Shutters are currently on trend. They are an easy way to enhance your home and ultimately the saleability factor of your property. However they are quickly being recognised as a unique method of controlling light in your home, with the added bonus of having a low carbon footprint both in manufacture and ongoing costs. You may think that this is stating the obvious, but controlling the light/sunshine entering a room with shutters has far more reaching benefits. Not only for your investment in bricks and mortar but also for your utilities bill and more importantly and often forgotten the environment.   

Ideas from the Gods

As much as the idea of shutters is very in and hip at the moment - It would be easy for shutter companies to take credit for their recent popularity surge, but alas that would be a mistruth. It would suffice to say that shutters have been around for thousands of years.

It is commonly believed that shutters were first used in ancient Greece in order to provide light control, ventilation and protection in that tropical environment. Those first shutters were likely constructed with fixed louvers made out of marble. Eventually the concept of shutters spread throughout the Mediterranean, and their form began to change. Wood started to replace marble as a more suitable material for production, and designers started developing movable louver shutters to allow varying amounts of light and air into a room

Conventional Cooling

Architects create the demand for bigger, higher and grander buildings. Subsequently this has increased the use of glass and transparent materials in the most complex to the very basic building projects all over the world. Conventionally the easiest and most common method to control the internal temperature is by air conditioning or climate control that are based on heat exchangers and driven by electricity, Electricity that is produced predominantly by gas, coal and wood burning power stations which have the highest ratios in the Carbon Footprint race.

Alternative Cooling - Controlling Light

The main points to remember are rather obvious to most people, but are often overlooked in the search for a practical way of controlling the temperature in your building

Sunshine = heat.
Therefore control the sunshine and you control the heat.

Shutters sourced from sustainable forests are providing an effective method of controlling the temperature indoors without the need for ongoing energy supplies – i.e. electricity and gas exchangers.

Sustainable and Recyclable

When sustainable wood sources that comply with the FSC ( Forest Stewardship Council) guidelines  are used for the production of shutters ( as most of the major manufacturers do ) it makes them one of the most viable, cost effective and environmentally friendly methods of solar control. Properly constructed shutters will last for many years but even if they have passed their best by date or fall out of favor they can be recycled and be fed back into the wood chain.

The initial cost of properly constructed shutters made from quality wood can be inhibitive when viewed on the short term, especially when compared to conventional cooling methods and such like. However when viewed on the long term in energy savings and in light of ever changing climate change, shutters are a strong contender and alternative.

Sustainable Wood Sources FSC Forest Stewardship Council

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) guidelines are now being adopted by governments and politician’s alike. Lord Mayor of London Ken Livingston joined forces with FSC and agreed to follow and enforce the FSC guidelines at press conference in 2006.

FSC is an international network to promote responsible management of the world's forests. FSC brings people together to find solutions to the problems created by bad forestry practices and to reward good forest management. Through consultative processes, it sets international standards for responsible forest management. Its trademark provides international recognition to organisations that support the growth of responsible forest management.

The FSC product label allows consumers worldwide to recognise products that support the growth of responsible forest management worldwide. Over the past 10 years, over 73 million hectares in 73 countries have been certified according to FSC standards while several thousand products are produced using FSC certified wood and carrying the FSC trademark. FSC operates through its network of National Initiatives in 35 countries. For more, visit www.fsc.org/en/about.

Author – Annette Wilson
Shutters Direct
Raadhuisstraat 63
4701 PM Roosendaal
The Netherlands
Telephone: 0031 165 392066
Email: webmaster@shuttersdirect.nl

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