Receiving LEED Certification For Your Commercial Awning

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or  LEED , is an internationally-recognized building certification program of the U.S. Green Building Council. There are different levels of  LEED  certification, based on a point system. Points are awarded for interior building performance factors but also for how your building performs on the outside. A commercial awning addresses both.

LEED  certification covers design, construction , operations and maintenance. You can become  LEED-conscious  and work to get your project officially certified, whether you’re renovating an historic old-timer or your building is still on the architect’s drawing board. Your commercial awning cannot be  LEED  certified by itself, but it can add points to your project’s total.

A commercial awning can help you meet the first three of these five performance metrics:

  • Energy savings.
  • Improved indoor environmental quality.
  • Stewardship.
  • Water efficiency.
  • Reduced CO2 emissions.

A commercial awning boosts interior points.

Fabric awnings can help reduce solar heat gain indoors and optimize warm-weather energy performance. They protect furnishings, floors and carpets from fading and deterioration caused by ultraviolet light, and protect humans in the same way.

Glass doors and windows are the single-worst offenders when it comes to a building’s energy loss. Solar radiation that comes in through glass accounts for about 20% of your air conditioning load. The American Society of Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers conducted exhaustive nationwide studies that showed a fabric commercial awning that shades a south-facing window can reduce heat gain from 55-65% during the day’s most direct sunlight. On west-facing windows, that rises to 72-77%.

You could use window films or lightly tinted glass to reduce solar gain, but a commercial awning accomplishes the same thing while saving far more energy. Window films and tinting impede your view, too.

It’s easy to see how you could save energy and money by adding a commercial awning that shades your windows and doorways.

A commercial awning boosts exterior points.

The Green Building Council requires 50% of the  hardscape  associated with a building to provide relief from heat in one of three ways:

  • Shade.
  • Paved areas with a solar reflective index of 29 or higher.
  • Open grid pavement.

A commercial awning is an attractive, affordable and highly effective way to increase shade and reduce solar reflective index. That index number – also called the heat island effect — is something that’s a particularly significant problem in urban areas such as NYC where  “hardscape”  is the predominant surface. You can literally feel the heat emanating from walls and the sidewalk.

Making  LEED-smart  choices for your commercial awning.

How well your awning performs will depend on its style as well as the fabric color. Obviously, you’ll need more protection for the hottest southern and western exposures than for east- or north-facing windows.

The shape of your commercial awning also affects heat build-up underneath. For some applications, a “boxed” shape with end caps is a better idea, whereas in other instances an open-end sheet-style fabric covering will work best. White and light colors absorb less heat than darker colors, something you’ll want to consider to keep patrons comfortable if your commercial awning is covering outdoor eating or gathering areas.

Retractable awnings can provide year-round value by allowing more solar heat to enter during the winter, when you want it, while blocking the heat and glare in the summer. With today’s electronic sensor-based controls, you can even design a commercial awning that opens or retracts as the sun changes position during the day.

A commercial awning is an outstanding addition to any building project, because it improves appearance, controls sunlight and provides shelter for your office or retail space or outdoor patrons. That’s a lot of return for a comparatively small investment.

You won’t get  LEED  points for looking sharp, but you’ll get plenty of style points from the public and your customers. And they’ll appreciate your efforts to be more sustainable, too.

Commercial Awnings

 

Photo Credit: @ethomsen  via Flickr.