This year´s hurricane season started with a hurricane of the highest category, category 5. Hurricane Dean, only the fourth cyclone of this size since the beginning of weather records in the USA, forced almost everything to its knees: Mexican oil platforms had to be evacuated, road signs and billboards were taken down, windows of houses and shops alike were boarded up. In Jamaica a state of emergency was declared and even NASA´s space shuttle mission, Endeavor, had to be abandoned prematurely due to Dean. Only the glass folding façades from the Bissendorf manufacturer Solarlux in a villa at the outskirts of Belmotan, the capital of Belize, remained unaffected by the fury and raging of the violent storm.

In the small country, south of the Mexican peninsula Yucatán, which was threatened by hurricane Dean, holiday resorts and three hospitals were evacuated. The local community were sheltering in emergency accommodation, tourists barricaded themselves in their hotels and the mayoress of the city of Belize called upon the  50,000 inhabitants to get themselves to safety because this hurricane declared as monster reached wind speeds up to 200 miles per hour and was approaching Mexico and Belize. Meanwhile the owners of their two year old villa held out trusting the assurances of the manufacturer that the windows would withstand the impact. And the glass folding façade did!

“It feels good when you can say you have made the right decision” was the statement of the architect Ralph Hoffman and the owner added: “The additional costs for safety have certainly paid off“.
The architecture of the villa covering 340 square metres is characterised by transparency and large openings. There was no way you could compromise on having any structural weakness in such a large amount of folding glazing running around the building. The same priority was also given by the owner to security as to safety from the Caribbean cyclones which revisit this region every year.
“Without any doubt, Belize is a paradise on earth. However, an architecturally conspicuous house such as this also attracts the wrong sort of people. It was therefore important to us to have effective protection against such unwanted risks. Because of the high demands on quality and safety, the technology developed in Germany was almost the obvious choice, the internationally renowned architect said.
The Solarlux folding façades used were of the hurricane-tested SL 70 type which was certified by the “ift” institute at Rosenheim / Germany and the A.T.I. in Florida.
The manufacturer, whose facilities are at Bissendorf in Lower Saxony in Germany,  is recognised as the market leader in the field of glass folding façades, some of which already succeeded in passing the meticulous approval procedures of the stringent American authorities in Florida already 6 years ago. Without these official certificates no glass folding façades can be installed in hurricane-prone regions of the United States. Other states in the Caribbean, in Central and South America have adopted the same stringent regulations.

The frames and profiles of the folding façades installed in the villa are equipped with an anti-burglary two- and three-point locking mechanism as standard, which on locking engages downwards, upwards and into the sides. Further special protection is provided by the laminated safety glass with a special film layer which can only be penetrated by using a substantial amount of force and by causing a lot of noise.
In order to obtain the “Hurricane-Tested” seal of approval, the folding façades must undergo stringent tests carried out by independent institutes such as A.T.I. in Florida which go beyond the European standards many times over. Not only the tensile strength of glass and frame is tested by bombarding it with projectiles in the form of sawn timber at a speed of 100 Km/h but also its tightness with regards to wind and rain. During these tests the SL 70 folding façade withstood a maximum wind load of 2.750 Pascal (150 miles per hour) on the pressure side and 4.500 Pascal (190 miles per hour) on the wind suction side.

Ready for the Autumn Storms
It would be harder to achieve a safety test greater than having been through a real hurricane of the highest category. Gales of such power do not exist in Europe – not yet. If the forecasts of the meteorologists and climate scientist are anything to go by, rough weather with strong gales will become more frequent and more powerful. The hurricane-force gale Kyrill which struck Germany at the beginning of the year leaving a trail of devastation behind has demonstrated this in a dramatic way. It is comforting to know what extreme loads Solarlux´s glass folding façades can withstand.
After hurricane Dean had moved on towards Mexico, one of the window units broke after all. The reason for this was, however, not due to the storm but José. He was one of the fire brigade crew and did it in order to put out a small smouldering fire caused by a short circuit. Despite the fact that the fire brigade used heavy rescue gear rather than the usual breaking in tools, a lot of time and effort was necessary to overcome the Solarlux product.

Further information on Solarlux glass folding façades:
Solarlux Aluminium Systeme GmbH
Gewerbepark 9-11, 49143 Bissendorf, Germany
Tel.: 05402-4000; Fax: 05402-400-200
info@solarlux.de, www.solarlux.de

SOLARLUX, 31.08.2007  - Approx. 868 words
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Safe when it matters
Solarlux Glass Folding Façades prove they can withstand extreme wind and water loads not only in test laboratories. This became evident when cyclone Dean swept the Caribbean. The occupants were safe behind the hurricane-tested folding façades with their anti-burglary fittings.

Slim and elegant, yet robust
Solarlux´s SL 70 Glass Folding Façade was certified by the A.T.I. institute in Florida as hurricane-proof. It therefore did not come as a surprise that it stood up to the extreme wind speeds of up to 200 mph from hurricane Dean without suffering any damage.

Mighty but not overwhelming for the SL 70
“Dean“ was a hurricane of the highest category (category 5 = from 150 mph upwards). It swept along with top speeds of 200 mph towards Mexico and Belize and caused millions of dollars worth of damage.

illustration: www.FTD.de