We are the market leader in the manufacturing of skylights and roof windows

The VELUX Story: Nearly 80 Years in Daylight

A passion for daylight, fresh air, and better living environments: it's what started our company over 80 years ago, and it's what drives us forward today.

From an early age, Villum Kann Rasmussen, VELUX founder, was enthusiastic about building things. His father, a pastor and teacher, believed in fresh air and sunshine for a healthy soul in a healthy body, and it was these elements that created a strong foundation for Villum and, eventually, VELUX.

After going to school for engineering and taking a few jobs working for others, Villum decided that he'd rather have five clients as employers than one employer telling him what to do. So, in 1941, he started his own company specializing in glass roofs.

Rations put on building materials due to World War II meant Villum had to improvise. As a result, he designed a roof window never before seen, one every bit as good as a vertical window, that was built with wood framing, zinc cladding, and condensation drains to avoid dripping.

The roof window was a success from the beginning but, never one to shy away from hard work, Villum's experiments continued. And, in 1944, the pivot hinge was invented, creating a significant breakthrough in the roof window design.

In many ways, VELUX was a company ahead of its time. And as VELUX became a success across multiple countries in Europe, Villum began looking for opportunities to expand into the United States. He settled on Greenwood, South Carolina, after receiving a relaxing haircut from a hospitable barber who lived there. After working out a few early issues, the decision turned out be a great success, and VELUX continued to grow worldwide.

Before his death in 1993, Villum had 55 patents and 9 designs to his name. Today, VELUX has claim to over 2000 patents and designs. This has resulted in VELUX's unique culture of innovation, helping daylight spread across the world and forever changing the face of contemporary living.

By engaging with people who are just as passionate about daylight and fresh air as we are, we've proven that it's possible to balance energy and comfort for a healthier indoor environment. Available to builders, architects, merchants, and consumers, our skylights and roof windows are complemented by a complete range of blinds, electronic accessories, solar panels, and shades.

Every day, millions of people get fresh air and daylight through our products. What began as a school renovation project in Denmark has grown into an international group of companies in more than 40 countries.

To learn more about how we create better living environments using daylight and fresh air through the roof for life, work, and play, take a look around our website or give us a call. Members of the public are also welcome to visit our Experience Center showroom at

VELUX America LLC
104 Ben Casey Drive
Fort Mill, SC 29708

Experience Center in Fort Mill
803-396-5700
Monday - Friday | 8am to 4:30pm

Customer Service
800-888-3589
Monday - Friday | 7:30am to 8pm EST
Saturday | 9am to 5pm EST

Timeline

1909: Villum Kann Rasmussen, founder of VELUX, is born in Denmark.

1941: The young engineer Villum Kann Rasmussen founds the VELUX Group. His first assignment is four roof windows for a local school in Denmark in 1942.

1942: Villum patented his first roof window called VELUX - "VE" from the word "ventilation" and "LUX" from the Latin word for "light."

1945: Villum invents the special pivot hinge that allows the VELUX window sash to tilt around its own axis in a 135-degree angle without causing damage to the outside zinc cladding.

1958: The VELUX Group expands throughout Europe and is present in 11 countries.

1965: Since expanding into 12 markets, Villum formulates the Model Company Objective, through which the VELUX Group commits itself to producing products "that are useful to society" and to "treat customers, suppliers, employees of all categories and shareholders better than most companies."

1968: The VELUX GGL is launched, bringing new advantages such as a full friction pivot hinge which allows the window to stay open at any angle, a ventilation flap, and the company's first own insulating pane.

1975: The VELUX Group establishes a sales company and later their own production company in the US and Canada.

1981-1991: VELUX product portfolio expands from a single product type to a full range of products, including top-hung roof windows, roller shutters, electric-powered windows, and an extensive range of accessories and sunscreening products.

1989-1999: The VELUX Group's strategy of introducing improved logistics and establishing local sales and production companies in more countries, including Russia and China, ensure the global availability of VELUX products.

1992: Villum Kann Rasmussen's eldest son, Lars, becomes Chairman of the Board of V. Kann Rasmussen Industries, the parent company of the VELUX Group. During the next decades, he develops, modernizes, and expands the VELUX Group into an international enterprise, consolidating its position as a market leader in the building components industry.

2000: The V21 product range is introduced, bringing improvements in installation, design, and functionality.

2002: The VELUX INTEGRA window is introduced with an electronic remote control.

2008: A comprehensive range of flat roof windows is launched to allow VELUX solutions on buildings without sloped roofs.

2009-2011: The VELUX Group experiments with sustainable living through the Model Home 2020 project. The project is comprised of six model homes in five countries where high energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, and good indoor climate as well as visionary architecture go hand in hand.

