Reflex-Rol
UK
Window shades window blinds
control glare solar control.
Reflex-Rol UK are manufacturers of high performance solar and
glare control systems.
Different materials may be selected according to the
requirement to reduce heat gain, remove solar glare, improve visibility or insulation,
and the specific location and nature of the premises.
General Information
Why do you need solar and glare control?
In short, we need to
control the solar heat entering our buildings and prevent light entering via windows
being the source of glare on our computer screens.
Solar Heat Gain can make
us uncomfortable in the workplace, and trying to achieve an ambient temperature
of 21.5° C, as stipulated in current E.U. Health and Safety directives, can be
difficult given today's building designs favouring large expanses of glass.
Cooling
systems are expensive to install, maintain and run, and in context of climatic
change, their emissions are not environmentally friendly. Without doubt, it's
better to prevent excessive heat gain, particularly when this can be achieved
with a flexible (virtually) non energy consuming shading system. Depending upon
which Reflex-Rol shading material is chosen, more than 80% of the solar heat energy
projected at a window can be prevented from entering a room.
Example:
A modern office building can easily experience heat gain of 50 KW on a single
facade. The installation of Reflex-Rol shading could cut this by 40 KW. That is
the equivalent of turning off 40 single bar electric heaters. Given the relatively
high ambient temperatures of this country, cooling 1 KW can consume 2 to 30 KW
of purchased power (not cheap) and every 1 KW hour of electrical energy causes
a gas fired power station to produce about 0.43 kg of CO2.
Glare Control has
become more important with the deployment of every additional VDU. 30000 movements
of the eye (contractions and dilations of the pupil) per day can rapidly lead
to fatigue and eye strain in your operatives if widely contrasting levels of light
exist in the workplace.
Similarly, bad posture and the resulting strains on
the body is a common complaint as operatives adjust their position in relation
to the VDU to avoid glare. Such problems could be overcome by stopping the natural
light entering a building altogether and replacing it with artificial light. This
however incurs costs through electricity bills, greater heat and the loss of the
benefits of natural light, together with contact with the outside world.
Research
has shown that ideal working conditions exist with lighting levels between 200
cd/m2 and 400 cd/m2 (cd = candela) in conjunction with Lux levels (ambient light
levels) of between 500 to 600.
A shading system delivering a light transmission
(T65 ) of 3% or less can achieve these levels with natural light.
A common
misconception is that solar shading is only for the summer months. Whilst true
in respect of heat gain, glare is noticeably worse in winter months, since the
sun is much lower in the sky, and will penetrate far deeper into a room.
The
different requirements on East, South and West facades may be obvious, but the
'no blinds to the north' attitude can be totally wrong as ambient light and reflected
glare may still cause a significant problem. | |
 Reflex-Rol
(UK)
Ryeford Hall
Ryeford
Ross on Wye
Herefordshire HR9 7PU
Tel: 01989 750704
Fax: 01989 750768
E-mail: info@reflex-rol.co.uk
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