Environmental and LEED Certification Information

As the construction industry continues to develop sustainable and green building standards on environmental objectives, Springs Window Fashions will continue to design and engineer products to meet these goals. Commercial window treatments manufactured by Springs Window Fashions contribute to "green movement" objectives in a number of ways and can help you obtain points for LEED certification.

Environmental Control

Shading Coefficient (SC) and Thermal Transmittance
Springs Window Fashions window treatments help reduce energy used in cooling and heating buildings. They accomplish this by improving the Shading Coefficient and reducing Thermal Transmittance.

Shading Coefficient (SC) is the most important criterion used in measuring the energy saving performance of a window treatment. The Shading Coefficient is the measure of solar heat gain when a shading device is used compared to solar heat gain through an unshaded window under the same conditions. The lower the SC, the better the shading ability or reduction of incoming solar radiation (heat) thus reducing the cooling cost.

Thermal Transmittance
Windows are high in thermal conductivity and can account for substantial heating losses. Cold weather night time heat losses can be especially severe. Springs Window Fashions commercial window treatment products reduce the thermal transmittance, helping to cut heating costs. Please see our guide Energy Conservation Properties of SWF commercial window treatments for details on the performance of our products in these areas.

Controlling Sunlight
Springs Window Fashions commercial window treatment products enhance the workspace environment by controlling glare and providing daylight. Our Bali perforated aluminum blinds especially excel in this area by reducing glare with the slats in the closed position, while still allowing an outdoor view through the slats. All of our commercial window treatments are designed for maximum flexibility in controlling sunlight while delivering dependable operations and clean and attractive aesthetics.

Recycled Materials

Springs Window Fashions focuses on using recycled materials wherever possible. For example, our metal horizontal blinds utilize approximately 42% post consumer recycled aluminum in our slats with additional post industrial recycled content added to each production run. For steel, the percentage of recycled materials is approximately 20%. Concerning the amount of aluminum and steel used in our Bali mini blinds on a percentage basis, on a 35" wide by 72" long blind, aluminum makes up approximately 40% and steel makes up approximately 60% of the weight.

Manufacturing Locations

Another area that should be noted in obtaining potential LEED points is using products manufactured within 500 miles of the construction site. Springs Window Fashions has manufacturing plants with shipping points of Montgomery, PA; McAllen, TX; San Diego, CA; Reno, NV and Middleton, WI. Please inquire as to which plants manufacture specific products for the 500 mile objective.