Both the BBC and Times have today reported and highlighted findings by the governments climate change advisory body – the committee on climate change (CCC) that overheating in buildings due to our hotter climate and poorly designed building stock which are not equipped to deal with our rising temperatures could result in a threefold increase in premature deaths, upto 7,000 per year by 2050.
The CCC estimate that around a fifth of all existing homes are already at risk of overheating even during a cool summer and forthcoming research from Cambridge University concludes that 90% of hospital wards already overheat.
Half of all summers by 2040 are expected to be as hot or hotter than in 2003 when excessive temperatures caused 2000 people in Britain to die prematurely.
Glazing is typically the single biggest source of solar heat gain in a building, with external shading the only effective way to prevent excessive solar heat build up as it stops the suns energy even striking the glass, preventing the problem (heat build up) before it occurs and has to be cured. Europe is far more advanced in this respect and has embraced the use of external shading for many years, typically in the guise of external blinds and shutters, with nearly every building sporting them, to effectively control solar heat (and light) with the resultant effect of a cool, comfortable and sustainable space.
To highlight the importance and role external blinds play in the fight against climate change over the coming months we will be updating the information on our main website to provide a comprehensive resource on solar shading and external blinds, including all the important facts & figures and are also in the process of producing an animated illustration to explain visually how the suns energy works and what makes external blinds so highly effective at controlling the suns heat rays.
*Image courtesy of The Times
