JHU Commercial Window Film Case Study – Baltimore Maryland
What started out as a student research project to reduce the amount of solar energy entering the Levering Hall Glass Pavilion at JHU, quickly turned into one of the University’s biggest implemented energy saving measures. The addition of Commercial Window Film to Johns Hopkins University has led to a string of future window film projects with the University and opened eyes to the power of window film for the JHU community.
Check out the video of our case study created by our sister company AP Media!
Assessing the Issue
Students of the Sustainable Hopkins Infrastructure Program (SHIP) at JHU got together with Energy Manager, Ed Kirk, and Program Coordinator, Ashley Pennington, to access and execute a plan to reduce energy waste. The main goal of this particular project was to reduce the amount of solar energy entering the building in order to further reduce cooling costs.
“There’s got to be a better way…”
The initial approach was the addition of blinds to the building. Eventually, it came to light that the blind weren’t cutting it. Ed Kirk went on to explain, “most of the time the blinds were down, or some were up and some were down. So, aesthetically if you walked into this space, it wasn’t a very pretty space, and architecturally it was always meant to be.”
To everyone at JHU, keeping the original design of the Glass Pavilion was really important. The building, also referred to as “the glass p,” should always look just that way – not “the shaded p.” This made the film selection process very specific. The team didn’t want to choose a film that appeared too mirror-like, but they wanted a film that rejected enough solar energy. With the help of CEO and window film expert, Bill Valway, SHIP and the Office of Sustainability chose a Vista Window Film for the Glass Pavilion project.
Reaping the Rewards
With an $18,578 Window Film Rebate from BGE and projected energy savings, JHU had a payback period of less than 2 years!
Note: “Simple Payback” does not include the BGE Window Film Rebate.
The Big Picture
SHIP and the Office of Sustainability hope to reduce the CO2 emissions by 50% by 2015. After working with Absolute Perfection, JHU plans to further improve energy savings through window film treatment. The team at Absolute Perfection hopes to increase awareness of the impact window film has on energy savings through projects similar to the JHU Glass Pavilion project. Working one on one with the students and staff gave us a chance to spread our knowledge and the behind the scenes side of window film that most people never see.
Window Film isn’t just for looks; it’s a solution to energy waste. If you want to learn more about the project and what SHIP does, check out the JHU Newsletter.
Are you interested in reducing energy costs for your commercial building? Give us a call or contact us online today! AP Tinting does FREE building energy audits to qualify commercial businesses for energy rebates. Don’t forget to ask an AP representative about energy audits!