Energy Efficiency

Breezway Louver Windows are an energy efficient way to control natural light and fresh air into your home or office environment.

Energy Efficient Breezway Louver Windows

At Breezway, we believe buildings should be designed to work with nature, rather than sealing up and fighting against it. Breezway Louver Windows allow air conditioning and artificial lights to be turned off so you can live naturally. View the energy video below to learn more.

Breezway Louver Windows offer the following benefits including:

  • Increased energy efficiency, health and productivity of building occupants.
  • Reduced need for air conditioning to keep the room at a comfortable temperature, saving electricity and the running costs of a building.
  • Low U-values required for energy efficiency compliance/excellence.

To learn more about the benefits of natural ventilation, Breezway has produced a number of Technical Bulletins to assist with your building designs. These include:

Fixed WindowFixed Window

0% Fresh air

Awning WindowAwning Window

12% to 30% Fresh air depending on wind direction

Sliding WindowSliding Window

40% Maximum fresh air

Altair Louvre WindowsAltair Louvre Windows

90% Fresh air regardless of wind direction

Cross Flow Ventilation

The importance of window placement.

Houses with good ventilationGood

Houses with better ventilationBetter

Houses with the best ventilationBest

Houses with excellent ventilationExcellent

Internal Ventilation

Ventilation openings are often needed in internal walls. Ventilation openings in internal walls are great for internal ventilation The drawing above illustrates how a ventilation louver between rooms is more efficient than just having external louver windows alone.

Thermal Chimney Effect

Installing windows up high. Installing windows up high create a Thermal Chimney Effect Another good way to naturally cool a room is to place some Altair Powerlouver Windows up high. This is effective because rising hot air is able to escape the room through the high up louvers, helping to keep the room cool.

Solar Control

Tinted glass

A variety of energy efficient glazing options is available to meet local requirements. For example, in hot climates tinted glass blades or wood blades reduce the amount of hot sunlight that enters a building. In mixed and heating climates, the improved insulating properties of low e glass blades offer thermal performance comparable to clear double glazing.

All windows can use tinted glass to reduce the solar heat gained (SHGC) through windows. A low SHGC indicates that less solar heat is gained through a window, and this is desirable in hot climates and on western orientations. A high SHGC indicates that more solar heat is gained through a window and is desirable in colder climates and on northern orientations.

Altair Louvre Windows can:

  • Achieve a low Solar Heat Gain Coefficient when using glass blades (E.g. Tinted glass blades help reduce solar heat gain).
  • Achieve very little Solar Heat gain by using wood or aluminum louver blades to completely block out the sunlight while still allowing maximum ventilation through the window.

solar control

Sealing

Altair Louvers seal tight

The last thing you want is windows that don’t seal tight and let in rain or draughts. Altair Louver Windows provide tight sealing due to:

  • The living hinge design that resists water and air penetration between the clips and the channels.
  • An over center locking mechanism which applies strong locking pressure to blades when fully closed.

Altair Louvres seal tight

The living hinge and clip design of the Altair Louver pulls the clips tightly against the channel when the window is closed to prevent air leakage and to help it to seal significantly better than the standard required for residential windows.

Insulation

U-value ratings

U-values are the measure of the thermal conductivity of the window. That is, if there is a temperature difference between the air on either side of a window, it measures how quickly heat will pass through the window.

Low U-values allow heat to be transferred through the window slowly, and a high U-value indicates that heat is transferred quickly. The greater the difference between the desired indoor temperature and the outdoor temperature, the more important U-values are. In temperate climates where the outdoor temperatures are seldom extremely hot or extremely cold, the U-value is relatively unimportant.

Altair Louver Windows can achieve rather low U-values when using tinted glass blades.


breezway louvres in bedroom

While double glazing can give lower U-values than monolithic glass with a low e coating, in many cases double glazed windows have higher (worse) U-values than monolithic glass with a low e coating. Double glazed windows may be more energy efficient however it takes twice as much raw materials to produce and are heavier in weight which means more energy is required to ship and handle the product. To learn more please read the Breezway Technical Bulletin on Dispelling the Double Glazing Myths here.