Awning - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas

Canvas

Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...

woven of acrylic

Acrylic fiber

Acrylic fibers are synthetic fibers made from a polymer with an average molecular weight of ~100,000, about 1900 monomer units. To be called acrylic in the U.S, the polymer must contain at least 85% acrylonitrile monomer. Typical comonomers are vinyl acetate or methyl acrylate...

, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a light structure of aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

, iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

or steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

, possibly wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

or transparent

Transparency and translucency

In the field of optics, transparency is the physical property of allowing light to pass through a material; translucency only allows light to pass through diffusely. The opposite property is opacity...

material (used to cover solar thermal panels in the summer, but that must allow as much light as possible in the winter). The configuration of this structure is something of a truss

Truss

In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...

, space frame

Space frame

A space frame or space structure is a truss-like, lightweight rigid structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span large areas with few interior supports...

or planar frame

Framing (construction)

Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...

. Awnings are also often constructed of aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

understucture with aluminium sheeting. These aluminium awnings are often used when a fabric awning is not a practical application where snow load as well as wind loads may be a factor.

The location of an awning on a building may be above a window

Window

A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...

, a door

Door

A door is a movable structure used to open and close off an entrance, typically consisting of a panel that swings on hinges or that slides or rotates inside of a space....

, or above the area along a sidewalk

Sidewalk

A sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb...

. With the addition of column

Column

A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...

s an awning becomes a canopy

Canopy (building)

A canopy is an overhead roof or else a structure over which a fabric or metal covering is attached, able to provide shade or shelter. A canopy can also be a tent, generally without a floor....

, which is able to extend further from a building, as in the case of an entrance

Door

A door is a movable structure used to open and close off an entrance, typically consisting of a panel that swings on hinges or that slides or rotates inside of a space....

to a hotel

Hotel

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

. Restaurant

Restaurant

A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

s often use awnings broad enough to cover substantial outdoor area for outdoor dining, parties, or reception. In commercial buildings, an awning is often painted with information as to the name

Name

A name is a word or term used for identification. Names can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. A personal name identifies a specific unique and identifiable individual person, and may or may not include a middle name...

, business

Business

A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

, and address

Address (geography)

An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used for describing the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along with other identifiers such as house or...

, thus acting as a sign or billboard

Billboard (advertising)

A billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure , typically found in high traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers...

as well as providing shade, breaking steep winds, and protecting from rain or snow. In areas with wintry weather, most awnings do not have to be taken down at the end of the summer - they can remain retracted against the building all winter long, or be designed and built for those conditions.

History

Awnings were first used by the ancient Egyptian and Syrian civilizations. They are described as "woven mats" that shaded market stall

Market stall

A market stall is a typically immobile, temporary structure erected by merchants to display and shelter their merchandise in a street market or other setting. Stalls are easily erected, taken down or simply moved on wheels...

s and homes. A Roman poet Lucretius

Lucretius

Titus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is an epic philosophical poem laying out the beliefs of Epicureanism, De rerum natura, translated into English as On the Nature of Things or "On the Nature of the Universe".Virtually no details have come down concerning...

, in 50 BC, said "Linen-awning, stretched, over mighty theatres, gives forth at times, a cracking roar, when much 'tis beaten about, betwixt the poles and cross-beams".

North America

Awnings became common during the first half of the 19th century. At that time they consisted of timber

Timber

Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

or cast iron

Cast iron

Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

posts set along the sidewalk

Sidewalk

edge and linked by a front cross bar. To lend support to larger installations, angled rafter

Rafter

A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members , that extend from the ridge or hip to the downslope perimeter or eave, designed to support the roof deck and its associated loads.-Design:...

s linked the front cross bar to the building facade

Facade

A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....

. The upper end of the canvas was connected to the facade with nails, with grommet

Grommet

thumb|right|250px|Some rubber grommets.A grommet is a ring inserted into a hole through thin material, such as fabric. Grommets are generally flared or collared on each side to keep them in place, and are often made of metal, plastic, or rubber. They may be used to prevent tearing or abrasion of...

s and hooks, or by lacing the canvas to a head rod bolted to the facade. The other (projecting) end of the canvas was draped over, or laced to, a front bar with the edge often hanging down to form a valance

Window valance

A window valance is a form of window treatment that covers the uppermost part of the window and can be hung alone or paired with window blinds, or curtains. Valances are a popular decorative choice in concealing drapery hardware. Window valances were popular in Victorian interior design...

