LESS HEAT: ClearShade™ technology optimizes DAYLIGHTING and SOLAR HEAT GAIN CONTROL in a single product:
> ClearShade™ honeycomb technology optimizes both DAYLIGHTING and SOLAR HEAT GAIN CONTROL in a single product, by transmitting and diffusing valuable visible light while reflecting unwanted solar heat.
> Reduced lighting and HVAC loads result in significant energy and cost savings.
> ClearShade™ glazing units use ANGULAR SELECTIVE TECHNOLOGY to provide the most solar heat control at peak hours.
WHAT IS ANGULAR SELECTIVE GLAZING?
> ClearShade™ is an angular selective technology whose honeycomb structure performs like a series of very small louvers, but in cellular rather than linear form. This structure combined with a proprietary polymer composition provides the unique advantage of dynamic performance – increased solar heat protection at peak hours – without the dramatic reduction in visible light that occurs with other dynamic technologies such as switchable glass.
ANGULAR SELECTIVE GLAZING vs. LOW-E ONLY vs. DYNAMIC GLAZING for SOLAR HEAT CONTROL
> Angular selective glazings are designed to attenuate direct solar radiation, the main source of solar heat gains and glare, while transmitting a significant amount of diffuse skylight.1
> Glazings that use low-e films to achieve solar heat control often do so at the expense of visible light, and this performance is static throughout the day, blocking daylight even when the sun is not at its peak.
> Dynamic glazings vary over the course of the day to reduce solar heat at peak hours. Technologies such as electro-chromic glass do this by darkening to nearly opaque, blocking both visible light and solar heat.
> ClearShade™ is an angular selective technology whose patented honeycomb structure and polymer composition ensure consistent, diffuse daylight throughout the day and the highest level of solar heat control at peak hours.
CLEARSHADE: OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE AT PEAK HOURS
The chart below shows how the performance of ClearShade varies throughout the day compared to other glazing solutions. Bubble size represents Light to Solar Gain; the larger the bubble, the more daylight is transmitted while solar heat is reflected, the more the glazing solution is achieving the dual goal of heat control and daylight transmittance. Static glazing solutions such as low-e films are shown in grey. many of these have excellent Light to Solar Gain ratios but their performance does not change in response to the sun’s angle. Two types of technologies are dynamic over the course of the day and year, changing in response to the sun’s angle. Electrochromic technologies (shown in green) are on par with ClearShade’s angular selective technology (shown in orange) when the sun is low in the sky. At 10 degrees sun angle, ClearShade’s Light to Solar Gain ratio is 1.42, only slightly better than the Electrochromic technology’s 1.32. As the sun rises and approaches peak hours however, the electrochromic technology achieves excellent solar control but does so by cutting visible light transmission, reducing its Light to Solar Gain Ratio to 0.22. While the electrochromic glass saves costs and energy consumption for cooling, it also reduces visible light, which negatively impacts user comfort and increases the need for artificial light. ClearShade in contrast continues to redirect and diffuse desirable daylight into the building while deflecting solar heat, for a strong Light to Solar Gain ratio of 2.73, saving energy and cost for both cooling and lighting, and increasing user comfort and productivity.