Environmentally speaking
March 1st, 2022
Speaking of sustainability at Expo’s Advanced Textile Confernce last fall are, (from left to right) Ben Mead, managing director of Hohenstein Institute America; Meredith Boyd, senior VP of Technology, Innovation & Sustainability at Unifi Manufacturing; Lauren Choi, founder and CEO of The New Norm Fabric; and Stephanie Rodgers, director of Advanced Product Development at Apex […]
New textile solutions for thermal management
January 1st, 2022
Coolwave's shape-shifting technology creates a true bidirectional thermal textile. The Coolwave technology opens or closes the fabric's pores to cool or warm the wearer. Photo: Faye Levine, University of Maryland. Life on Earth—as we know it—would not be viable without managing the temperature levels of our personal climates, our environments and the perishable materials we […]
Covering climate change
August 1st, 2021
The MakMax TensoSport Sports Canopy is designed to provide protection to large-court sporting facilities, such as tennis or basketball (shown here). The canopies are fabricated with high-translucency architectural-grade PVC fabric with PVDF coating, or with high-translucency, long-life PTFE woven fiberglass with fluropolymer coating. Photo: MakMax Australia Pty. Ltd; photographer: Grant Kennedy, We Shoot Buildings. Broiling […]
Laminated fabric for distinctive building design
August 1st, 2019
Laminated fabric provides improved thermal performance and adds a unique depth to the facade of the Horw Secondary School. Photos: Franz Rindlisbacher, Zurich. The Horw Secondary School located in Lucerne, Switzerland, was ready for a facelift. Built in the 1970s, the dated building needed to join the modern world, including meeting the requirements of Minergie, […]
‘Mass to membrane’ continues to influence the future of architecture
August 1st, 2018
Nicholas “Nic” Goldsmith, FAIA, has been a major player for more than 40 years in the development of fabric architecture in North America and around the globe through his leadership of the innovative architectural/engineering firm FTL Design Engineering Studio, based in New York City. I’ve known Nic for more than 20 of those years, and […]
Tracking supplier compliance is a tricky for sustainable textile companies
June 1st, 2018
The issue of compliance can be complicated for textile companies, which have to comply with various regulatory and voluntary company standards for product safety and restriction of substances. In the United States, for example, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) contains provisions that aim to improve the safety of children’s products. The European Union […]
Glen Raven’s solar commitment boosts sustainability
February 1st, 2018
For textile manufacturers that operate energy-intensive machinery, solar-generated energy provides a way to save on energy bills and reduce carbon footprint. Glen Raven Custom Fabrics LLC, best known as the makers of Sunbrella® fabrics, recently debuted a 3,076-panel solar array at its flagship manufacturing facility in Anderson, S.C. The one-megawatt project was designed to power […]
‘Knitted light’ produces a photo-luminescent glow
September 1st, 2017
For the last 18 years, the Young Architects Program at The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 in Manhattan has sponsored a design competition for emerging architects. The challenge was to develop a creative design for a temporary outdoor installation that provides shade, seating and water. Guidelines regarding environmental issues, including sustainability and recycling, […]
Air support
October 1st, 2015
Advances in materials and technology mean advantages for air-supported fabric structures in durability and sustainability. In May 2009, the National Football League Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility collapsed under a freak microburst of 60-mph winds, injuring a dozen people and leaving at least one person partially paralyzed. It has taken the industry years to overcome the […]