Enviroblinds commissioned AMA Consulting Engineers to provide a Thermal Impact Assessment on installing external blinds to the south facing elevation of an office block in Farnham.
The results show that the office with external shading has a consistently lower temperature than the room with internal shading.
- Maximum temperature with external blinds 26.6°C
- Maximum temperature with internal blinds 30.7°C
Anything above 26°C is considered to be above the “office comfort criteria” according to CIBSE Guide A. The frequency of temperatures above 26°C was only 1% of office occupied hours with external blinds (shown in blue), compared to 29% of occupied hours with internal blinds (shown in red).
Extended periods of high temperature cause a range of negative health impacts and according to Prof. Hugh Montgomery, Co-Chair of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change:
“ Heat stress is hitting hard – particularly amongst the urban elderly, and those with underlying health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes or chronic kidney disease”.
Furthermore, overheating impacts productivity at work with a study finding that report writing was 16% slower in overheated offices.
With increasing global temperatures, cooling is a must for the health and wellbeing of staff. External shading is a passive cooling solution which is largely overlooked in the UK, despite significant cost and environmental benefits.
- External shading saves energy and money with every 1°C of temperature reduced by passive measures saving 5% of power required for cooling.
- The set up cost of installing mechanical cooling was found to be 75% higher at this office block compared to external blinds.
Solar shading is instrumental in working towards the Government’s Net Zero Strategy to decarbonise all sectors of the UK economy by 2050.
Read the full Thermal Impact Assessment by clicking on this link.
Please get in touch if you would like advice on your project or property.