Progressive Architecture
November 1981
"......... Blinds are easily adjusted to a broad range of window and light conditions. (Top left) Horizontal blinds can be made to fit angled windows and skylights; motorized controls are used for the overhead blinds. They can be fully closed at times of direct solar radiation, or opened at a variety of tilt angles to admit a soft, diffuse light. (Top right) Vertical blinds can also be used with motorized controls for ease of adjustment in inaccessible locations. (Bottom left and right) Blinds can also be used to beam daylight deep into an interior by bouncing light off the ceiling. The illustration shown here of the Reflective Insulating Blind, developed by Hanna B. Shapira of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, demonstrates how the blinds work in the daytime and nighttime modes. In the former, the reflective-surface slats are tilted to beam daylight to the ceiling (in this case, for passive solar heat storage); in the latter, the grooved slat edges allow an airtight closure for maximum insulation benefits at night.
...........Blinds used in this way can also be a boon to direct-gain Passiv solar buildings, where severe glarre and heat problems on south windows cause discomfort to people in the buildings, and where use of the floor as thermal mass is hampered by placement of furniture.
It was precisely these problems that prompted a new development in blind design. Hanna B. Shapira, a research architect at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, developed, with the aid of analyses by Paul Barnes, a blind that has a concave reflective surface and an insulated slat. Known as the Reflective Insulating Blind, it can beam daylight to the ceiling, and its grooved slat edges create an airtight closure for night window insulation. The blinds will be made of a rigid plastic to which a metallized film can be applied. Shapira states that in the Oak Ridge area, RIB can save about 80 kWhr per sq. m of window for a heating season simply by reducing heat loss. Shapira hopes to see this multi-talented blind in production within the next year...."
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