“Results for 2022 for Isoclima were higher than expected, despite the rise in raw material costs and the difficulties associated with the supply chain. The good performance can be referred to the creativity and flexibility that have characterized the Group's strategy and dynamics», says Daniele Santi, commercial director of Isoclima, thus underlining the importance of a company that ranks among the first places worldwide, in the creation of high quality glass and transparent surfaces, products of the highest technological value that derive from an engineering process undertaken together with the customer. «The growth concerns above all the automotive and nautical sectors, followed by the railway and tram sector - explains Santi -. But our gaze is increasingly projected towards the future, where innovation is the key word». Today Isoclima Group has 7 production plants, 120 patents, 1,000 employees, over 500 customers and more than 500,000 m2 of glass produced. In particular, it provides transparent solutions for protection - in glass, polycarbonate or acrylic - for applications ranging from armored vehicles to helicopters, from luxury cars to yachts, from railways to aerospace up to security architecture. «Isoclima is able to offer in the architectural field all those products that derive from the needs of the security sector (anti-breakthrough, anti-bullet, etc.). A deeply felt problem in the USA, where, from 1 January 2023, it is mandatory to install bulletproof glass in newly built school buildings. In the face of mass shootings, American schools are in fact multiplying the installation of safety devices», says Santi. But how do you make glass resistant to impact and mechanical stress? «There are two processes that allow it: chemical hardening and thermal hardening – explains Santi -. Chemical tempering acts differently from thermal tempering, even if the purpose of the product is similar, but the optical yield is considerably higher in the former. In Isoclima it was decided to invest in chemical hardening because it is more suited to the company's core business. On this front, in 2022 we installed a plant capable of processing 10-metre slabs in the Este plant». But that is not all. «Sustainability is also part of our strategic development plan. There are numerous projects and initiatives underway that lead us to face a virtuous path of designing sustainable products», underlines Santi. For Isoclima, the carbon footprint and the "Net Zero" objective are not abstract concepts, but are the basis of a concrete strategy. «We aim to include polycarbonate lenses, increasingly in demand on the market, and electronic glasses, equipped with sensors, in our offer. The future is therefore declined through the concepts of geometry, weight and comfort. This is the starting point for a technological challenge that promises to revolutionize the idea of mobility. The first step leads to autonomous driving, which is followed by the research and development of 'drones' for commercial transport, capable of taking off and landing vertically without the aid of a runway, as if they were of flying taxis. These aircraft are indicated with the acronym eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) and are powered by electricity», concludes Santi.