K–12 Education · Chicago, IL
Baker College Prep
122 shades replacing fragile PVC vertical blinds and mini blinds that kept breaking during class time at a Noble Network charter campus.
K–12 Education · Lake Bluff, IL
Lake Bluff Elementary School
211 shades solving two problems at once — spring-operated blackout shades as a classroom security tool, and clutch-operated solar shades preserving the rural views.
Project specification
- System
- SmoothMove® SM3 — Spring Operated · SmoothMove® Manual
- Control
- Spring-loaded wooden rollers capable of 120 lbs of lift; clutch operated shades with #10 stainless steel bead chain
- Fabric
- NoLite Fiberglass White/White (0%) and Mermet E Screen White/White (3%)
- Openness
- 3%
- Shade count
- 211
- Sector
- K–12 Education
- Location
- Lake Bluff, IL
Fig. 01Background
About Lake Bluff Elementary School District 65
Located in Lake Bluff, Illinois, Lake Bluff Elementary School has a rich history of building and preserving relationships with students and parents alike. District 65 has provided excellence in education for children for over 140 years, with a 2014–15 enrollment of 858 students from Pre-Kindergarten through 8th Grade.
The solar control challenge
Most classrooms and administrative offices include several interior and exterior windows. The exterior windows provide high levels of natural light and views of the picturesque rural surroundings; the interior windows offer the benefits of an open design concept.
However, school administrators are responsible for providing a safe, stable and innovative learning environment. Parents count on school leadership to be prepared for any situation where immediate privacy is needed.
Teachers and administrators also needed a proper means of conducting private meetings with parents and specialized testing without outside distractions. The school needed a budget-friendly solution to both its solar and privacy challenges.
The solution
To address the privacy challenge, IWS produced a total of 135 spring operated roller shades fitted with room darkening fabric, installed on interior classroom doors and windows throughout the school. The NoLite Fiberglass White/White fabric is totally opaque, blocking all view-through.
The spring roller offers a budget-friendly means to manually operate the shades, lifted and lowered by pulling on the bottom hem bar. Eight TRIMBUILT SD 1" mini blinds were used for interior windows in the administrative office, per the school's specifications.
To address the solar control challenge, IWS produced a total of 76 clutch operated roller shades fitted with Mermet E Screen White/White 3% transparent fabric, which reflects solar heat while allowing higher levels of natural light into the interior, improving comfort and energy efficiency and preserving views of the school's rural surroundings.
Results
The privacy shades offer staff an additional security tool should a threatening situation arise where immediate privacy is needed to protect students in the classroom. Teachers are trained to utilize the shades when given orders over the school's PA system.
Meanwhile, the solar shades are providing a comfortable learning environment for students and an energy-efficient building for district leaders.
Fig. 03Related
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