Why windows need MicroLouvre®?
Any glazing exposed to the sun needs protection from the immense heat and glare passing through the window and logically, so do the occupants. All buildings need windows, this is the norm – so why don’t we normalize having fit-for-purpose protection from the sun, aka solar shading, as well?
People assume having internal blinds and curtains is the answer to heat gain, but do you put a sticking plaster on your head injury after falling off your bike because you weren’t wearing a cycle helmet? Too little and way too late! External shading protects you from solar radiation entering the building. Natural pure light and air are essential all year-round in most buildings and modern architecture embraces these, but heat is only really wanted in the short winter months. What happens from March to October when increasingly solar heat gain levels and internal temperatures are way too high? Internal blinds and shutters and curtains don’t protect you from this heat gain, they just become huge radiators – the dreaded ‘Greenhouse Effect’ - all scientifically proven and confirmed only this year by the Government in the New Building Regulations for building overheating, coming into force in June.
External Shading and the simplest solution
External shading is by far the best and, can be, the simplest solution. Why? By stopping the heat gain from hitting the window in the first place. But to work properly it must be in place, covering the whole window all the time. Your cycle helmet is useless if you have it hanging down the back of your neck, isn’t it? In fact, it’s even more dangerous.
Our MicroLouvre® is like the best cycle helmet you can get. It stays in place, working all the time and you don’t know it’s there. Working differently from traditional external and internal blinds, which reflect, distort, and restrict vision and light, our MicroLouvre® product is an angular selective solar shading solution that has been scientifically designed to provide:
- Excellent solar heat protection
- Uninterrupted view of the outside
- Balanced daylighting & glare control
- No upward light pollution
- Energy conservation
… and it’s suitable for architects, designers, consultants and building service engineers focused on energy-efficient building envelopes, architectural facades, and highly glazed structures. It’s traditionally black because black’s the normal colour of a typical neutral glass window and there’s no re-reflected light making outward vision perfect, but MicroLouvre® can match, replicate or create almost any ‘dream’ façade appearance – quite literally any colour, any finish.
So, eliminating heat and glare can’t be accomplished by just any sort of a barrier. It’s more complicated than that and there’s a lot of science behind the issue.
Everyone is now totally conscious of the Climate Crisis, the Race to Net Zero, Energy saving and basically, that we’re all overheating! The environmental comfort of a building's occupants, proven to have psychological and productivity benefits are now paramount. MicroLouvre® Koolshade® solves all these problems and, if your windows open, even allows natural ventilation with the directional louvres creating upward laminar air circulation.
Double and triple glazing
Some say double or even triple layers of glass can do the trick - but this is both costly, somewhat misleading and not as efficient as a reliable solar shading solution. LBNL California tested MicroLouvre® and found a 68% energy saving against the top solar glasses. Our latest project with one of the largest Swiss banks – where MicroLouvre® is being installed in front of triple glazing shows just how significant MicroLouvre® is for eliminating overheating issues and that glass alone isn’t the best solution.
Simply increasing air conditioning in both equipment and running costs is never going to solve our energy crisis. MicroLouvre®, on the other hand, can most certainly help.
PS. MicroLouvre® is made from over 90% recycled copper scrap, is maintenance free, can last over 65 years and is 100% recyclable. What other external shading systems can claim this, I wonder?
