Awnings: an energy-saving idea sitting right over our noses
Added 2024-07-13 15:11:53 +0000 UTCThis may seem a bit out of left field, but I had one of those moments where I... connected something (sorry). Window awnings existed in my head purely as an old-fashioned ornamentation until suddenly I realized... wait. No, they block the sun! Why'd we stop using them? So I made this video.
As I say early on, this isn't me trying to say "let's install awnings, everyone!" but more of a "wait, we need better modeling and study to understand the impact these could have" because for some reason that's just not happening! And while I don't want to take credit for unearthing an old technique or anything, it does feel like these have been missing from the conversation.
The person who helped with the modelling wished to remain anonymous, but I think they'd be OK with me passing along that they, too, are surprised how this was memory holed. So I hope I can undo that!
I can't promise timing on captions today, but I'll paste in the script in a moment.
Comments
I live in Georgia, and I had family in middle Georgia where wind is non-existent and sun/heat and humidity are plentiful. The older homes have awnings. I always hated how dark their homes were. Less sunlight = less light.
Philip Doolittle
2024-07-30 04:07:50 +0000 UTCI have the awnings that can be rolled out, plus the shutters. The shutters get really warm in the high heat of the summer. The awnings do a good job, though. I now have a loooooot of plants (i do mean a lot. The whole window is covered in plants) by the window, and they work just as good or even slightly better than the shutters. The house I live in is kinda old, though, so that definitely plays a role in it. The awning is super nice! The balcony becomes a nice place to relax with the awning down. I also never had any issues with birds, hornets, wasps, etc in the awnings. Some spiders that tried to get away from the sun. My awnings are from fabric, so when wet, shouldn't be rolled up, or they will mould. And at the same time, when there is hail or a storm, the awning can tear. I am definitely on your team as a fan of awnings 🥳🥳 I live in Switzerland and awnings are still quite common here
Anina Shaorandra
2024-07-28 12:15:54 +0000 UTCHi, Just wanted to share with communicty, it's quite normal to have them in France, especially in the balcony. https://maps.app.goo.gl/MLSKqj5zEqDWoGqb9
Maciej Klemarczyk
2024-07-25 20:04:52 +0000 UTCI watched this video and noticed a house near mine that actually has awnings! They never registered before. Also, now I'm very tempted to install awnings on my south-facing windows. My electric bills are murdering me this summer. I live in Massachusetts and we have some of the highest rates in the country AND we had a big rate increase between last year and this year. I'm at very nearly 30 cents per kWh.
Circuitmike
2024-07-22 14:41:18 +0000 UTCI wonder if this video could be trimmed down to like 2 minutes with a number to find me a local installer of a awning. One that retracts, and maybe persuades me with a limited timed offer of 200 bucks. Nahh, impossible. Btw you should investigate exterior shutters. It's amazing to drive down any American town and city and see fake exterior shutters. Ones that pass the window stool and aren't even wide enough to close even if they were of proper length and weren't bolted to the brick or siding. There were even some in your video with awnings! It's one of the things that erk me to no end.
PiraTed
2024-07-22 05:37:49 +0000 UTCWait why are there ‘window awnings’ but also ‘awning windows’?!
Marat
2024-07-21 08:33:38 +0000 UTCOkay, so, ACCA Manual J is great and all, but have you (or anyone you're working with) taken a fuller approach with something like OpenStudio + EnergyPlus or something? Also, I dunno if this would be "news" to ya, but, in case it is: you can find a buuunch of information about contemporary window energy modeling principles in Chapter 15 "Fenestration" of the ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook, including its section "5.2 Fenestration Attachments" that looks at awnings and other sun shades. Unfortunately, you can't access ASHRAE's paid resources like the Fundamentals Handbook without shelling out a couple hundred dollars a year in membership fees. (Obviously, I would never suggest that you consult any of the illegal copies that you can easily find by googling "ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook pdf" that are usually 5 to 10 years out of date.)
Brodyjohn
2024-07-16 22:39:30 +0000 UTCPassive house architect with a structural design specialization. I’m going to go figure out the Discord which is a better talking place, but there are some structural issues with the classic awnings and how buildings are constructed in the modern era (for good reasons and bad reasons). They are the sorts of structural issues that can be solved with money, but high-volume home builders typically aren’t looking for invisible upgrades.
Rebecca P.
2024-07-16 01:43:36 +0000 UTCWhere I am in US South, many newer houses have Bermuda shutters on the outside and (fully boxed) plantation shutters on the inside. With the right windows, it's pretty nice. Also getting popular are the flat awnings with vanes that are angled to block the sun during the most intense hours and allow light the rest of the time. They're fun to order: you have to give the mfg latitude and azimuth of installation.
