Kvadrat Shade: products, portfolio, and the EPD gap
Window shades are quiet spec winners. They shape daylight, tame glare, and trim HVAC loads. The catch in 2025 is documentation. Project teams want product‑specific EPDs for roller systems and fabrics, not just good intentions. Here is where Kvadrat Shade stands, and how that maps to real‑world bids.
Who is Kvadrat Shade
Kvadrat Shade is the window‑covering arm of Kvadrat, focused on premium roller blind systems and textiles for architecture. The brand highlights integrated solutions like Platform, a concealed roller system designed with Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, and positions shades as comfort and energy tools for large projects. For the United States, they currently serve substantial orders and major projects.
What they sell, in plain terms
The core is roller blinds and roller blind textiles. On Kvadrat’s site you will find design‑led metallised and non‑metallised fabrics such as Apo and Apo X, alongside PFAS‑free blockout options like Unlit Blockout, plus hardware families that aim for neat installation and future serviceability. In some markets, legacy Verosol collections extend the offer with pleated and honeycomb styles.
Rough sense of scale
The textile catalogue runs to dozens of SKUs, spanning openness factors, backings, and acoustic behavior, while hardware appears in a small set of platformed systems. That puts them closer to a focused specialist than a sprawling catalog house. For most commercial bids, that breadth is enough to cover offices, education, and hospitality without custom weaving.
Sustainability signals on their site
Kvadrat ties Shade to group‑wide targets and claims shades can prevent heat gain by 50 percent or more, and hit a carbon‑neutral break‑even in about a year, depending on use conditions (Kvadrat, 2025). Those are compelling energy stories when paired with credible EPDs.
Explore Kvadrat’s sustainability pages.
EPD coverage today
As of December 19, 2025, we could not locate product‑specific EPDs publicly available under the Kvadrat Shade brand for roller blind systems or their hero textiles. Kvadrat, the parent, does publish EPDs for several textile families and for acoustic systems via European operators, which shows internal know‑how on LCA and verification. Verosol‑branded roller fabrics related to the group, like SilverScreen and EnviroScreen, are marketed with EPD availability in certain regions, which can help on projects that accept those exact labeled products.
Why this matters at bid time
Many owners and design teams now expect product‑specific, third‑party verified EPDs, and LEED v5 continues to recognize them in material credits. Without one, specifiers often default to conservative impact values that make substitution more likely. That is the moment where a fabric or system with a ready EPD gets preferred, not because it looks better, but because the paperwork removes friction.
Competitors that show up in the same spec set
Mecho publishes EPDs for manual shade systems valid to January 26, 2029, and also for motorized ElectroShade systems valid to December 3, 2029, both under EN 15804 A2 rules (EPD International, 2024, EPD International, 2024). On the fabric side, Mermet’s E Screen collection lists an EPD and HPD, a practical pairing for North American jobs (Mermet, 2025). Beyond those, project teams frequently pit Kvadrat Shade against Hunter Douglas Architectural, Draper, Lutron for integrated control packages, and material specialists like Serge Ferrari and Phifer. Not every competitor has EPDs across every range, yet enough do that it shifts the baseline expectation.
A likely missed spec
Platform is positioned as an integrated, architect‑friendly roller system. If a project mandates product‑specific EPDs for the mounting system and the fabric, a Mecho manual or motorized assembly plus a documented screen cloth is an easy swap at submittals. That is lost revenue, not just a lost line on a schedule.
Fastest path to close the gap
- Prioritize an EN 15804 A2 product‑specific EPD for the Platform roller system hardware. Keep the scope clean, show scenarios, and publish with a mainstream operator used by your competitors.
- Pair it with a top‑volume textile EPD. Apo or Unlit Blockout are visible flagships, and a PFAS‑free claim reads even stronger when the carbon math is verified.
- Offer an assembly guidance note that tells specifiers how to combine system and textile EPDs in one submittal. That removes the last excuse to switch brands.
What great LCA partners will handle for you
The heavy lift is data wrangling across suppliers, finishes, motors, brackets, packaging, and regional grids. A strong partner will map your best‑seller variants first, choose the dominant PCR used in competitive EPDs, and run a smooth plant data pull so your engineering and operations teams keep building product rather than chasing meters and manifests. You should not need to assemble the puzzle by yourself to recieve dependable EPDs.
Where Kvadrat Shade can win next
The design story is strong, the comfort story is credible, and the website now makes the energy case with a configurable carbon tool (Kvadrat, 2025). Converting the hero system and two to three volume textiles into product‑specific EPDs would align that narrative with the reality of submittals. Do that, and Kvadrat Shade shifts from “beautiful shade with good claims” to “beautiful shade that clears compliance in one click,” which is exactly what busy specifiers reward.
Frequently Asked Questions
What product categories does Kvadrat Shade compete in most directly on commercial projects?
Primarily roller blind systems and roller blind textiles. In some regions, related pleated or honeycomb styles appear under legacy Verosol collections, but the spec center of gravity is integrated roller systems and metallised or performance fabrics.
How extensive is Kvadrat Shade’s assortment?
High level, the fabric palette runs to dozens of SKUs across openness factors and finishes, while hardware is a focused set of platformed systems rather than many disjointed lines.
Do competitors already publish EPDs for shades?
Yes. Mecho lists EN 15804 A2 EPDs for manual and motorized systems valid into 2029, and Mermet’s E Screen fabric pages include an EPD download link (EPD International, 2024, EPD International, 2024, Mermet, 2025).
What claims does Kvadrat make about energy impact?
Their site states shades can prevent heat gain by 50% or more and reach a carbon-neutral break‑even in about a year, dependent on use conditions (Kvadrat, 2025). These claims land best when paired with verified EPDs.
About the Author
John brings a clear, research-driven perspective on the EPD, LCA and HPD space and keeps a close pulse on environmental trends and standards in North America, helping clients understand where the industry is heading and how to get there.
