The Challenge of Modelling Solar Shading Products and their Impact on the Built Environment

Improved insulation and glazing contribute to overheating in buildings, the incidence of which is rising. Blinds and shutters can reduce thermal gain if specified and used correctly and their value as passive and/or low energy products is now being acknowledged by construction professionals, who also recommend that building models include solar shading devices to reduce overheating in buildings. However, some software does not appear to generate accurate models of shading products and their impact as illustrated in a comparative study of recent real-time data from a refurbished residential building in London and the results of building simulations. This paper describes this study, reasons for the limitations in the models and proposes that software is updated to account for changing weather and climate.