Darren Pierce
2024-07-15 17:42:47 +0000 UTCSo for the roller shutters, the ones I have experienced are a hollow oval shape. This seems to function as an extra pocket of air when they are completely shut. At those times it’s like having a couple extra pains of glass trapping air. I would say they do a good job blocking that extra heat but are likely not quite as effective as it never hitting the window.
Greg Smith
2024-07-15 17:23:53 +0000 UTCjust went on streetview and noticed the new owners have removed them :/
Frans Wilbrink
2024-07-15 12:12:37 +0000 UTCthat would be roller blinds I would say, awnings are wind catchers.. we always had to close ours at night just in case the wind would pick up..
Frans Wilbrink
2024-07-15 12:10:12 +0000 UTCin the house I grew up in (in the Netherlands) we didnt have airco, but we did have awnings.. kept it nice and cool in summer :)
Frans Wilbrink
2024-07-15 12:05:37 +0000 UTCHear, hear! Nice video. One bit of anecdata to help your fashion argument: I live in a Vietnam-era (read: cheaply made, with crappier materials) single-family home in coastalish San Diego. Hired a crew to repaint the exterior a few years ago, and they were legitimately surprised when we asked them to please put the 1967 aluminum awnings shading all the west-facing windows back after they were done. Apparently just about everyone else wants them gone.
cstone
2024-07-15 05:23:12 +0000 UTCThe Department of Energy has built an amazing building energy analysis package, EnergyPlus, which has all the math and physics built into it to do the calls. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=60lmAnY81ds. You might reach out to the project lead at NREL if you want to learn more.
Nick Gully
2024-07-15 01:07:21 +0000 UTCPeeking out the window right now I see at least four. These are the fancy ones, other people just use shutters. Obligatory europosting though, specifically Portugal. Also we had an awning in a rental unit in Italy a couple weeks ago so yeah, people use them.
naorunaoru
2024-07-14 17:59:04 +0000 UTCI can't wait for the inevitable part 2 and 3 of this series.
Rob Maehl
2024-07-13 22:00:06 +0000 UTCyou gave me the inspiration for the end-of-outtakes captions gag, so thank you
Technology Connections
2024-07-13 21:02:11 +0000 UTCYup, plus here in Florida they're extra useful for the reasons Alex gives.
Crash Cash
2024-07-13 20:33:35 +0000 UTCThis reminds me of my freshman year in engineering school, September 1979. We were split into groups and tasked with finding the best workable method for saving energy in our school building. After weeks of consulting books of R value tables for different innovative ideas we all contributed, we finally realized the best cost efficient solution was Venetian blinds.
Jeff Robelen
2024-07-13 20:23:06 +0000 UTCIn hurricane prone areas, aluminum awnings can be lowered to protect the window.
Kirby Kirby
2024-07-13 18:25:43 +0000 UTCAnother building technique that helps both heating AND cooling are basements. Many places (I'm looking at you Arizona) don't use them.
Mike Bird
2024-07-13 17:23:11 +0000 UTCI think that's likely, and I think that nice, colorful window awnings would be an easy way to spice up those otherwise bland boxes!
Technology Connections
2024-07-13 17:09:49 +0000 UTCI wonder if awnings are another victim of the current (horrible IMO) design trend of making everything dull and minimialist in the name of "being clean." Every new condo building and 5-over-1 that gets built where I live looks like it was a copy/pasted design: boxy with no personality and the same rectangular window styles with no coverings.
Michael Dunn
2024-07-13 17:05:26 +0000 UTCThis seems similar to the covered wrap-around porch effect.
WildMartin
2024-07-13 16:54:59 +0000 UTCI see your point, but I'm still 50/50 on its importance to the broader discussion. Awnings probably will have a bigger bang-for-buck in places like Florida, Arizona, and Texas, and those are the places where solar heat gain at any time of the year is unwelcome. What I think I'll do now is monitor how the comments respond to this - I did leave in "we can use a window best-suited for winter heat gains and then just block the sun from hitting it in the summer with an awning" so the thought's in there, just not necessarily on positioning the awning. If it seems that a lot of people are missing that part or confused by it, I'll make a follow-up.
Technology Connections
2024-07-13 16:53:27 +0000 UTCThank you for giving me this high school stoner epiphany moment: “Hats are awnings for your face.”
neuracnu
2024-07-13 16:52:36 +0000 UTCBy the way: something else that would also be interesting to investigate, I don't know if you also see that in the US: these outside "Luxaflex" shutters. We have them at work, and I really like them, as you can quite simply regulate the amount of sunlight coming through, and completely block direct sunlight. As they are mostly made of bare aluminium, they just reflect the sunlight away, and normally, they don't completely block the airflow. Disadvantage (like the rolling fabric awnings) is that they are weather-sensitive, usually, home owners require you to keep them up if heavy weather is coming... There is also a variety that does not have this problem: those that are installed in-between the glass planes of double/triple glass. They were also used in the first Dutch and Swiss TEE trains, you could control them as passenger ;-).
