Using Life Cycle Assessment to Illustrate the Benefits of Blinds as Passive and Sustainable Energy Saving Products in the Domestic Environment in the UK

Blinds and shutters create privacy during the day and night in residential and commercial buildings. They are also widely used in warm locations to keep rooms cool when sunny and to reduce heat loss at night or in winter; in turn this reduces use of air conditioning, heating, associated energy, carbon and costs. Although these benefits have not been fully recognised in the UK, some can be assessed via 'Shade Specifier' (an online tool developed by the British Blind and Shutters Association and London South Bank University), to promote their wider and more correct use. Recent research has confirmed the importance of blinds and shutters in passive temperature control, which indicates that they contribute positively to sustainable living; their overall level of sustainability has not been fully determined however because to date the majority of research has only considered operational energy savings and/or carbon equivalent inputs and outputs. This paper seeks to present a more holistic and accurate evaluation of the environmental impact of blind use as an aid to sustainable living in a typical domestic setting in the UK. Life Cycle Assessment is used to model the overall product life and associated impacts of 4 different types of blind, different product life spans, levels of energy consumption and potential savings during the heating season in order to demonstrate the real benefits of this type of window covering in the UK.