latest generation‛, says Lars Rippstein, Managing Director of the German branch: ‚Awnings can therefore be used the whole year round, irrespective of the climate conditions!‛ However, Sunworker, a technical sun protection fabric for indoors and outdoors, also definitely belongs to the category of ‚innovation and sustainability‛. Rippstein: ‚This fabric is microperforated, flame-retardant according to fire protection class 1 and extremely resistant to any environmental influences. Sunworker acts like a natural air-conditioning system.‛ The new awning material collection will be presented during R+T 2012 at the Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre and will represent the quality, innovative capacity and technical know-how of Dickson. According to the company, one of its key concerns is to make sun protection more interesting again in the design and renovation of buildings, professionalise specialist retailers and sensitise the general public to the need for suitable sun protection systems.

Colours and design in the sun protection sector are playing an increasingly more important role. However, technical aspects such as cleaning and care or durability are vital for end customers. The sun protection textiles of the Austrian textile manufacturer Sattler AG combine both optics and technical efficiency. Based on previous developments, the company will present at R+T 2012 a fabric whose innovative properties represent the next level of sun protection: ‚The special feature is that it not only looks good, but also contains excellent technical values. The fabric is characterised by higher strengths, soiling resistance and high resistance to water pressure. However, we are not allowed to reveal any more‛, says Markus Szotrell, Managing Director of Sattler GmbH in Deutschland. ‚Our exhibition stand at R+T 2012 will also again be totally eye-catching. Visitors can look forward to some illuminating inspiration – and we are naturally expecting a large number of customers, partners and interested parties. In 2013 Sattler will launch a new collection. We are looking forward to setting new standards in the area of textile sun protection.‛

The terrace as a living area

Dan Schmitz, a member of the Board of Management of Schmitz-Werke GmbH + Co. KG, is delighted with the recovery of the markets even though the situation is not good everywhere, especially in Europe. ‚We resolved to do a great deal and want to intensify our activities. We are relying on a large number of new products in this respect. We have long realised that simple installation and durable products with high design standards are just right for our company and are achieving success on the market‛, says Schmitz. According to Schmitz-Werke, environmental compatibility and energetic properties of products are becoming increasingly more important. That is the reason why there is great interest in materials with new properties. With the terrace as an outdoor living area, there is more demand for design and, thus, a need for matching products in order to create a harmonious overall appearance. This also includes the smooth transition from the living room to the terrace. Thanks to the unique constellation with swela, the textile developer, and markilux, the awning innovator, it was possible to develop both directions in a purposeful and practical manner with extremely user-friendly new results as the outcome. Schmitz is planning to celebrate the world premiere of many new products with its regular and prospective customers at R+T 2012. ‚We are looking forward to everyone who is prepared, with us as a partner, to shape the future together. We are continually working towards this objective.‛

Every three years, R+T is the industry meeting point for roller shutters, doors/gates and sun protection systems. Around 800 exhibitors and 60,000 trade visitors from home and abroad are expected at the booked-up Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre from 28 February to 3 March 2012. R+T provides an attractive platform for suppliers, manufacturers and planners to present new trends and developments, forge contacts with customers, suppliers and customers, and establish new business contacts. The trade fair is accompanied by numerous events and technical discussions with renowned speakers.

Pressekontakt: Silvia Stoll | Tel. +49-(0)711 18560-2696 | Fax -2460 |silvia.stoll@messe-stuttgart.de