Smartlouvre weaves the unique MicroLouvre™ sun and light control metal fabric at its headquarters in the UK, delivering architectural and building performance solutions all over the world.
Our story begins at a time when Winston Churchill said ‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man’ when the world was facing its greatest threat and challenge. Never has this been more relevant for all of us today, in the face of our planet’s greatest threat from Climate Change and Global Warming.
Ironically, as Churchill was saying this in Great Britain, across the Atlantic another great man with truly exceptional vision, the iconic American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, was saying about our product “new building material is very rare. This is a new building material. It is more important than even you can realize. Not just windows, but entire walls and sections of buildings could be screened and protected from the sun's hot rays.”
This is the legacy that Smartlouvre, in the 21st Century, has chosen to build upon.
The ‘hour’ is now, today and tomorrow. Smartlouvre’s mission is to be at the forefront of the battle against the climate and the energy crisis we are all currently facing. We are committed to showing the world exactly how important our product, MicroLouvre® Koolshade®, is for this fight.
Our core business lies in the manufacture of a totally unique, tried and tested high-performance heat blocking and glare reduction shading system that creates better working and living environments for people in commercial, public, and residential buildings, whilst dramatically slashing both air-conditioning running costs and equipment costs.
We, at Smartlouvre, are committed to providing truly sustainable and innovative solutions that reduce energy consumption, protect the well-being of occupants and maintain superior comfort levels.
The product was invented and patented in America in the late 1930s by John Grebe, a prodigious inventor at Dow Chemicals. It was first manufactured in the USA in conjunction with the Borg-Warner Corporation and soon became the leading external sun shading system throughout the USA.
When our MD Andrew (a 5th generation blind maker) sold his Coopers Fire business, he never forgot his roots and brought the weaving machines for the product known as Koolshade, over to the UK.
Smartlouvre ‘s primary commitment is to Sustainability:
We serve diverse fields of Solar Shading, Daylighting, Thermal, Visual and Environmental Comfort, Fire Protection, Privacy and Security, Night Sky Pollution, Anti-Glare Lighting, Light Trespass, and even Insect Screening and Bird-Strike Protection.
In short, there is no other product as versatile, or effective, as MicroLouvre™.
We firmly believe we are the most universal, cost-effective solution to the major problems caused by over-glazing, energy-guzzling, and expensive air-conditioning and air-conditioning equipment, and as a result can make a tangible difference to the future of this planet.
When tested at Fraunhofer, results confirmed MicroLouvre® as the most comprehensive solution for Thermal and Visual Comfort in one system.
The Berkeley Lab included MicroLouvre® in a major research project for PG&E. With MicroLouvre®, daily cooling loads were reduced by 68% on sunny days when compared with dual pane, high performance solar control glass with an internal blind.
The IFC Group have confirmed MicroLouvre® to be A1/A2-s1,d0 : BS EN 13501 Fire Rating, making it one of very few passive and dynamic external sun and solar heat gain blocking systems compliant for use on high rise buildings.
Building Research Establishment (BRE) wind tunnel tested MicroLouvre® screens from different angles and proved it to be indestructible at winds exceeding 100mph/160 kph/46 metres per second.
Smartlouvre Technology Limited is an ISO: 9001 2015 Accredited Quality Management company.
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MicroLouvre® has been extensively modelled using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in SimScale.
Download and read all our credentials and certifications from our resource centre.
Our MicroLouvre® ultra-thin metal fabric louvres were integrated into the units and permitted optimum light transfer, ensuring high energy efficiency, which is key to any lighting strategy.
Our solar shading system stops solar heat gain and glare before it reaches the window, working nonstop to disperse the sun's heat and energy without obstructing view, natural daylight, ventilation and enhancing the thermal, visual and environmental comfort of a building's occupants. MicroLouvre delivers 100% shade and heat block, saving up to 68% on air conditioning expenses. It also provides perfect vision for the outside and outperforms all other sun shading systems on the market.
Dynamic solar shading by its nature presents the most risk of faults occurring. Moving parts, motors and reactive functions can be costly to repair or replace and warranties are typically short and limited.
Manual solar shading brings the increased risk of human intervention and misuse, especially those that are internal.
MicroLouvre® screens are fixed to the building facade, window frame, mullions or direct to glass. They are light and quick and easy to install. They do not need to be removed for maintenance or window cleaning. Glass can be cleaned through screens (by simple pressure wash). For those buildings that better suit the option of moveable/removable screens, we offer a number of simple engineered solutions including simple lift in/out options or screens fitted in channels to slide in/out of position.
Dynamic solar shading uses technology to automate and control external and/or internal solar shading by means of an intelligent building control system.
When blinds are deployed due to need (excessive light or glare), the occupants then have no view to the outside.
Manual solar shading requires human intervention which can increase risk of damage to the system. Both dynamic and manual solar shading are subject to faults due to their moving parts and in some cases, motors.
Fixed solutions require no intervention and usually little to no maintenance. MicroLouvre® was designed as a solar shading fixed window screen, consisting of a fine bronze alloy mesh, comprising 700 tiny ‘bris soleil’ fins per metre of fabric, measuring only 1.5mm in depth. It is installed on a frame external to any windows, allowing heat to accumulate on the surface of the metal and then dissipate to the outside before it reaches the window.
MicroLouvre’s durable metal fabric, with micro fine metal louvres, woven with precision, angled and spaced to ensure optimum light in and visibility out, whilst protecting from the sun’s heat and glare.
Even the most recent advances in glazing technology won’t block all the sun’s heat and they reduce the levels of daylight and the view out.
So, what is the answer? How do you block the sun’s heat, get optimum daylight distribution, visibility to the outside world, protection from glare AND the opportunity for ventilation?
You stop the sun’s energy before it hits the glass, with a metal fabric, with micro fine louvres woven in to dissipate the sun’s heat and neutralise glare, but not block natural daylight, natural ventilation or vision out.
Solar energy from the sun streams through glass, heating everything inside the building. Unable to escape back through the glass, the heat can build up to unbearable temperatures. This is what’s known as the greenhouse effect.
Internal blind systems protect the room from a minimal amount of heat gain. They trap the heat and re-radiate it into the room, also known as the radiator effect.
Solar control glass and window films will reduce a good amount of heat gain but they block the sun’s light, leaving the building occupants in the dark and increasing the need for artificial lighting and therefore, energy consumption.
External solar shading is the most effective protection against heat gain, blocking the sun’s energy from reaching the glass. However, external blind systems reflect the sun’s energy whilst still allowing heat to pass through to the glass and therefore the room. Large louvre systems (Bris Soleil) work by deflecting the sun’s light but only during peak sun hours.
MicroLouvre® works totally differently. It neutralises solar heat gain and glare before it reaches the window, working non-stop like a heat exchanger dissipating the sun’s heat and energy into the atmosphere. It doesn’t diffuse daylight, it provides all the benefits but not the negative impact of excessive heat gain and glare. The louvres are micro fine, and angled at a level to ensure optimum light in and visibility out, whilst protecting the building occupants from the heat, glare and even external viewing in. It’s known as angular selective technology.
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