How to get Shading Right Recent improvements to window
technology make substantial air conditioning energy savings
possible. However, shading remains a time-tested method to
accomplish the same end. Architectural and site shading can have
an even greater impact on reducing daily cooling use than
upgrading windows. Using both a prototype building and modeling
simulations, a study by our team at the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) evaluated the relative impacts of
different solar load control strategies. The study points the
way toward optimizing the interaction of various methods for
reducing solar heat gain. This is helpful,as the wide variety of
shading options currently available can make choosing an
effective solar load control strategy confusing (see Snapshots
of Shading Options,HE Sept/Oct '00,p.20). The prototype house
was built in 1998 in Tucson, Arizona, as part of the Department
of Energy's Building America program.Its integrated package of
energy-saving features includes structural insul