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Product Application
Eclipse Shutters offer unsurpassed beauty, warm up Florida hospital
ll too often, window treat- ments are an overlooked, yet vital piece to the puzzle when planning healthcare facilities. The industry has used a few types of window treatments as a standard based on price or functionality. There is an alternative to the standard vertical blinds as well as the high-priced solar screen systems.
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Health First had the idea of using shutters in some patient rooms instead of solar screens, which were used throughout the rest of the hospital. Shutters are as old as window treat- ments themselves, but until recently, shutters lacked the necessary certifi ca- tions for healthcare construction. When Window Interiors was ap- proached with the idea of providing shutters for 84 patient rooms in Health First's new construction hospital in Melbourne, Fla., they knew there was one shutter that would meet all the requirements. With more than 20 years of experience offering window-treatment services to the commercial market, Window Interiors presented the Eclipse Shutter, manufactured by Universal Window Coverings, as the product that would perfectly fi t the needs for a hospital to the team at Hunton Brady Architects. Made of Polyresin 3 vinyl, Eclipse Shutters have earned certifi cations for the most stringent environmental test- ing in the industry. The GreenGuard Environmental Institute has evaluated
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the shutter and it has met the standards for indoor air quality for Children and Schools. The shutter is also listed to re- sist the growth of mold when subjected to adverse environmental conditions. The vinyl is inherently fi re retardant and is NFPA 701 certifi ed.
The genius behind the product is the combination of its environmental stan- dards, simple installation and beautiful appeal. Only a small team was required by Window Interiors to complete the job in a short period of time. The lightweight shutter is assembled and installed eas- ily, requiring a minimal amount of man hours to complete each opening. The recent explosion of automated controls for solar-screen products in the healthcare construction industry requires the installation and program- ming of complicated controls and may necessitate continued maintenance. The Eclipse Shutters are installed with a 25- year unlimited warranty. In addition, the shutters are guaranteed to never chip, crack, peel, warp or yellow and are UV resistant. The maintenance for the shut- ter is simply periodic dusting. At the forefront of conversations is how to make projects more energy effi - cient, greener and more environmentally friendly. Universal Window Coverings re- cycles 100 percent of the waste gener-
ated from the production of the shutters. In an effort to improve energy effi ciency, Eclipse Shutters are designed with a uniquely cellular design acting as an insulator, which is especially important to protect against the hot Florida sun. All components used by Universal
Window Coverings in the Eclipse Shut- ters are waterproof and non-porous, which ensures its microbial resistance. The advantages to the Eclipse Shut- ter do not end with the environment. The shutters are fabricated with a combina- tion of skilled workmanship and high- tech machinery. This ensures the fastest and most accurate production schedule in the shutter market. The design op- tions available are endless as Universal Window Coverings worked with Window Interiors and Hunton Brady to come up with the perfect plan for Health First's Viera Hospital.
Couple the environmental benefi ts with the classic beauty of a shutter, and the result is an attractive window cover- ing at an affordable price. Universal Window Coverings, Inc. is a wholesale fabricator of premier hard window treatments for the commercial and residential markets.
For more information, call 800-494- 9636 or visit www.universalwc.com.
March/April 2012 | Medical Construction & Design 63
