Solar-control films are used worldwide as an effective means of lowering building energy costs by reducing excessive solar heat gain through windows. Determining energy savings from actual installations is difficult due to the common practice of implementing several energy conservation measures simultaneously and due to annual variations in the many factors that can affect a building's energy usage.
To isolate and quantify the energy-saving benefits of solar films, an energy analysis study on a conventional office building was undertaken using the U.S. Department of Energy's sophisticated DOE-2 energy-simulation software. The study included several types of solar films applied to various glazing systems. Various cities were included in the study to illustrate the energy savings in different climates and to show the effect of differing electricity costs.