We have had more than a decade in which there has been a design preoccupation with large expanses of glass combined with air conditioning to cool things down, because, not surprisingly, glass facia create heat gain situations.

So it is good to see that those involved in school design are focusing much more on a balance between daylight and ventilation, using nature to create a better study environment. This makes sense as a research study undertaken by Heshong Mahone Group found that a group of people learning under most natural daylight progressed 20% faster than those subjected to the least daylight.

For existing educational buildings and the hundreds of thousands of windows not scheduled for major refurbishment under the BSF scheme there is a way to improve the study environment as it is simply to restrain the suns’ rays in the first place. Solar control window film filters out more than 70% of the heat and the glare. Modern high technology films also allow high levels of natural daylight resulting in a study environment that is much more pleasant and productive and where glare on computer screens is reduced.

Many believe that closing blinds is a solution – but this does not stop the direct heat from entering the building – it just slows down the time it takes to permeate around. The educational sector contributes approximately 15% of the carbon emissions from the public sector as a whole, which is one reason why Ed Balls appointed a Task Force to look into it. With increasingly hot summers it has become apparent that cooling is a major contributor to carbon emissions and most people have been slow to recognise just how much air conditioning, powered by fossil fuel driven energy, is contributing to our carbon footprint.

The idea of keeping the suns’ heat out of the building therefore makes financial as well as environmental sense and some studies show that solar control window film pays for itself in less than five years.

Every weekday in the UK window film is being installed in educational buildings. It is used for health & safety reasons and to meet the workplace regulations but a lot could be achieved at the same time by using solar control window film to improve the study environment.