Advanced Daylighting Blinds and Shades Assessment

The primary objective of this project was to provide unbiased, technically sound information about the performance of ‘advanced blinds and shades’ products in a field assessment. Three types of advanced blinds/shades technologies were tested in this study: automated top-down shades, manual bottom-up shades, and manual split-inverted blinds. The project team installed the technologies at an office building in San Francisco that represents the most likely application of these systems. Occupants operation of blinds and shade were continuously monitored during the 6-month study period, and the daylighting impact of the advanced technologies compared to existing blinds/shades was calculated. The resultant savings present a realistic assessment of savings likely to be found in a real installation, as compared to an assessment of these technologies in a laboratory. Each technology provides savings value by either increasing daylight levels in a space or increasing the number of hours of useful daylight.