Whether at the office or in the comfort of one’s home, to be protected from the sun’s irksome beams via a modest apparatus of shades or blinds is somewhat of a given. It’s an asset that’s about as ubiquitous and taken for granted as the windows that harness them. However essential, we’re commonly confronted with the imperfections of these shielding instruments as the shifting angle of the sun creeps into scarcely exposed gaps at the edges of a particular window quadrant. Surely, this inconvenience is one of little gravity, though it’s one many of us let disrupt our workplace productivity or general peace of mind. Fortunately, the innovators at MechoSystems have devised a system for optimizing indoor shading that aids the ecosystem all the while.
William Maiman elucidates the process succinctly. “The idea of the ShadeLoc system is that we are able to capture the free edge of the shade and truly eliminate the light gap between the edge of the material and the wall.” These gaps exist, says Maiman, because space is indeed needed for elements such as shade brackets and cords to exist. Some attempt to remedy this by simply draping windows with oversized shades, though this opens up the door to ever more disruptions such as air currents blowing and flapping shades around. However, MechoSystems’ ShadeLoc remains firmly fixed in place with credit due to its novel signature side zipper. “This is literally a zippered edge that gets captured by the inner channel of the side channel so that the textile cannot move in and out of the side channel,” Maiman says.
Imperative to this system is a technique that Maiman and his team call “multi-banding,” making possible the customization of the shading of each quadrant via a central “connector piece.” For example, “one motor on one side of the four window panes can do the work and lift all four shades at the same time,” Maiman adds, “this way we can save on wiring and we can save on motor costs.” And as often is the case, with cost benefits comes environmental gains. “All shades are going to help with the heating and air conditioning issue and all shades are going to help reduce the BTU load on the building,” a quality that pleases Maiman’s clients, which ranges from art museums to office buildings to hospitals. ShadeLoc made its formal debut at NeoCon and has enjoyed favorable reception from the AIA community.
