Brise Soleil and Glass Louvres – for a better building and happier staff
In its simplest form the brise soleil is hardly more than a textured wall, and yet in some of its better-known incarnations this architectural device is stunning and detailed in its execution. The Milwaukee Art Museum is world-famous for its folding, automatic wing-style brise soleil. However, in other instances they just take the form of a concrete surface – horizontal or vertical – with spaces in. The concept is that these will let through some but not all of the sunlight that hits them. The exact amount will rely on a number of factors, including the climate, latitude, direction the building is facing and the time of day and year. Variations on this theme are glass louvres and other forms of external louvres. Although they may seem very different, the same principles are used, and for the same ends.
Effectively, the purpose of all these things is to limit the amount of sunlight coming through them at key points, whilst still making the most of it at other times. Take a large, modern office block, for example, which may have a broad south-facing window. In the winter this will be a asset to the building (so long as it is well insulated) since it will let in large amounts of sunlight – thereby cutting down on artificial lighting and heating and their associated expenses. Passive, natural heat and light are usually more comfortable than central heating and electric lights. However, in the summer such a large window would present a significant problem. Without good shading, the amount of heat and light it lets in would make the office space hotter than was comfortable (or, in some jurisdictions, legal). The purpose of the brise soleil and external louvres are to vary the incoming sunlight at different times of the day and year. Low-angle morning/evening and winter light is encouraged; hotter, high-angle midday and summer sun is not.
Some glass louvres are equipped with photovoltaic systems to generate power as well as limit unwanted light and heat. In other cases, external louvres are automated so that their angle can be adjusted for the exact circumstances and weather conditions; the one-size-fits-all approach is useful up to a point, but can often be improved. But even a basic brise soleil can make a huge difference, cutting down the need for heating and air conditioning, and therefore improving energy bills in the process.
Please visit http://www.maplesunscreening.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.
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