Bioclimatic Façades - responds to the extremes of external environmental conditions by controlling heat loss and gain, managing daylight and enhancing the quality of the indoor environment.
Daylight Management
Maximise use of natural daylight to ensure greater visual comfort, reduce the need for artificial lighting, lowering energy consumption and operating costs.
Heating and cooling strategies
Dynamic Insulation™ provides better control of thermal exchanges, enhancing energy efficiency and maintaining thermal comfort.
Natural Ventilation
Naturally ventilated buildings with automated windows and night cooling, significantly reduce the need for additional cooling and improve air quality. Creating a healthier, more productive working environment.
Somfy provide blind and shading control solutions for single zone or multi zone applications.
Facade management systems
Somfy offers a range of solutions for the centralised management of solar shading and window opening devices within a commercial building environment.
Local controls
Somfy offers a comprehensive range of control devices that enable building occupants to manage shades and other facade applications from their local working or living environment.
Motorisation
Somfy offers a comprehensive range of motors for a variety of solar shading and facade applications. Click on the relevant application below to find a suitable solution.
Somfy provide Home Automation solutions for single zone or multi zone applications.
Home Automation
Local controls
Somfy offers a wide range of controls and automatic devices.
Motorisation
Somfy offers a range of solutions for automated solar shading and security applications in and around the home.
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Daylight management
Research has proven that people are more productive in a well lit room, especially when lit with daylight. Daylight intake should be maximised, controlled and supplemented with artificial light to optimise building performance and provide comfort. Studies have also shown the benefits of natural lighting in a school environment, where pupils grades have improved.
Artificial lighting can amount to 35% of a commercial building's energy costs! -maximising the use natural daylight and eliminating the need for artificial light can help significantly reduce these costs.
A key parameter: the light transmission coefficient (LT).
The ratio of visible light transmitted into a room through the glazing. The higher the ratio, the greater the natural light intake will be resulting in lower demand for artificial lighting during the daytime. Automated shading devices allow for dynamic LT ratio.
Architectural solutions for maximising daylight intake
The size of openings and type of glazing will determine the amount of light transferred and radiated into the building. Openings must be wide enough to allow sunlight to penetrate the room. Transparent glazing, as opposed to tinted varieties, guarantees better quality lighting.
To maximise day light intake and eliminate the problems associated with solar heat gain and glare, adjustable shading devices should be installed and effectively controlled.
1- Impact of shading on visual comfort in a working environment
A day at the office...
without solar protection with solar protection
Source: Luxys, software developed by Somfy in collaboration with the CSTB and l'ENTPE (France).
A range of Somfy solutions feature Suntracking functions to position shades and Venetian blind slats according to sun position.
Optimal use of shading devices
In order for solar shading to perform effectively automation is essential. Manual systems do not allow for optimal use of shading because they do not adapt to the needs of the building. Manual systems require operation from users throughout the day which is not always possible. In order for shading to be effective it should be automatically controlled, responding to changes in temperature, light levels, occupancy and time of day. This ensures occupants are protected from solar gain and glare in a comfortable working environment and the need for additional cooling is eliminated.
To optimise building performance solar shading should be effectively controlled and linked to timers and climate sensors, especially when a building is unoccupied