Detail showing fabric folds

Detail of bottom corner of blind

This is the reverse (window) side of the blind, showing bottom edge cord loops, gliders & clear polycarbonate track.

Top corner of blind

This is the reverse (window) side of the blind, showing top edge velcro fixing, gliders & clear polycarbonate track.

Bottom corner of blind

Showing the relationship between blind & track.

Edge detail

Please email for technical drawings & fitting instructions.

The UK has a glorious range of beautiful and protected old buildings, many of which are difficult to heat. The target for C02 reductions in the UK are ambitious and organizations such as the National Trust are beginning to identify a strategy to deal with heat loss & energy efficiency in their buildings.

Listing currently protects 500,000 or so buildings. Many of these have windows which cannot be altered and HeatSaver thermal blinds may be a good solution to some of the heat loss and thermal comfort issues. Katy has worked as a Conservation Officer in local government and also as a Conservation Architectural Assistant working on Listed Buildings, churches and houses. She has a clear understanding of the needs of not only the buildings but also the conservation officers, and can offer practical assistance with solutions for your problematic old building.

Why is a building Listed?

Listing is not meant to fossilise a building. Its long-term interests are often best served by putting it to good use. If this cannot be the one it was designed for, a new use may have to be found. Listing ensures that the architectural and historic interest of the building is carefully considered before any alterations, either outside or inside, are agreed.

How are buildings chosen?

Buildings can be listed because of age, rarity, architectural merit, and method of construction. Occasionally English Heritage selects a building because the building has played a part in the life of a famous person, or as the scene for an important event. An interesting group of buildings – such as a model village or a square – may also be listed.

The older a building is, the more likely it is to be listed. All buildings built before 1700 which survive in anything like their original condition are listed, as are most built between 1700 and 1840. After that date, the criteria become tighter with time, so that post-1945 buildings have to be exceptionally important to be listed.

How can HeatSaver roman blinds help with difficult buildings?

Blinds are treated as window dressings rather than ‘alterations’ and therefore fitting them will not entail complicated, time-consuming & possibly expensive applications for Conservation Area consent or Listed Buildings consent. It is often extremely difficult to get consent for double glazing in old buildings. Our blinds need a reveal of only 30mm for fixing, and the clear channel fixes with simple self-tapping screws at approximately 30cm spacings. The headrail at the top of the blind is usually 18mm x 32mm and fixed with three or four screws. So you can be sure of minimal damage to your window frames. Although it is sometimes possible to fit double glazing in old windows, our blinds give a simple alternative, more like the traditional shutter solution.

Our display text from Kevin

A surprise email arrived in my in-box from Kevin McCloud in mid March 2010.

… You may have heard of Grand Designs Live, the exhibition that runs for nine days every Spring at Excel in London and which reflects the values of the television series.  We attract over 100,000 visitors, host over 500 exhibitors, run a packed seminar series and show finished houses and examples of new, sustainable construction.

I’m delighted to say that this year we are ramping up the ecological side even more.  One new event,  which has been monikered ‘Kevin’s Green Heroes‘,  is an exhibition, running up the central aisle, of ten products and ideas that are on the market but which have not yet received the recognition they deserve.

…  I would very much like your insulated blinds to be included this year and I’m hoping you’ll allow them to be shown.

Last week I got confirmation, what a fantastic opportunity! Today I’m putting together a frame to hold the sample blind I have.

From the Grand Designs Live website;

Kevin McCloud has personally chosen ten products or inventions that he feels deserve wider recognition. Some of these left-field ideas may not have hit the high street yet and some are already on a high street  but are some of the best-kept green secrets around! We’re hoping that Grand Designs Live will give them some wider exposure  and raise awareness of the environmental issues that prompted their invention.

Kevin’s Green Heroes will be situated in the Design Arcade, the main avenue towards the seminar theatre.  Each of the ten products will be on display for you to see.

So, hope to see you there! 1^st – 9^th May 2010, Excel London, you will find us at the end of the Design Arcade nearest to the Grand Village.

Grand Design TV Shows

Kevin’s ‘Slumming It’ show

More about Kevin

Q&A from Grand Designs Live

1)             What makes this product so environmentally friendly?

Windows are one of the major sources of heat loss and CO2 emissions from any building. Alongside draught-stripping & loft insulation these thermal roman blinds reduce heat loss and energy bills and reduce your carbon footprint.

2)             What are the benefits of this product to individual users over other products?

There are no equivalent products to our knowledge in the UK. Most blinds claiming to have thermal properties only have a single layer of fabric and do not seal to the window frame. The combination of reflective layers (Mylar is a ‘space blanket’) & a thermal core (as used in thermal gloves) is unique to HeatSaver Shades.

3)             What/who inspired you to design this product?

The blinds were designed in the US as a result of the oil crisis in the 70’s. As oil prices reduced they went out of production but the business has recently been revived as climate change & peak oil issues become well understood.

4)             What developments do you have in mind for this product?

