The practical design of modern awning shading can effectively prevent heat and cool down, prevent outdoor glare, improve indoor thermal comfort in summer, and reduce the energy consumption of buildings and other functions. External shading has always been the central role of energy-saving, while pergola shades and blinds applied to indoor shading usually provide comfortable natural light for indoor and prevent dazzling light generation.
01
Improve the environment
Sun shading awning is an important technology to reduce the energy consumption of air conditioning. However, multi-layered glass windows lead to a significant decrease in the solar heat gain coefficient of the windows themselves. The energy-saving effect of external shading facilities is then reduced. However, Awning technology can effectively improve indoor radiant heat and light environment performance and increase building comfort, so it is still the preferred technology in building environment creation.
The promotion and application of shading technology in China’s modern buildings has benefited from the mandatory implementation of national and local energy conservation standards. Due to climatic factors, shading applications were first reflected in the energy-saving standards in the southern region of China. Many cases have also emerged with the diversification of sunshade product design and function in the northern regions. Energy-saving has become the leading label for shading technology applications, while its contribution to indoor environmental comfort has not yet attracted sufficient attention.
02
Suppression of glare
Simple daylighting systems are designed by combining window design with appropriate internal and external shading (e.g. external shading motorized canopy shades and internal shading blinds or roller blinds). More advanced lighting systems can be designed to track the sun’s trajectory or passively control the direction of light and use intelligent shading control systems based on simple lighting systems.
Exterior building pergola shading technology has been considered one of the critical technologies for reducing air conditioning loads. Many research works have demonstrated this. However, with the vigorous development of ultra-low energy buildings, the building requirements for the envelope are becoming higher and higher, and the performance of the transparent envelope is significantly improved. In addition to the heat transfer performance and airtight performance, the use of multi-layer glass leads to a rapid increase in the shading performance of the windows themselves. In this context, higher requirements are placed on designing and selecting building shading facilities or shading components.
The impact of shading technology on the indoor environment is mainly through the regulation of solar radiation heat and light flux into the room, so it directly affects the effect of creating indoor light and thermal environment. For green buildings, the design goal of lighting is to meet visual needs while reducing energy consumption.
A well-lit building not only saves energy, but recent studies have demonstrated the health and comfort benefits of natural light, which is essential for building occupants. And, while the full spectrum output of daylight provides the best colour rendering, there is no way to simulate the changes in the daylight spectrum at different times of the year. However, some high-end electric light sources can now approximate the daylight spectrum. If daylight is too strong, building interiors may produce glare, which has a more significant impact on people working in computer offices and is one of the reasons why office applications of sun shades are most common.
