Commercial Applications
"…The energy we use to power the buildings in which we live, work and play is responsible for half of all global warming pollution emitted in the United States each year. That's nearly twice as much as all of our cars, trucks, planes and trains combined. As vast as that problem may seem, many of the solutions are remarkably simple and low tech."
onearth Fall 2007 Published by the National Resources Defense CouncilHeatSaver® Thermal Shades offers those responsible for large commercial buildings an excellent opportunity to reduce unnecessary energy expenditures, saving both on utility bills and greenhouse gas emissions. Heating oil resources are projected to become increasingly expensive and difficult to obtain. Natural gas seems to be plentiful, but the process of extracting it generates toxic pollution. Options for electricity generation vary from exciting new green technologies to those that are ridiculously polluting.
The buildings we have inherited often have the insidious problem of heating and cooling plants working at odds with one another –at the same time! Offices or classrooms on the north side will be freezing while those on the south side will be baking. No one is happy, or comfortable, including the Budget Director who has to find a way to pay for rising energy costs.
HeatSaver® can moderate and stabilize interior temperature swings by minimizing the effects of the windows, and extending the life span of expensive heating and cooling plants.
Pictured here is the Loretto Heights Learning Resources Center. In 1985 we installed 160 shades covering nearly 6,500 sq. ft. of single pane glass. The majority of those shades are still in operation. At the time we estimated the return on investment would be realized in about 2 1/2 years. The school may have saved $800,000 in both heating and air conditioning costs.
With performance like that, HeatSaver® Thermal Shades should become part of your strategy for managing energy issues.
Many schools, universities, and state and local governments are saddled with buildings constructed anywhere from the late 1800's through the 1980's which have particular problems with extensive windows and antiquated heating and cooling plants. Even if the latter has been replaced, large expanses of
exposed glass remain.
Quite often older buildings are historically protected – and can't change their beautiful but leaky old double hung windows. Cold winter winds blow in one side and out the other – taking a good deal of the year's budget with them.
We can insulate those windows without altering the architectural integrity of the building.
Ten or fifteen years ago your school district upgraded all the windows.
Now the windows of those buildings have increased from an
R-Value of less than 1 to an R-Value,
of less than 2.
Today, we know we need to do better than that.
Our Commercial Building Performance PDF will give you an idea of the information we need in order to evaluate your building's performance and hence your return on investment.