Weathering vs Ventilation – The compromise in louvre performance

An architectural louvre is the term given to a louvre that offers performance whilst also being incorporated into a building as an aesthetic feature. The louvre’s performance could be weather protection, ventilation, aesthetic screening, or acoustic attenuation. A project specification will usually confirm the required performance of the louvres, however, with louvre specification there’s usually a compromise which must be made between weathering and ventilation performance.

Generally, when it comes to louvres, if a system has a high weathering performance, it’s usually at the expense of ventilation performance and vice versa.

Kingfisher’s louvre range includes single, double, and triple bank louvres. With each added bank the weathering performance will increase, but this comes at the expense of the ventilation performance. It’s simple; the deeper the louvre, the less water passes through, but it also means less air passes through too. The shallower the louvre, the more air can pass through, but this also means more water makes it through too.

When specifying a louvre, it’s important to consider the project location (inland, coastal, rural, urban) as well as the location of the louvre on the building (ground floor, 10th floor, rooftop etc). You should also consider what the primary function of the louvre is i.e. to prevent water getting into a building or to allow air into a building. Generally, it’s the last point that is the motivating factory in product selection. However, what happens when you want to prevent ingress of water and achieve airflow into a building? Here at Kingfisher we have a solution…

Kingfisher’s KW75HPG High Performance single bank weather louvre offers up to a Class A performance (up to 99% water rejection) whilst offering a Class 2 for airflow. The high-performance blade profile is specifically designed to reject the ingress of wind driven rain, while the aerodynamic qualities of the blade allow air to easily travel through the face of the louvre. This system will offer high levels of weather protection but will minimise pressure drops and, as this is a single bank louvre, it’s very cost effective!

So, the next time you have a louvre requirement that has to “do it all” get in touch with Kingfisher to discuss how the KW75HPG can make the specification process easy!