Business Shades
Window blinds can be an effective treatment for control of solar heat gain and natural light. Comfort, productivity and efficiency are very important in any business environment. Installing roller shades in my building was a huge benefit to the office as a whole. Roller blinds help control light and solar heat. The blinds optimize comfort, productivity and energy efficiency. My goal was to block solar heat. I used a shade that has a reflective metal coating to block the heat (white was another option, but did not seem to suit the style of building).
I decided on the shades that have tight weaves. They are much more effective in my situation than the shades with open weaves. Tightly woven light-colored fabrics transmit more light but are not as effective as darker shades at reducing glare and preserving the outdoor view. I went with the darker shades. The specialized fabric I chose is designed to preserve the view, prevent glare, and block solar heat.
When I decided on the blinds, I purchased I realized a lot more went into the decision process than I had originally anticipated. For example, the sun rises and sets from east to west. This creates heat and glare for rooms facing in these directions. Windows facing south admit solar heat during mid-day. This is when the sun is at its highest in the sky. My building has an overhang; therefore, the bottom portion of the window needs more shading than the top portion. In turn, I placed mounting blinds at the bottom of the window to provide shade at the bottom. The best part though is these blinds permit a view and natural light through the top of the window, all at the same time.
Due to the fact that the office building is 6000 square feet and covered with windows, I had an electric motor control installed with the shades. The installation has central controllers that sense light and solar-heat. It is then able to adjust the blinds to their optimal positions. The blind control system can open the blinds at night in summer to let the heat escape and then close them at night during winter to aid in insulation.