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Solar Shading
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The Challenge
It is known, from Meteorological Office Records,
that in the United Kingdom, we can expect to "enjoy"
1,500 hours of bright sunshine every single year.
Enjoyable, that is, if you are simply planning
to have a break from the office and do your own
thing - not so, if you are tied to your desk trying
to do a job of work.
Taking London (at 51.7° North) as an easily
located example, the potential heat gain through
vertical glazing is comparable to that experienced
in the Middle East. During Spring and Autumn,
they are much on a par and during peak summer
months, London is exposed to a full 35% additional
solar energy than say Jeddah or Riyadh.
The challenge is simple but equally daunting when
you accept the fact that every 1.4m² of glazing
can effectively transmit heat at the same rate
as a 1 kW single bar electric fire. The cost of
removing that heat in terms of air conditioning
can be staggering and the dual problems of direct
radiation and glare still persist.
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Help Create a Better Environment
The Zefyr range of standard louvres and bespoke
solar shades can provide striking architectural
features to any building. They are also a practical
solution that allows the air to flow and remove
heat yet shade the inside of the building at the
same time. Zefyr Group has over 80 years unrivalled
experience in natural ventilation products and
are major consultants to main contractors throughout
the world. Development, design, manufacture and
installation know-how mean that our quality solar
shades satisfy all environmental considerations
that modern hi-tech buildings and personnel demand.
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Architectural Design Choice
Solar Shading gives strong architectural features
and welcome shade. They can be either vertical
or horizontal, available in painted or anodised
extruded aluminium or colour protected steel.
This allows the architect flexibility in design
and a wide choice of finishes.
Economical
Louvred roof shades are a highly practical solution
to a real problem - Heat Gain. This also applies
to window screens that give a strong architectural
feature whilst shading the glass areas yet leaving
vision lines intact. This in turn saves energy
on air conditioning.
Technical Advice and Design Service
Zefyr offers a very comprehensive service to designers
and contractors. Complete systems can be engineered
using our extensive CAD/CAM design and production
based techniques. Installations can be calculated,
drawn and costed to suit your design criteria.
Our complete technical advice service comes with
each project.
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Installation
All installations are closely monitored from the
initial work on site through to commissioning
the project.
The Solution
As with so many challenges, the solution is simple
and lies firmly within the concept that prevention
is always better than the cure. That preventative
action comes in the form of External Solar Shading.
By placing a barrier between the heat source and
the glazing, the full scope of environmental degradation
is to a large extent stopped before it occurs.
With suitable controls and correct equipment selection,
direct radiation can be cut to 10% or less. The
short wave radiation from the sun which is absorbed
by the glazing and re-radiated in long wave form
remains steady and actually represents the smallest
heat gain element. Finally, glare is substantially
reduced whilst allowing an acceptable level of
natural daylight to enter the building.
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