Unfortunately, the textiles department at Clemson didn't have fibers that we could use to make our panels for the canopy. The kind they had were not UV protectant and we need that for it even to last 6 months. We had to get them from a company they recommended to us in Sumter. In order to speed up the process we decided to pick up the 1000 lb bail our selves and bring it to Clemson. Leaving Clemson at 5:30 to get fibers was a ton of fun, not to mention the 6 hour drive. ONLY in architecture do you get to experience such a thing. (excuse the sarcasm) To say the least, the trip to Sumter to and Color-fi did turn out to be an inspiring trip. We met Wilber (a Clemson Grad, and plant manager) and got our own personal tour of the plant. We saw the process that goes into making recycled bottles into a fiber that can then be woven into just about any material. We saw examples of car interiors and even found out that most clothes that are made from polyester today are from recycled bottles or plastic.
Unfortunately, when we got back to Clemson, the engineers we've been consulting with all semester told us the kind we picked up would not work. The kind we had were 3 inches long instead of 2 (they look exactly the same to me). This was a huge disappointment and at this point it pretty much destroyed our hopes for using this material. It is to late to try and get another bail and Color-fi doesn't even make the kind Clemson needs unless its a custom order that could take weeks. We've moved on to looking at other materials for the canopy.
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