CE Pro April 2024 - 56

HEALTH & WELLNESS TECH
Every day, household furnishings, paints, carpet, adhesives,
and other products are releasing Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOCs) into the air. This process is called
off-gassing. Breathing in these VOCs can be linked to
issues such as allergies, asthma, and even more serious
health issues.
You can bet that today's smart consumer is aware of this
issue and will shop accordingly. Integrators are already serving
this market by offering products such as air purifiers and
integrated fans. Another way to gain a competitive advantage
is by offering products that release low or no levels of
harmful VOCs into the air.
One way to ensure products you install are not releasing
high levels of VOCs into your customers' homes is to use
GREENGUARD UL-certified solutions. These products have
been subjected to rigorous scientific testing for low chemical
emissions. This testing focuses not on what is inside the
material, but what is released into the air.
The movement toward requiring - or at least desiring -
low off-gassing materials started with commercial architects
who were concerned with healthy buildings and sustainability.
Nearly 20 years ago, Draper, for example, started
to meet this demand by offering shade fabrics, projection
viewing surfaces, and other materials that have been tested
and certified. Now it's catching on in the residential market
as well, and we expect to see more and more people asking
about VOCs.
The process of attaining GREENGUARD UL certification is
fairly straightforward. A manufacturer simply submits product
samples. UL places them in special temperature- and
humidity-controlled chambers and measures the types and
amounts of VOCs that are released into the air. At the end
of the testing process, there are three possible outcomes:
fail, GREENGUARD UL certification, or GREENGUARD Gold
certification.
The standards for GREENGUARD Gold certification are
among the most rigorous in the world. It was originally
designed for products used in schools, health care facilities,
and other spaces where populations of more vulnerable
people can be found. But integrators should also encourage
the use of products meeting this higher standard in homes,
not only because of who might live in those spaces but also
because of the amount of time people spend there.
One might think this is much ado about very little. But in
addition to answering customer concerns about the health
and wellness of their space, there are two other excellent
reasons for having GREENGUARD certified products in your
line: competitive advantage and another possible value-added
premium in your offering.
So how do you know if a product meets GREENGUARD
56 | CE Pro April 2024
Draper At Home battery-powered roller shades featuring
GREENGUARD Gold certified Phifer SheerWeave 7400.
UL OR GREENGUARD Gold standards? Draper At Home
notes certified products with the GREENGUARD UL and/or
GREENGUARD Gold label. You can also search for products
at spot.ul.com. -Clint Childress, LEED-AP, Director of Residential
Markets, Draper At Home
Spatial Space Kit:
An Out-of-the-Box
Solution for Soundscaping
When it comes to employing audio to help transform a
space into something mentally healthier for customers, Spatial
recently announced that it will be releasing a fully customizable
soundscape library with over a million variations
of biophilic audio for professionals designing and deploying
workplace audio solutions.
Audio being the ever-present concern that it is with work
(whether there's too much noise or too little noise), we've
seen a lot of development and excitement in the creation of
dynamic soundscapes.
Now, as a follow-up to the Spatial Space Kit, a turnkey
solution that sought to simplify the deployment of
hardware associated with immersive audio installation,
Spatial's new library of Scene Actions, looks to simplify the
design of these dynamic soundscapes for both professional
and end users.
" With our new feature, Scene Actions, customers can
easily customize any scene to create amazing immersive
soundscapes, even without any sound design experience, "
explains Thomas Hale, VP of Creative at Spatial.
" Our dynamic library blends captivating nature sounds
and enchanting music, creating real life environments that
promote productivity and reduce anxiety for employees. We
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CE Pro April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro April 2024
