Category: Construction

Brise soleil for more pleasant working conditions

There are a number of ways in which you might secure the energy usage of your work building, and business as a whole. Alongside the standard advice of low-energy bulbs, paperless offices and good insulation, there are factors to bear in mind that will have a more significant impact on your long-term energy usage. As energy prices rise in the future due to peak oil and, quite possibly, energy insecurity and issues of supply, these will become more valuable. The brise soleil and glass louvres – which can be part of the initial building design or retro-fitted at a later date – will become more common sights as businesses try to reduce their energy consumption. In particular, external louvres can make the most of the sunlight that reaches your windows, whilst at the same time ensuring that it does not overheat the room. This would make for both an uncomfortable office environment and increased costs, as it entails the use of air conditioning.

The way each of these architectural features work is generally the same. In each case, they are structures – either fixed or movable – that regulate the sunlight levels reaching your windows. Especially in modern developments, the windows tend to be large and can cover most of the building’s exterior, so this is no trivial matter. The genius of the brise soleil and external louvres is that they do two things – making the most of existing sunlight but not allowing it to overheat the premises. They do this by the angling of the slats or other structures, which allows low-angle winter sun (or sun at the beginning and end of the day) through, but stops the high-angle summer and midday sun. Energy use and heat absorption may be further modified by having moving slats to customise the louvres to the climate conditions, and also by integrating PV (photovoltaic) cells into them to allow them to generate electricity whilst simultaneously lowering your power consumption.

The brise soleil and glass louvres are therefore important developments for both energy efficiency and security, and a good working environment. External louvres are one of a number of measures that can be adopted to lower the amount of energy you use, thereby decreasing both your energy budget and your environmental footprint. This makes for more sustainable businesses and greater corporate responsibility, as well as any intrinsic good.

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External louvres are an effective solution to temperature control

If you work in a modern office then you probably have big, expansive windows that give the room an airy, open feel and let in plenty of sunlight. This has a number of advantages. For starters, you decrease lighting bills – and sunlight is far preferable than electric lights. It’s brighter, and the mixture of wavelengths is (by definition) more ‘natural’, meaning that workers generally feel better in the sun than under strip lights. It also decreases heating bills. The problem comes when it’s summer, and the office can overheat. Then, you have a different problem, since you have to shell out money you saved on heating on new air conditioning. Another solution is to retrofit a brise soleil, or glass louvres. external louvres can be an effective way of having the best of both worlds – allowing the sun to heat your premises in the winter, but not overheating them in the summer.

There are a number of variants on the concept, and the exact version will depend on your circumstances – your climate, for starters, but also where your building is positioned and which way it faces. Some louvres are movable, and can be controlled from minute-to-minute to fit to conditions on the day. Others are fixed, though these can still be extremely effective. One of the most simple but helpful sorts is a ‘shelf’ which admits low-angle winter sun, or light at the beginning of the day when the sun is still low in the sky. In the summer, or the middle of the day, when the sun tends to be at a steeper angle, the shelf blocks its light from the windows.

The brise soleil – French for ‘sun breaker’ – is a permanent sun block that can take a variety of forms. Sometimes it is hardly anything more than a horizontal surface projecting from the side of the building. On other occasions they are more sophisticated, perhaps being slatted to admit a proportion of the sun, or only sun at certain times of day or year. These, along with glass louvres (which can be used in conjunction with a sun breaker), are handy solutions to managing sunlight, which can result in great savings for your business. If this is something that your office finds problematic, then external louvres might be something to look into.

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Using Chelsea builders to help improve the value of your home

With house prices in certain areas of North London now averaging around a million pounds, keeping your home in good condition is likely to be a matter of great interest for residents of Chelsea, Hampstead and surrounding areas.  Home owners often look to increase their house value by finding a builder for home improvements, such as updating the bathroom or adding more modern conveniences to the kitchen.  North Londoners who are considering making such improvements to their valuable homes would be well advised to look for builders who are specialist in their location.  Neighbours are likely to be able to suggest good Chelsea Builders, hampstead builders or more general North London Builders, depending on your location.

A good North London builder might be able to advise you on what sort of improvements might fit best in your house, but this article aims to give you some points to consider when deciding how to make the most of building work to improve the price of your property.

Although building work probably will add value to your house, this cannot be guaranteed, however skilled your Hampstead builders might be.  Therefore, it is recommended that any changes to your house are made according to your own taste, and make the property a more pleasant or convenient place to live in. If you want to sell your house in the near future, it is probably better to opt for small changes that might make the property a more attractive investment, such as perhaps another coat of paint.  This is because it is often the case that major improvements such as replacements of rooms often pay off in the longer term.

If you are going to call in the Chelsea Builders and go for major changes, perhaps the most important thing to consider is that the improvements are in keeping with not only the rest of the house but also surrounding properties.  Indeed, according to experts, trying to raise the value of your home above those of neighbouring properties is actually likely to pull its value down.

As previously mentioned, good North London builders are likely to be able to give you more detailed suggestions based on their experience with properties in the area.  They may be particularly helpful if they are specialised to your area – so, for example, Chelsea residents should look specifically for Chelsea builders, and recognised hampstead builders would probably be most useful for those in that area.  Whoever you decide to employ to make important changes to your house, just make sure the improvements you opt for are carefully considered.

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