We aim to set up a UK manufacturing business to avoid shipping & import costs and to reduce the cost of the blinds to customers. The National Physics Lab will be performing a hot-box test on the blinds in summer 2010 to verify the thermal performance. 42 blinds are to be fitted in five properties as part of the government sponsored ‘Retrofit fir the Future’ project. The homes will be monitored for two years by the Energy Saving Trust to test performance.

UPDATE:
The frame & curtains are finished, many thanks to Nick Reynolds, for use of his workshop & Camilla Gavin (01373 813429) for making up the curtains. I’ve sorted out the samples & cards, now all I need is the amazing pole ends from Sarah Hewett & I think we’re ready to roll!

Camilla finishes the curtains

LATEST UPDATE FROM GDL

The Show is huge & there are some great talks & inspiring ideas. The display for the Green Heroes looks amazing & we have hundreds walking past.

HeatSaver display on the left

Good interest in the stand at Grand Designs Live

More images on our Facebook page.

My daughters video of the event.

The hot box at NPL (photo by NPL)

In 2009, HeatSaver Shades in the US had been liaising for some time with Dr Lo, discussing testing methodology, before his move to Bath University from Ulster. This partnership in particular sparked Katy’s interest in the business, as her links with Bath University went back some years. The TSB Retrofit project includes for hot-box testing at the National Physics Lab which will give us empirical data to establish likely fuel savings and pay-back periods for the blinds. Steve Lo is working with us on a joint journal paper using these results.

We quickly identified the TSB funding as a possible opportunity to gain a foothold in the UK market. In May 2009 we visited the virtual green expo organised by Sustainability Now.  This annual event takes place online and is free to attend. You can interact with exhibitor booths on the show floor, watch the conference programme in the auditorium, connect with visitors in the lounge and download relevant information into your virtual briefcase – and it can save you the cost of time and travel.

We met Mark Elton of ECD Architects at their booth & found they were in the process of identifying properties suitable for the TSB retrofit competition with various RSL partners (registered social landlords such as Housing Associations). Over discussion the blinds were incorporated in some of the refurbishment projects that ECD were eventually successful with. They will start from May to July 2010 & the contract on each home will take approximately 12 weeks.

First of the retrofit projects (photo ECD Architects)

The retrofit prototypes will each receive around £142,000 to demonstrate deep cuts in carbon emissions and exemplar energy efficient measures in UK social housing. The level of funding is specifically designed to stimulate the implementation of innovative, proof of concept demonstrator houses that may offer cost effective solutions for wider role out across the UK. Competition to participate was tough, with around 190 proposals submitted to the Technology Strategy Board after the Phase One feasibility studies. It is intended that the principles established by Retrofit for the Future prototypes can be applied throughout the country and that social housing will continue to take a lead role in terms of energy reduction and CO2 mitigation.

The Retrofit for the Future projects will also monitored for at least two years by the Energy Saving Trust with the results published by the Government-backed Technology Strategy Board in due course.

Mark Elton, Associate Director at ECD Architects says: “The targets set by the competition are very demanding, particularly so where the architectural appearance is sensitive. Our various retrofit packages aim to preserve each property’s heritage or architectural quality whilst greatly reducing space heating needs and meeting energy demands through greater efficiency and on-site generation.”

This is an exciting prospect for HeatSaver Shades UK, getting involving in an innovative initiative of national importance and testing that the blinds work well under rigorous scrutiny.

Projects are;

1. Prince Rupert Street – Retrofit & Replicate II: Progress, Hyde Housing Association (photo)
2. City West Homes’ retrofit, City West Homes Ltd
3. 1960s Terraced 2 bed property in NE London, Enfield Homes
4. Gaymer Memorial Cottages, Hastoe Housing Association
5. Adelaide Waters Almshouses, Cambridge Housing Society

The ‘Retrofit for the future’ Competition was launched by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) in March 2009 and has been delivered in two phases.  Phase 2, the build phase, sees 86 projects awarded contracts to build ‘demonstrator’ houses in 2010 with £13.5 million funding, £7 million of which was supplied by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ Strategic Investment Fund.

The Technology Strategy Board was established by the Government. Its mission is to promote and support research into, and development and exploitation of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK business, in order to increase economic growth and improve quality of life.

Read Kevins’ comments on the Green Fair here.

Giving a talk in Second Life

Katy had been involved in super-insulated homes built in the 1980’s, when working for Feilden Clegg Design, where roller blinds were velcroed to window frames, and she has been searching for a better version of this idea ever since. She agreed to be the first UK distributor of the blinds and has subsequently had success in five ‘Retrofit for the Future’ projects working with ECD architects, due on site this summer, a project sponsored by the Technology Strategy Board. She is organizing hot-box testing at the National Physics Laboratory to establish U-values for the blinds and is writing a journal paper with Dr Steve Lo of Bath University on the results.

The business is based in Frome, Somerset where Katy is also a Director of Sustainable Frome, a Transition Town. The US business is based in Calumnet City, Chicago.