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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.