Friday’s Daily Mail, revealed how ‘green homes’ can create serious problems for their owners with severe overheating occurring during the Summer months. The article shared the story of Emma Taylor, who had recently moved into an award-winning flat that had been constructed to high eco-standards. Whilst the new-build cost Emma just £1 a week to heat during the Winter, the house is so well insulated that when the sun shines the temperature inside rockets — regularly over 25 degrees centigrade, a point at which experts say health can suffer.
Emma explained how, whilst initially the house was “great because I saved on bills and never ran out of hot water” during the Summer “the flat turns into a greenhouse and there’s no way of controlling the temperature. It’s an absolute nightmare at this time of year.”
Despite Emma’s attempts to reduce temperatures, such as opening the triple-glazed windows and turning on two fans, it could be 20 degrees centigrade outside, whilst her son’s bedroom could reach a sweltering 26 degrees centigrade. It would seem Emma’s not alone, as all the flats inside the £2.8 million block were found to be at ‘significant risk’ of overheating in the summer, with almost three-quarters registering internal temperatures that often rose above 25 degrees centigrade.
Experts have warned the Government-sponsored initiative to build more ‘green’ homes has created unforeseen, but potentially dangerous, problems.
With so much emphasis (and legislation) focussed at insulating to retain heat in the winter, the insulation of glazing to prevent unwanted heat in the summer is often overlooked. And with temperatures continuing to rise, overheating in buildings, particularly those that are so well insulated that heat can’t escape (because the building fabric is designed not to allow it), the problem of discomfort is going to escalate.
External shading, primarily in the guise of external roller blinds, are the most effective way to regulate solar heat gain, creating a physical barrier between the sun’s energy and glazing they can stop upto 96% of the suns heat entering, therefore preventing temperatures from rising, keeping buildings naturally cool on even the hottest of summer days making them the perfect accompaniment to a ‘green home’ like Emma’s.
As the UK’s only external shading specialist having supplied and installed 1000’s of external blinds for ‘eco’ homes, including the first certified Passivhaus in England (pictured above) along with low energy office buildings such as London’s top architectural practice AHMMs award winning Head Quarters (pictured below), we provide genuine, expert advice on the right external shading solution to manage the entry of solar heat (and light) into all types of buildings, from homes to offices. For more information on keeping cool with external shading click here or to discuss your overheating issues with an expert call 0844 800 1947.
