A fabric selection tool provides an automated procedure for recommending and/or selecting a fabric for a window treatment to be installed in a building. The recommendation may be made to optimize the performance of the window treatment in which the fabric may be installed. The recommended fabric may be selected based on performance metrics associated with each fabric in an environment. The fabrics may be ranked based upon the performance metrics of one or more of the fabrics. One or more of the fabrics, and/or their corresponding ranks, may be displayed to a user for selection. The recommended fabrics may be determined based on combinations of fabrics that provide performance metrics for various façades of the building. Using the ranking system provided by the fabric selection tool, the user may obtain a fabric sample and/or order one or more of the recommended fabrics.
Please help me write a proper abstract based on the patent claims. CLAIM: 1. A method of selecting fabrics for window treatments to be installed in a building, the method comprising: receiving input data associated with the building in which the window treatment is to be installed, wherein the input data includes data associated with a plurality of façades of the building; accessing fabric data that indicates characteristics of a plurality of fabrics; determining, for each façade of the plurality of façades of the building, at least one predicted performance metric for each fabric of the plurality of fabrics; determining, based on the at least one predicted performance metric for each fabric of the plurality of fabrics, fabric set scores for different sets of fabrics in the plurality of fabrics, wherein each fabric set score indicates a performance of a set of fabrics when each fabric is used in a window treatment on a different façade of the building, wherein each fabric in each set of fabrics has a first fabric characteristic that is a different value and a second fabric characteristic that is a same value; and communicating, to a user, the fabric set scores for the sets of fabrics. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the fabric set scores for the sets of fabrics comprises displaying the fabric set scores on a visual display. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the fabric set scores for the sets of fabrics comprises transmitting the fabric set scores to a network device having a visual display. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein each fabric set score indicates an average score for the set of fabrics when each fabric of the set of fabrics are in the window treatment to be installed on the different façade of the plurality of façades of the building. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the average score for the plurality of fabrics is based on at least one of an average glare score, an average view score, or an average daylight score for the set of fabrics. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first characteristic comprises at least one of a family or a color group of the fabric, and wherein the second characteristic comprises at least one of an openness factor or a transmittance of the fabric. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein a family comprises a plurality of fabrics with a same material, a same weave and a same manufacturer, and wherein a color group is a plurality of fabrics with varying shades of a same color or a plurality of fabrics with a combination of colors including at least one color that is the same color. 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a ranking of the different sets of fabrics based on the fabric set score of each of the sets of fabrics; and communicating, to a user, the ranking. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein communicating the ranking comprises displaying the fabric set scores on a visual display. 10. The method of claim 8, wherein communicating the ranking comprises transmitting the fabric set scores to a visual display. 11. A network device for selecting fabric comprising: a processor configured to: receive input data associated with the building in which the window treatment is to be installed, wherein the input data includes data associated with a plurality of façades of the building; access fabric data that indicates characteristics of a plurality of fabrics; determine, for each façade of the plurality of façades of the building, at least one predicted performance metric for each fabric of the plurality of fabrics; determine, based on the at least one predicted performance metric for each fabric of the plurality of fabrics, fabric set scores for different sets of fabrics in the plurality of fabrics, wherein each fabric set score indicates a performance of a set of fabrics when each fabric is used in a window treatment on a different façade of the building, wherein each fabric in each set of fabrics has a first fabric characteristic that is a different value and a second fabric characteristic that is a same value; and communicate, to a user, the fabric set scores for the sets of fabrics. 12. The network device of claim 11, further comprising: a visual display; wherein the processor is configured to communicate the fabric set scores for the sets of fabrics by displaying the fabric set scores on the visual display. 13. The network device of claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to determine a ranking of the different sets of fabrics based on the fabric set score of each of the sets of fabrics, and to display the ranking on the visual display. 14. The network device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to communicate the fabric set scores for the sets of fabrics by transmitting the fabric set scores to a second network device. 15. The network device of claim 14, wherein the second network device has a visual display for displaying the information. 16. The network device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to: determine a ranking of the different sets of fabrics based on the fabric set score of each of the sets of fabrics; and communicate, to a user, the ranking. 17. The network device of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to communicate the ranking by transmitting the fabric set scores to a second network device. 18. The network device of claim 11, wherein the first characteristic comprises at least one of a family or a color group of the fabric, and wherein the second characteristic comprises at least one of an openness factor or a transmittance of the fabric. 19. The network device of claim 18, wherein the family comprises a plurality of fabrics with a same material, a same weave and a same manufacturer, and wherein a color group is a plurality of fabrics with varying shades of a same color or a plurality of fabrics with a combination of colors including at least one color that is the same color. 20. The network device of claim 11, wherein each fabric set score indicates an average score for the set of fabrics when each fabric of the set of fabrics are in the window treatment to be installed on the different façade of the plurality of façades of the building; and wherein the average score for the plurality of fabrics is based on at least one of an average glare score, an average view score, or an average daylight score for the set of fabrics.