2010: In collaboration with designer Ross Lovegrove, the VELUX Sun Tunnel is developed and launched. It's awarded the Red Dot Design Award by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany.

2011: A new series of sun screening products designed by Karim Rashid is launched. The VELUX Group also launches VELUX Modular Skylights, developed in collaboration with British architects Foster+Partners, for commercial buildings and public institutions.

2012: With the new generation of VELUX roof windows based on numerous inventions, the whole product portfolio is updated based on three goals: more daylight, more comfort, and less energy.

2016: The VELUX Group celebrates 75 years of innovation and dedication to bringing daylight and fresh air into people's lives.

2018: VELUX Active, developed in conjunction with Netatmo technology, launches. Operated by a smartphone app and integrated with the Apple HomeKit, VELUX Active uses smart sensor technology to monitor CO2, humidity levels, and temperature in the home and automatically opens and closes skylights as fresh air is needed.

All VELUX windows are manufactured at our own factories. In the US, the wood used for our skylights comes from controlled sources as close to our factory as possible. Overall, 99.5% of the wood used for VELUX windows is sourced from certified, sustainable forest, and all wood cut-offs and chips from our production sites are used for recycling or heating purposes.

Our wood production sites strive to get the most out of every piece of wood coming into our factories. By using laser scanners in the cross-cutting processes, potential wood defects are identified and the use of every single piece of wood can be determined.

VELUX skylights are built at our manufacturing sites where we run extended internal audits to monitor compliance with all critical safety standards. They are then packaged with everything a roofer, builder, or general contractor needs to install the skylights and flashing kits. And when it comes to installation, VELUX has made it as simple as possible to do by eliminating mistakes that can lead to leaks.

Both VELUX deck-mounted and curb-mounted skylights include three layers of protection from water leaks. Each type of skylight has a unique first layer to protect against leaks: the deck-mounted skylights have a deck seal while curb-mounted models have a pre-attached skylight gasket.

In every VELUX skylight box is an adhesive all-weather underlayment, often called a peel-and-stick underlayment, which is similar to thick pieces of tape in strips 25 feet long by 9 inches wide. The underlayment is installed up the side of the skylights and serves as the second line of defense against rain.

VELUX designed step flashing exclusively for our skylights as a final line of defense against rain. Metal flashing pieces alternate with the roofing material starting athe bottom of the skylight and working up to the top. Rain flowing down the roof is sluiced over the layered shingles and away from the skylight.

At VELUX, we believe one experiment is better than a thousand expert views. That's why we're constantly coming up with new ideas and putting them to the test to see that they meet the highest quality standards. And quality testing is not something we take lightly; in fact, we take it to the limit!

We have a Test Center dedicated to ensuring our skylights are built to last before taking our solutions to the real world for the ultimate test. To test the viability of climate-neutral buildings, we've built six full-scale demonstration buildings in five countries for people to live and work in to make sure our products create a healthy, comfortable indoor environment.

Our Sustainability Report is structured around four focus areas, where we as a company must take responsibility:

1. Energy and climate: We work systematically to reduce the carbon footprint in our production and products
2. Zero-waste production: We constantly seek to optimize our resource efficiency and have a vision of reaching zero waste at our production sites
3. Sustainable sourcing: We seek to maximize our use of sustainable materials like the wood in our products
4. Safe, healthy workplace: We strive to eliminate all work-related accidents and occupational diseases.

Sustainability Highlights:

• 34.2% reduction of carbon footprint at VELUX factories compared to 2007 baseline
• 97% of waste materials from VELUX skylight production is recycled
• 99.5% of the wood used in VELUX windows comes from certified, sustainable forests
• 98% of installers agree that VELUX products are high-quality, reliable products
• 50+ scientific papers explore the Active House experiments carried out by VELUX
• VELUX continues to support the United Nations Global Compact and is committed to the initiative and its principles

For more than 75 years, VELUX has created better living environments by bringing daylight and fresh air into homes all over the world. Our products help to create bright, healthy, energy-efficient places to live, work, and play.

Forming the basis of our work are the VELUX Values, five core statements that we see as a code for behavior and an expression of how we act:

• Commitment: We strive to achieve great results together
• Mutual Respect: We treat others as we would like to be treated
• Improvement: We work to be better every day
• Local Initiatives: We act and collaborate to reach our goals
• Thoroughness: We ensure the right effort, in the right place, at the right time
  
  

In 1965, VELUX founder Villum Kann Rasmussen formulated our Model Company Objective that still guides our way of doing business today: In everything we do, we set a standard of excellence for product quality, business conduct, and responsible citizenship. As such, we stimulate innovation and set even higher standards for sustainable indoor living.

Our standards and goals are ambitious, but our vision and values have and continue to help us get there.