Quite simply: yes.
In the average London office nearly 30% of the energy spend is dedicated to air conditioning, a further 26% is put into lighting fixtures.
Here’s how a full automated blinds package can help with both of those things.
Cooling
Blinds can noticeably reduce cooling costs in office environments by limiting the amount of solar heat that enters the building. When sunlight streams through unshaded windows, it quickly warms interior spaces, forcing air-conditioning systems to work harder to maintain a comfortable temperature.
By blocking, reflecting, or diffusing this heat before it reaches the workspace, blinds lower the cooling load and help HVAC systems operate more efficiently. This not only cuts energy consumption and utility bills but also supports a more stable and comfortable office environment throughout the day.
Heating
A big chunk of saving can be made by correctly insulating the most vulnerable points of your building to heat gain and loss: your windows.
It’s a lot more cost efficient to shade your windows properly than it is to invest in higher performance and more advanced thermal glazing.
Using automated blinds for climate control
- Astro-Timers:
- Blocking Direct Sunlight:
Make sure that your blinds aren’t open when the sun is down. An automation which closes your blinds a few minutes after sundown paired with a blind fabric with good thermal properties can save masses on heating energy.
While you always want to be taking advantage of natural light for reasons like circadian rhythm and savings on lighting energy, it’s also a good idea to make sure direct sunlight is blocked sufficiently.
Sunlight sensors or advanced shadow prediction systems can make sure that when there’s direct sunlight on a window, the blinds are closed to just the right level to block it out.
Getting the right equipment to take advantage of this won’t only save you money on your air conditioning by blocking heat from entering the building, but also improves occupant comfort by reducing glare levels.
Lighting
Blinds don’t have to be integrated with lighting to make a difference. In most modern offices lights are on a motion sensing dimmer. So they are off or dimmed if there is no human presence detected. And they get brighter and dimmer according to the available natural light.
This is great for your occupants eye health and well-being, which will be improved by a consistent level of light. Strata is also good news for the energy consumption of the building: every second that the lights of a building aren’t switched on at 100% power, you’re saving money.
A study by Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory states that interconnected blinds and lights can save up to 30% lighting energy -
A Study by Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory
Key Points - Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory Study
- Blinds are left open when possible, only closing when there’s no natural light to be taken advantage of or if excess glare is detected.
- User overrides should be provided for comfortable UX
- Lighting reacts to natural light levels by dimming and brightening to maintain a consistent lux level
Hotel Specific Savings
Occupancy Detection
Hotel rooms are far from perpetually occupied and when they aren’t, there’s money to be saved.
As well as the usual methods of saving energy like reactive lighting and the blocking of direct sunlight, you can save money by making sure that blinds are closed and the lights are off whenever a specific room isn’t occupied.
If you already have a smart system in place that turns off the lights when a room isn’t occupied the easiest way is to hook your shading up to that same system. By ensuring that blinds are closed when nobody is present a fortune will be saved on heating and cooling costs.
If you don’t have a pre-existing solution to turn your lights off, you can either use motion sensors to detect periods of activity or connect with smart key card systems to do the job.
User Experience
How blinds will get your hotel more five star reviews: