Shading experts are reminding people to make full use of their window shades as the UK prepares for the third heat wave of the summer.
Members of the British Blind and Shutter Association (BBSA) are urging people to close blinds, shutters and awnings during the day to help reduce the sun’s UV rays from entering the home and open the shading and windows in the evening to ventilate the area when the temperature has dropped.
Justin Allen, President of the BBSA said: “Shading has been used for centuries to help keep us cool, it’s nothing new. It goes hand-in-hand with ventilation strategies to remove warm air from our homes, keeping internal temperatures at comfortable levels to support our health and wellbeing.
“As the weather warms up this week, remember to keep windows, blinds and shutters closed during the day to help reduce overheating in your home. Open them at night for cooling and, if possible, open windows on different sides of the building to get good air flow.”
Research commissioned by the BBSA at a block of London flats found that the operative temperature, that is the temperature we feel, reached 47.5°C in a room without shading. There was more than a 40% reduction in this temperature in a room which had external blinds fitted.
Blinds and awnings fitted to the outside of a building significantly reduces the sun’s heat from having contact with the glazing. Internal shading with heat reflective coatings can also reduce summer heat gain if external shading is not an option. Motorised shading with sensors and timers can automatically activate shading depending on variables such as temperature and the time of day.
Justin added: “Blinds and shutters are an energy-efficient, sustainable way to help keep indoor spaces at an optimum temperature with less reliance on high energy consumption cooling systems such as air conditioning.
“As we head into an era of much hotter temperatures than we have been used to, shading has more relevance than ever before as an energy efficient and sustainable solution.”
The BBSA is a member of the UK Green Building Council which launched its Climate Resilience Roadmap last month. The roadmap details, for the first time, how the UK’s built environment, including homes, schools, offices, hospitals, parks and infrastructure, are increasingly vulnerable to five climate hazards – overheating, flooding, drought, wildfires and storms.
For more information about how shading can help prevent overheating visit https://bbsa.org.uk/householders/overheating/