How Motorized Shades Boost Energy Efficiency in Office Spaces

How Motorized Shades Boost Energy Efficiency in Office Spaces

It’s estimated that energy costs account for about 20 percent of an office’s total expenditures. And with energy costs projected to increase in both the near and long term, it only makes sense for offices to curb this overhead expense and improve their overall bottom line. When it comes to conserving energy, there’s often not one magic solution, but a lot of initiatives that, when combined, can all make a difference in the end. One of these solutions to help improve energy efficiency in the office setting is motorized shades. In this post, we’ll discuss their advantages and how they work to help offices conserve energy.

The Advantages of Motorized Shades for Energy Efficiency

There are two big ways that motorized shades help improve energy efficiency in the office setting: by controlling light and by offering some insulation. The insulating feature helps better prevent cool air from escaping during the summer months and warm air from escaping during the winter months. And they can also help prevent heat gain by blocking the sun.

Another advantage of motorized shades is that it’s easy for offices to take advantage of natural daylight to save on lighting costs.

While factors such as climate, the type of shade and how the shade is used all play a role in potential cost savings, it’s estimated that energy bills can be reduced by more than 30 percent when motorized shades are used effectively.

Optimizing Natural Light with Motorized Shades

While drawing the shades can help prevent heat gain and offer insulation for the office, there are likely to be periods of the day when you want to raise the shades to let in natural light. This can be easily done with the click of a button. In fact, it’s common for offices to schedule the shades so that they’re raised in the mornings and evenings and then drawn during the hottest parts of the day to minimize heat gain.

Reducing Energy Consumption with Motorized Shades

As we’ve said throughout this post, there are several keyways that offices can reduce their energy consumption with motorized shades:

• They can reduce heat gain by drawing the shades during hot periods of the day based on how the sun is shining.
• When drawn, their insulating feature helps reduce cool air loss in the summer and hot air loss in the winter.
• They can help offices optimize natural light to reduce electricity costs to power lighting.

Integrating Motorized Shades into Office Automation Systems

An additional benefit of motorized shades is that they can be easily integrated into automation systems, so they’re drawn and raised according to where the sun is at various parts of the year. Rather than having to manually click a button every time you want to control the shades, they can also integrate with mobile apps, smart thermostats and can be controlled from anywhere.