A TEST CERTIFICATE ISN'T THE QUESTION. WHAT IT WAS ASKED TO WITHSTAND IS.
Most hurricane protection products can point to a test certificate. The more important question is what the product was actually asked to withstand during that test — because two systems can both be described as "hurricane rated" while having been evaluated at very different levels of impact. For Hurricane Solution, that distinction is most important with Level E.
Same projectile. A substantially harder hit.
Missile Level D uses an approximately nine-pound 2×4 traveling at 50 feet per second, or about 34 miles per hour. Missile Level E uses essentially the same projectile at 80 feet per second, or about 54.5 miles per hour. Because kinetic energy rises with the square of velocity, the Level E impact carries roughly 2.56 times the kinetic energy of the 50 ft/s impact.
| Measure | Standard Large Missile / Level D | Missile Level E |
|---|---|---|
| Projectile | Approx. 9-lb 2×4 | Approx. 9-lb 2×4 |
| Impact velocity | 50 ft/s ≈ 34 mph | 80 ft/s ≈ 54.5 mph |
| Relative kinetic energy | 1.00× | ≈ 2.56× |
A piece of windborne debris does not have to look extraordinary to cause catastrophic damage. A common length of framing lumber can become a highly destructive projectile when hurricane winds accelerate it toward glass, doors or other vulnerable openings. The difference between 50 ft/s and 80 ft/s is therefore not a small incremental change in test severity; it is a substantially more demanding impact event.
FEMA guidance reproducing ASTM E1996 identifies Level E within the enhanced-protection requirements for essential facilities in the most severe wind zone. Florida code materials likewise distinguish the 80 ft/s impact used for Risk Category IV essential-facility conditions from the 50 ft/s large-missile impact used for standard protection. In practical terms, this is why Level E belongs in a different conversation from an ordinary residential impact rating.
Qualified for a higher standard than most buyers ever see.
The system represented by Hurricane Solution has been installed on U.S. military hospital projects where a higher level of protection was required. Those projects are an important part of our technical history because they exposed the system to a qualification environment that went beyond the kind of commercial product comparison most buyers ever see.
The military does not publish the complete details of its proprietary qualification procedures, and Hurricane Solution does not pretend otherwise. What we can say is that, during those projects, military personnel communicated directly that the qualification process was intended to evaluate the system under the combined conditions that concern them in a severe hurricane environment, rather than treating impact, pressure, wind and water as unrelated marketing claims.
We therefore make a clear distinction on this website.
PUBLIC, INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIABLE
ASTM E1996 Missile Level E: Approx. 9-lb 2×4 at 80 ft/s.
MILITARY PROJECT HISTORY
A separate layer of experience involving U.S. military hospital applications and additional military-controlled qualification. The detailed data from that qualification is not publicly released.
But we know our system passed all tests because it was approved and installed. The system is Level E rated even though we do not have the confidential military data to share here.
Does it work when a real storm arrives?
Ultimately, the most important question about a hurricane protection system is simple: does it work when a real storm arrives? Laboratory testing matters because it establishes the standard a system is expected to meet before it is ever installed on a building. Level E is important to Hurricane Solution because it holds the system to a substantially higher impact requirement than the standard large-missile test commonly used for hurricane protection.
But the value of that higher standard is not the test certificate by itself. The real value is what happens after the system leaves the laboratory.
Success rate across installations affected by more than 30 named storms, including major hurricanes and Category 5 events — when the complete system was installed correctly, anchored to an appropriate structure and deployed as designed.
That real-world history is why Level E matters to us. It demonstrates the philosophy behind the system: design and test the product with a greater margin than the minimum normally expected, so that when conditions become more severe than anyone hoped for, the system has already been asked to perform at a higher level.
A laboratory test can never reproduce every variable found in a real hurricane. Buildings are different. Exposure is different. Wind direction changes. Debris is unpredictable. Openings vary in size, height and orientation. Coastal properties also face corrosion, salt exposure and structural conditions that do not exist inside a testing laboratory.
For that reason, Hurricane Solution does not use Level E as a substitute for real-world performance. We use it as one part of a much larger body of evidence:
- The Level E impact requirement, which demonstrates that the system was tested at a considerably more severe impact level.
- The U.S. military hospital history, where the system was selected for critical facilities operating under demanding qualification requirements.
- The storm record — years of installed systems being exposed to actual hurricanes across multiple markets and continuing to perform when correctly installed.
Taken together, those three things tell a much more meaningful story than any certification logo could tell on its own.
Not a marketing label for every property.
Hurricane Solution does not approach Level E as a label that should be applied to every property. The objective is to create enough margin between the expected conditions and the limits of the protection system that the owner can have confidence when conditions become worse than anticipated.
That margin becomes particularly important for beachfront hotels, hospitals, resorts, critical commercial facilities and high-value coastal residences, where the consequences of losing a large opening can extend far beyond replacing a piece of glass. Once the building envelope is breached, internal pressure, wind-driven rain and additional debris can dramatically increase the damage inside a structure. In a hotel or hospital, the consequences can also include interruption of operations at precisely the moment the building is most needed.
This is why system selection considers much more than the strength of the fabric. We look at the size and geometry of the opening, building height, proximity to the coastline, exposure, structural substrate, anchoring conditions and the role that particular part of the building plays during and after a hurricane.
A small residence several kilometers inland does not present the same risk as a large beachfront glass façade. A hotel with hundreds of guest rooms does not have the same operational requirements as a single-family home. A hospital or critical facility may require an even greater margin because continued operation after the storm is part of the objective.
Where those conditions justify additional protection, HS-1500 and its Level E performance become especially relevant — not simply because it is our strongest fabric, but because it belongs to a protection platform that has been subjected to a higher testing standard and has then gone on to build a long record of real-world storm performance.
When the hurricane arrives, does the complete system protect the opening?
When comparing hurricane protection systems, it is easy to become buried in technical terminology: missile levels, pressure cycles, fabric strength, anchors, Miami-Dade approvals and test reports. All of those things matter. But they should ultimately lead back to one practical question — when the hurricane arrives, does the complete system protect the opening?
For Hurricane Solution, the answer is supported by both laboratory evidence and field history. Level E tells us that the system was held to a higher impact standard before it reached the property. The military hospital applications show that the system has been considered for facilities where failure carries unusually serious consequences. And the record through more than 30 named storms demonstrates that, when the system has been correctly installed and deployed, that higher engineering standard has translated into successful real-world performance.
That is why Hurricane Solution continues to emphasize Level E. Not because a certification by itself protects a building — because holding the system to a higher standard from the beginning has helped produce something far more important: a hurricane protection system with a documented history of working when it has actually been needed.
Source notes for the web team · FEMA P-762, ASTM E1996 missile table and enhanced-protection levels: fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_p-762-local-officials-guide-coastal-construction_0.pdf · Florida Building Code staff analysis (50 ft/s standard large missile; 80 ft/s for essential facilities): floridabuilding.org/FBC/commission/FBC_0817/DEC_Statements/Staff_Analysis_DS_2017-030.htm
Ready to see if Level E is right for your property?
Fabricated in the U.S. with exclusive patents. Installed by specialists in Mexico.