A major Pittsburgh bank hi-rise building faced directly south and without any other buildings
blocking the view, ate up the afternoon sun from noon to well beyond quitting time. Each floor
contained many 10' x 8' plate glass windows. When they turned on the full air-conditioning
force in the late morning just to try to maintain some coolness, the inner offices were too
cool for comfort. At our suggestion, the bank took two side by side offices of one window each
and shut them down for several days. SunShield applied our sun control film to one of the
offices. We then provided recording thermometers.
Result: The difference in the two room temperatures was so significant that the bank authorized
SunShield to install our film on the entire southern exposure of the building.
A major hospital in the Pittsburgh area had recently remodeled and installed gray Solartint
glass in the entire hospital. Solartint glass windows are a fairly effective sun energy reducer.
During the first two winters, there were ongoing and numerous complaints that visitors to
patients rooms were experiencing cold drafts on their feet. Since the windows were in a fixed
position and could not be opened, it presented quite a mystery. The plant engineer decided to
call in SunShield, the energy consultants. We found that heat was being blown across the rooms
at the ceiling level toward the windows. The theory is that the glass would be cold and in
effect the heat would 'catch' the coldness of the air before it could affect the room
temperature. In fact, what was happening was that when the warm air hit the ice-cold windows,
it chilled significantly and, as cold air does, it dropped to the floor. Since it was
continuously moving air, there was no other place for it to travel except across the floor
(and the visitors' feet) and thence out to the hallways. We applied a reverse strategy. We
suggested that we install sun control film on two of the already built-in Solartint windows.
Since the film ordinarily rejects the heat of the sun, so it would also return warm air back
into the room instead of the air that is significantly chilled by the ice cold window.
Result: The SunShield Pros were contracted to install their sun control film on every window
of the hospital.
A classy shoe emporium in Pittsburgh's East Hill's section carried a line of very expensive
alligator leather boots. They were concerned about the effects of the sun's ultra violet rays
on their window display of the boots. They didn't want any type of tinting on the window.
SunShield recommended that Clear 90 film be installed which would eliminate 99+% of the ultra
violet rays and yet be unnoticeable on the windows. Installation was completed on a Friday
afternoon. Saturday morning we received a call from the store management. They weren't sure
whether to laugh or cry about their newly treated window. It seems that about 4:30 Saturday
morning, one of the locals decided that he just had to have those alligator boots. He
apparently took a red brick and smashed at the window. Although it cracked, the film held all
the glass together and prevented shattering. At 4:45 when the police arrived, the culprit was
still standing at the window and hitting it with the red brick.
Result: The SunShielded window prevented a burglary. Even the alligator thief apparently wasn't
as tough as the SunShielded window.