. On ornate examples, metal posts were adorned with filigree and the tops decorated with spear

Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...

ends, balls or other embellishments. On overcast days or when rain did not threaten, the covering was often rolled up against the building facade; during the winter months proper maintenance called for the removal and storage of awnings. Photographs from the mid-19th century often show the bare framework, suggesting that the covering was extended only when necessary. Canvas duck was the predominant awning fabric, a strong, closely woven

Woven

A woven is a cloth formed by weaving. It only stretches in the bias directions , unless the threads are elastic. Woven cloth usually frays at the edges, unless measures are taken to counter this, such as the use of pinking shears or hemming.Woven fabrics are worked on a loom and made of many...

cotton cloth used for centuries to make tents and sails.

Awnings became a common feature in the years after the Civil War. Iron plumbing pipe, which was quickly adapted for awning frames, became widely available and affordable as a result of mid-century industrialization. It was a natural material for awning frames, easily bent and threaded together to make a range of different shapes and sizes. At the same time the advent of the steamship forced canvas mills and sail makers to search for new markets. An awning industry developed offering an array of frame and fabric options adaptable to both storefronts and windows.

In 1933, a man in New York survived after his 7-story fall was slowed by several window awnings.

The National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

, US Department of the Interior, has published a fifteen page report: "#44 Preservation Brief - The Use of Awnings on Historic Buildings - Repair, Replacement, & New Design". It was written in April 2005 by Chad Randl, an architectural historian.

Operable awnings

In the second half of the 19th century, manufactured operable awnings grew in popularity. Previously, most awnings had fixed frames-the primary way to retract the covering was to roll it up the rafters by hand. Operable systems for both storefront and window awnings had extension arms that were hinged where they joined the facade. The arms were lowered to project the awning or raised to retract the awning using simple rope

Rope

A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...

and pulley

Pulley

A pulley, also called a sheave or a drum, is a mechanism composed of a wheel on an axle or shaft that may have a groove between two flanges around its circumference. A rope, cable, belt, or chain usually runs over the wheel and inside the groove, if present...

arrangements. Because the canvas remained attached to the framework, retractable awnings allowed a more flexible approach to shading (shopkeepers and owners could incrementally adjust the amount of awning coverage depending upon the weather conditions). When the sun came out from behind clouds, the awning could be deployed with ease. In case of sudden storms, owners could quickly retract the awning against the building wall where it was protected from wind gusts.

But the early operable awnings had their own drawbacks. When retracted, the coverings on early operable awnings bunched up against the building facade where it was still partially exposed to inclement weather (in fact, deterioration was often accelerated as moisture pooled in the fabric folds). Also, the retracted fabric often obscured a portion of the window or door opening and unless it was folded carefully, presented an unkempt appearance. Modern materials and designs have eliminated these issues, and are also known as retractable awnings.

Benefits

Retractable awnings let owners control the weather on their own terms. When passing showers threaten, or when the sun gets hot, they or the home automation

Home automation

Home automation is the residential extension of "building automation". It is automation of the home, housework or household activity. Home automation may include centralized control of lighting, HVAC , appliances, and other systems, to provide improved convenience, comfort, energy efficiency and...

system unroll the awning for near-instant protection and shade. Lab test measurements show that it can be as much as 20 degrees cooler under an awning’s canopy. Because awnings prevent the sun from shining through windows and sliding glass doors, they can keep temperatures inside cooler as well, which saves on air-conditioning costs. They can help prevent carpets and furniture from fading in sunlight. Awnings also provide a sheltered place for children and pets to play, shielded from direct sun.

Some of today’s awnings also offer accessories that can greatly increase the versatility and usefulness owners get from their deck

Deck (building)

In architecture, a deck is a flat surface capable of supporting weight, similar to a floor, but typically constructed outdoors, often elevated from the ground, and usually connected to a building...

s or patio

Patio

A patio is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a residence and is typically paved. It may refer to a roofless inner courtyard of the sort found in Spanish-style dwellings or a paved area between a residence and a garden....

s. A screen room add-on can easily turn an awning into a virtually bug-free outdoor room, side screening cuts down on wind and mist

Mist

Mist is a phenomenon of small droplets suspended in air. It can occur as part of natural weather or volcanic activity, and is common in cold air above warmer water, in exhaled air in the cold, and in a steam room of a sauna. It can also be created artificially with aerosol canisters if the...

coming under the sides of awnings, and patio lights let people enjoy their decks evenings and nights.

It also can be used to cover the thermal solar panels in the summer.

Propulsion

Today’s awnings come in two basic types: Manually-operated models which are opened by hand and motorized models which operate by electricity. Each offers its own advantages. Benefits include low-cost affordability, easy adaptability to almost any deck or patio, and support arms that can be angled back against the house or set vertically on the deck or patio floor. These arms provide extra support and stability which some owners prefer in windy areas, and increase the awning’s versatility by making the attachment of certain accessories available.

