Green Homes Special Series: Part Nine: Window Treatments

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Hartmann & Forbes weave No. 02 Autumn Harvest is customized with a customer’s own trim. © Hartmann & Forbes From awnings, blinds and draperies to overhangs, shades and shutters, consumers have many options for window treatments. Careful selection can bring sound environmental benefits. Reasons for Window Treatments Window treatments are more than just decoration. Many are purposeful, says Bernadette Upton of Eco Décor out of North Palm Beach, Fla. Upton is a Florida licensed interior designer, lecturer and consultant specializing in environmental interior design, a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional (AP) with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Upton says the insulation and privacy factors of traverse draperies are the main reasons so many hotels use draperies for window treatments. In winter, they insulate against extremely cold temperatures, and in summer, they keep the high heat temperatures controlled. Window treatments also serve to control light coming through windows or skylights. That light can cause: direct or reflected glare on television and computer screens, some fabrics and artwork to fade, and thermal discomfort, says Professor Russ Leslie, associate director of the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. and a practicing architect. “These problems are magnified when direct sunlight enters the room.” Leslie notes in The Lighting Pattern Book for Homes, a book he co-authored, that daylight sources to keep in mind are the direct sun; the sky, which can diffuse the sun’s light; and surfaces surrounding a building that can reflect sun or skylight into the home.

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