MrHammond
2024-07-13 16:51:03 +0000 UTCNeuter the HOA! Where's my scalpel? My inner-ring Cleveland suburb still has a lot of homes that have awnings. I've been wanting one for the sliding glass door that leads out from the kitchen to the backyard. It faces west and things get obscenely hot in the late afternoon into evening where cooking dinner becomes loathsome.
Alice Wonderchek
2024-07-13 16:50:52 +0000 UTCYeah, but it doesn’t explain why overhangs allow heating in the winter. Missed opportunity IMO
Ahmad Rahmati
2024-07-13 16:47:55 +0000 UTCI'm building a passive house in Seattle, and sun modeling was one of the first things we did in the design phase. To improve performance, we added deeper eaves on the 2nd floor, and (fixed) awnings onto the first floor on the south facing. They are modeled so that they block sun in the summer, but still let it sun into the large windows to heat the house in the winter.
Nick
2024-07-13 16:41:22 +0000 UTCI'm in my last 3 months in an old city-suburb apartment in Switzerland, and I can totally agree with you: - all windows have dark brown classic window blinds, they block a lot of light (it's too dark to be comfortable, you need to turn on lights if they're all closed), and indeed: the windows get very hot on a sunny summer day - my previous apartment had those (what you call "fancy") aluminium rolling shutters, dark green, the same there: the windows got terribly hot. Before, it had wooden rolling shutters, where you could put out the bottom half like some kind of an awning, it used to be a bit better, unfortunately the wood was decaying and they needed to be replaced... - I tried using just dark inside curtains, it's even getting hotter when the blinds are open... - on my south-facing balcony, I have a fabric rolling awning, and indeed: it's the best in blocking the heath!!! And providing comfortable lighting! And keeping some outside view! I wish all other south- and west-facing windows would also have awnings... But too late, I'm moving out here anyway soon, to a fancy, modern "Minergie" apartment 😈
MrHammond
2024-07-13 16:35:52 +0000 UTCAddendum, though - I will pin a comment to explain this. I had this explanation in an earlier draft but it was deleted, and its remnants are there but not sufficiently explained (the "that's a lot of work" bit compared to an awning - alluded to the overhang being tailored to sun angles but didn't make it explicit).
Technology Connections
2024-07-13 16:29:35 +0000 UTCSir, that’s your best video of the last years and I‘m 5 minutes in. I‘m happy you absolutely lost the semi depressed mood. Back to watching.
Denis Malolepszy
2024-07-13 16:16:52 +0000 UTCYou're correct that I didn't mention this directly (mostly it just came up in the home design discussion) but that was actually intentional. I felt I was focusing too much on the summer/winter scenario and not enough on the fact that awnings would be useful even in heat-dominant climates. Add to this the fact that awnings could be adjusted or removed, and explaining the sun angle angle felt like a distraction from the broader point of "awnings easy, awnings good"
Technology Connections
2024-07-13 16:13:46 +0000 UTCA point that was unfortunately missed in the presentation (at least in direct form, but I’m sure you and the model were aware of) is that the sun is more vertical in the summer. Hence, an overhang that can completely shade a window in the summer will let a good portion of the sun in during the winter
Ahmad Rahmati
2024-07-13 16:08:19 +0000 UTCIt adds character 💅
Noah
2024-07-13 15:46:21 +0000 UTClol-I caught the Willy Wonka line! I think you nailed it-awnings and their benefits have been forgotten. This is a great idea to revive them!
Markintosh
2024-07-13 15:41:50 +0000 UTCWashington DC still has tons of these! you can tell when someone new to town moves in, because they always remodel and remove them 😭
Lomky
2024-07-13 15:33:09 +0000 UTCIt’s been in the 90s for two weeks now, and my cat loves lying on the floor between the glass sliding door and the full length curtains that try to keep the heat out. Cats right? Go figure.
Max Goldstein
2024-07-13 15:24:40 +0000 UTCI have been trying to come up with a design for awnings on my one south facing wall with no tree cover!
Will Josephson
2024-07-13 15:17:22 +0000 UTCWell, it's not intentional! But I'll keep it!
Technology Connections
2024-07-13 15:15:41 +0000 UTCIs that a cheeky Windows pointer in the bottom left?
Noah
2024-07-13 15:15:00 +0000 UTCMy childhood neighbors had awnings on their windows and didn't bother with air-conditioning until much later than everyone else in the neighborhood
Quixylvre
2024-07-13 15:13:56 +0000 UTC