Motorized awnings have no vertical supports. Instead, they have retracting lateral arms, creating an unobstructed shaded area. These awnings are operated by an electric motor

Electric motor

An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...

, generally hidden inside the roller bar of the awning. The arms open and close the awning at the touch of a wireless remote control or a wall-mounted switch.

Modern awnings may be constructed with covers of various types of fabrics, aluminium, corrugated fibreglass, corrugated polycarbonate or other materials. High winds can cause damage to an extended awning, and newer designs incorporate a wind sensor for automatic retraction in certain conditions.

Wind Tolerance and Construction

Modern awnings are rated for wind tolerance based on width, length, number of supporting arms, and material. Modern awning design incorporates urethane compression joints, steel support structures, and wind sensors. Such designs are currently in use at the White House, Grand Central Station, and The Kremlin.

Aluminium Awnings

Aluminium awnings have long been popular in residential applications throughout the world. They are available in many colors and are usually painted with a baked-on enamel paint. Among the many benefits of these awnings are cooler temperatures inside the home, shade for your patio, extending the life of you furniture and window treatments. Possibly the most beneficial feature of the awnings are the fact that the have a usable life of well over 40 years.

Retractable awnings

Retractable Awnings are now becoming very popular with homeowners in the United States. They have been popular in Europe for many years, due to higher energy costs and lack of air conditioning. Retractable Awnings can include the following types:

Lateral Arm Awnings

These are a modern version of the old storefront crank-up awnings of the last century. Tension arms and a roller bar are supported by a torsion bar. The torsion bar fits into wall or soffit brackets that spread the load to the width of the wall. Hand-cranked awnings are still available, but motorized awnings are now most common. The motor is inside the roller tube. Many motors now have a built-in receiver and are operated by remote control or home automation

Home automation

.

Lateral arm awnings are also known as deck or patio awnings, as they can extend as far ast 18 feet and be as long as 30 feet or more - thus covering a large outdoor space.

Side or Drop Arm Awnings

Commonly used to shade a window, with a roller tube at the top, spring-loaded side arms, and a motor, crank or tape-pull operator. Awnings with sides are commonly known as Traditional Style Awnings as they have been used for many years dating back to the early 19th Century using cotton canvas fabric. The Traditional Style Awnings are appropriate for historical buildings and are still popular today using a more weather resistant fabric such as a solution dyed acrylic fabric such as Sunbrella Fabric and a rope and pulley system for retracting the awnings. Awnings without sides do not provide as much sun protection as those with sides. Awnings without sides come in many different styles. Drop Arm Awnings without sides come with roller tubes at the top and are available with motors and wind sensors for automatic retraction.Spear Awnings are made without sides and are made with Wrought Iron Frames and they can be retracted with a rope and pulley system but are not available with motors.

Portable, pop-up canopies

A portable pop-up canopy or tent provides a cost effective temporary solution to people who want to enjoy shade. The portable designs offer versatility to take the unit to social events. The frame usually incorporates an accordion style truss which folds up compactly.

Solar Shade Screens

Shade screens utilize acrylic canvas or a mesh fabric, which allows some view-thru while blocking the sun's rays. The roller at the top may be hand-cranked or motorized. The fabric is gravity-fed, with a weighted bottom rail pulling the fabric down between guide rail

Guide rail

A Guide Rail is a system designed to guide vehicles back to the roadway and away from potentially hazardous situations. There is a legal distinction between a Guide rail and a Guard rail.- Guide Rail Types :...

s or guy wires. Exterior shades are much more effective at blocking heat than interior shades, since they block the heat before it enters the glass. This style of framed screens is typically done by professional installers, because of the specialized frames and tools required. A recent advancement is frame-less shade screens, which allows a "DIY-er" to install their own exterior shades.

Shade Sails

Shade sails provide semi-horizontal shading. They can be demounted with some difficulty and are usually left in place year round. Retractable versions also exist, with greater cost but also greater utility, as they can be retracted to admit winter sun if required.

Trade organizations

Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) is a trade organization which includes the awning trade, with a division called the Professional Awning Manufacturers Association (PAMA).

Classification numbers

Construction Specifications Institute

The Construction Specifications Institute is an organization that maintains and advances the standardization of construction language as pertains to building specifications...

(CSI) Division 10 MasterFormat

MasterFormat

MasterFormat is a standard for organizing specifications and other written information for commercial and institutional building projects in the U.S. and Canada . Sometimes referred to as the "Dewey Decimal System" of building construction, MasterFormat is a product of the Construction...

2004 Edition:

1073154 - Awnings
107316 - Canopies
107113.43 - Fixed Sun Screen
107300 - Protective Covers (Generic)

CSI MasterFormat