What Is Sustainable Shading?
As a carbon-neutral company, sustainable shading is something we talk about a lot. However, sustainability can have many different meanings – from how the blind is made, what it’s made from, the impact shading can have on energy efficiency, health & wellbeing etc.
In this blog post, we’re going to break down exactly what we mean by sustainable shading, and how you can make sure your blinds and curtains are sustainable.
But firstly, why is sustainable shading important?
The Importance of Sustainable Shading
According to Greenpeace, ‘The effects of climate change include extreme heat and drought, more rainfall and more frequent extreme weather events such as storms and floods. From only 1ºC above what they were before the industrial era, small changes in temperatures are already affecting the environment and people worldwide’.
Blinds and curtains may seem like a tiny, insignificant industry when it comes to causing global environmental changes, but we are part of a much larger industry – construction.
A new building can produce around 80 tonnes of carbon emissions. That’s equal to about 5 new cars – and that’s just for a typical 2- bedroom house! Imagine the impact every time a new skyscraper is constructed.
Consequently, there have been developments that show the industry has noticed and is adapting to suit our environmentally conscious society. ‘Green buildings’ or ‘Green construction’ is the new normal in 2022. More and more companies are expected to adopt these new building techniques as our concern for environmental safeguarding continues.
Sustainable Shading & Energy Saving
In 2019, the UK committed to cutting 78% of carbon emissions by 2035, and became the world’s first major economy to set a target of reaching Net Zero by 2050. Since then, research by Schneider Electric’s Powering Change report found that only 32.9% of businesses have adopted energy-efficient solutions in the workplace.
Other key findings from this report found that:
- Nearly a third (30%) of energy in buildings is wasted
- One in five (20%) of respondents have only just started measuring energy consumption and aren’t even aware of the level of waste
Relying on manual operation of your blinds to control temperatures or light levels only has very limited effectiveness. In a large office building, staff will close the office blinds when the glare is too much to cope with, but they will rarely open them again when the glare reduces.
In fact, on average, office blinds are only moved twice a week! And only 12% of people operate their blinds every day.
An automated shading solution is the most effective way to improve light and heat levels in a building as it means the blinds can react and operate in response to sunlight levels and temperature in real-time. It also eliminates the need for manual operation so you can ensure the office blinds are always in the correct position, even when there’s no one in the office.
When your shades are static, it forces heating and air-conditioning systems to work longer and harder to maintain a consistent internal environment.
Sustainable Shading & Wellbeing
Shading can also affect the health & wellbeing rating of a building. Not only is this about ensuring there is enough natural light, which can lead to better sleep, less illness, better mental health, and increased alertness during the workday, but also about reducing glare and heat levels caused by sunlight.
A silver-backed screen fabric, like Spectrum 4060, reflects light and heat away from the room to keep internal temperatures consistent and eliminate glare on screens. A screen fabric also means that you retain the view out of the window even when the blind is closed, which is important for employees’ mental health.
An automated shading solution can also help to improve occupant wellbeing as it will automatically respond to changing temperatures internally and open or close to either let more heat in or keep more out, which will maintain a comfortable internal temperature.
This is especially important for areas such as offices. According to Workspace, ‘If the office is too hot, employees can become agitated and lethargic, affecting peoples’ moods and reducing their focus, leading to a reduction in productivity. Similarly, being too cold may lead to a sharp decline in employee morale due to frustration’.
Many of the categories that BREEAM assesses can be affected by a building’s shading. BREEAM is the world’s leading sustainability assessment method for master planning projects, infrastructure and buildings.
BREEAM does this through third-party certification of the assessment of an asset’s environmental, social and economic sustainability performance, using standards developed by BRE.
For more information on BREEAM, click here. Or check out our blog post all about how shading can affect your BREEAM rating here.
Sustainable Shading Materials
Fabric on your blinds is arguably the most important component, especially if you ask the end client. It’s easily the most visible part of the blind and the part that’s most recognisable.
Traditionally, the main thing to focus on when choosing a fabric is what it looks like and how it performs. Whilst these are still important factors, most clients these days will tell you it also needs to be sustainable.
There are many different options if you want to use sustainable fabric for your blinds. In fact, check out our blog all about sustainable fabrics here. Our Spectrum 4060 fabric is an aluminium-backed screen fabric made from 100% recycled PET. PET is commonly used for packaging e.g. plastic containers, drink bottles.
Whilst PET is highly recyclable, it is difficult to reuse to make food-grade products such as bottles and containers. This is why it is used by so many other industries to make things like fabrics.
It’s also important to choose a high-quality manufacturer that uses mostly aluminium components in their systems. According to The International Aluminium Institute, 75% of aluminium ever produced (almost 1 billion tonnes) is still in productive use. The recycling of post-consumer aluminium products saves over 90 million tonnes of CO2, and over 100,000 GWh of electrical energy. That’s equivalent to the annual power consumption of the Netherlands.
For the blinds industry, this means we don’t have to be concerned that with every new blind produced we are causing an irreparable amount of damage to the planet. At the end of a blinds life cycle, we can be safe in the knowledge that most of the components can be recycled and used again.
Sustainable Shading Manufacturers
You might not realise it but your choice of manufacturer for blinds or curtains can also have an impact on the environment. For example, where is the company based? If the production facility is based in the same country as you, then getting the product to you will create fewer emissions than it would if it required a lot of road miles to transport it.
Packaging also matters. Does the supplier use an excessive amount of plastic in their packaging? Do they utilise recyclable materials such as cardboard or shred instead? These are all seemingly minor things that are worth thinking about when choosing your supplier for your next project.
Umbra has been a carbon-neutral manufacturer since 2021. We have offset our carbon emissions by supporting a carbon offset project. Carbon offset projects help counteract the release of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, whilst simultaneously improving the livelihood of people around the world.
The project that Umbra have chosen to support is one that closely lines up with Umbra’s values. Umbra is passionate about optimising free sustainable energy from the sun.
The carbon offset project in Omaheke near the town of Gobabis in Namibia uses the sun as a climate-friendly energy source: The solar plants constructed in 2017 include 18,560 PV solar modules and have a total capacity of 12.064 MW. As a result, approximately 26.1 GWh of clean electricity is fed into the Namibian power grid annually. This sustainable power generation saves an average of about 25,760 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
In addition to reducing emissions and improving Namibia’s energy self-sufficiency, the project also positively impacts the local labour market. Since construction began, 30 jobs have been created, at least eight of which will be dedicated to the long-term operation and maintenance of the plant. See our stats here.
For more information on sustainable shading, whether that’s an automated shading solution, advice on fabrics or more information about the importance of reducing energy usage, get in touch with us!
We are experts on automation and motorisation, and we’re passionate about sustainable shading.