13 / 16
ings and blinds are more than
just decorative accessories.
Saving energy is one of the
key focal points of the trade
fair and the prominent inter-
national profile of the R+T –
half of exhibitors and visitors
to the last event three years
ago came from abroad – not
only guarantees a wide diver-
sity of products on display
but also ensures that experts
from all over the world will be
exposed to the most innova-
tive energy saving solutions.
Energy efficiency will also
be at the heart of a series of
lectures for architects, which
will take place on the morn-
ing of 11 and 13 February,
and the trade forum on sun
protection in the afternoon.
Similarly, exhibitors will be
displaying a broad range of
products, covering every-
thing from heat insulation to
automation, which make a
key contribution to reducing
energy costs. A recent survey
commissioned by the ES-SO
(European Solar-Shading Or-
ganization) clearly demon-
strates that such cost savings
are not paltry amounts.
It concludes that sun pro-
tection blinds and window
shutters contribute in two
key ways to reducing energy
requirements in buildings. In
the winter they lower heat-
ing costs by providing an
additional level of insulation;
in the summer they reduce
cooling energy demands by
avoiding needless solar heat
gains.
Using simulations of a selec-
tion of residential and office
buildings in different climate
zones (Brussels in the west
of Europe, Budapest in the
east, Rome in the south and
Stockholm in the north), the
ES-SO survey covered a very
broad area of research. In
Hintergrund /
Background
13
R+T, the leading global trade
fair for roller shutters, doors/
gates and sun protection sys-
tems, will be placing a spe-
cial focus on one of the most
pressing problems of our
time: the rapidly rising levels
of worldwide energy con-
sumption, which are primary
factors influencing burgeon-
ing prices and global warm-
ing. The trade fair intends to
demonstrate that installing
cutting-edge sun protection,
roller shutters and doors/
gates with effective control
and excellent heat insulation
can lead to outstanding en-
ergy savings.
Whereas energy efficiency
was for a long time ridiculed
as the mission of environ-
mental idealists, its financial
implications are becoming
painfully apparent to con-
sumers and industry alike:
oil and gas prices have in-
creased rapidly and, in view
of growing worldwide energy
consumption and the finite
nature of fossil fuel resourc-
es, they are not expected to
fall by anything but a margin-
al amount. On the contrary,
the inflationary spiral is likely
to continue. In order to mini-
mise the impact of this trend,
a number of regenerative en-
ergy options have emerged;
these have not yet been de-
veloped to a sufficient extent,
however. The preferred (i.e.
best value for money) option
is to substantially reduce en-
ergy consumption. The roller
shutter, sun protection and
door/gate industry sectors
can make a significant contri-
bution in this regard.
The international R+T trade
fair will demonstrate that roll-
er shutters and doors/gates
can do much more than just
fill holes in walls and keep
out intruders, and that awn-
Significant energy savings possible thanks to
state-of-the-art shades, shutters and doors/gates
spite of the diversity of build-
ings researched, the results
were astonishingly clear. Re-
searchers drew the following
conclusions:
• Blinds and shutters can
make an active cooling sys-
tem redundant
• Shutters can reduce heat
-
ing energy requirements by
approx. 10 per cent
• Blinds and shutters can
contribute to a significant
reduction in energy require-
ments (up to 40 kWh/m² in
countries in the south and
east). In relative terms,
blinds and shutters in coun-
tries in the west, north and
east have the largest im-
pact on cooling energy re-
quirements
• The effect of blinds and
shutters increases as the
density of rooms decreas-
es
• External and internal shut
-
ters have the same effect
on heating energy require-
ments. In the context of
reducing cooling energy
requirements, however, ex-
ternal blinds or shutters are
more effective because they
do not allow heat into the
building in the first place
• In sunny regions, sun pro
-
tection blinds and shut-
ters on the north-east side
reduce cooling energy re-
quirements
• Due to a more diverse us
-
age pattern, shutters in res-
idential buildings save more
heating energy than they do
in office buildings
The level of thermal transfer
through windows influences
the effect of shutters on heat-
ing energy requirements but
not their effect on cooling en-
ergy requirements
Some of the survey’s find-
ings were well-known in pro-
fessional circles at least but
others were surprising. The
most astonishing aspect was
the energy saving potential
calculated by researchers.
Constructive sun protection
and shutters have the capac-
ity to reduce heating energy
requirements in the European
Union equivalent to 31 mil-
lion tonnes of carbon diox-
ide emissions. The potential
savings in cooling energy are
even more striking: an an-
nual reduction in carbon di-
oxide emissions of 80 million
tonnes is possible. And an-
other factor: anyone invest-
ing in sun protection blinds
and shutters often saves the
cost of investing in an air-
conditioning system.
There is no comparable sur-
vey for doors and gates but it
is undisputed that high-speed
doors/gates and doors/gates
with good thermal insulation
qualities – particular in in-
dustrial environments – can
contribute substantially to a
reduction in energy require-
ments. After all, the shorter
the time that a door/gate is
open or the greater its den-
sity, the lower the volume of
expensive heated/cooled air
that can escape from the in-
terior.
These figures clearly demon-
strate the role of the R+T trade
fair. The products on display
help to not only create more
attractive and more burglar-
proof buildings but also to
enhance energy efficiency.
The leading global trade fair
for roller shutters, doors/gates
and sun protection will be
staged here again.
Die Herausforderungen des Klimaschutzes sind auch für die Sonnen-
schutzbranche von Bedeutung. /
The challenges of climate protection are
important to the solar protection industry too.