Can Energy Efficient Awnings Save Your Business Money?

Yes – awnings can save your business money. We’ve gone into detail in some past blogs about the energy saving benefits of awnings. These same benefits are often doubly true for businesses. Many food service and retail businesses, especially small storefronts and standalone structures, tend to have large windows flanking their entrance to let in welcoming natural light.

Phoenix businesses also tend to keep their indoor temperatures relatively low, which can cost quite a bit of money during the summer months. Western and southern-facing businesses may be spending a lot of extra money each day on cooling due in large part to the amount of heat being absorbed through windows. Awnings can potentially have a significant impact on heat absorption.

What Types of Businesses Can Use Awnings?

Really any business with windows or glass doors that are hit by the sun during the day can enjoy the shade benefits of awnings. How much awnings can help lower your business’s energy consumption depends largely on the building in which you’re located.

If the roof extends over your storefront to create a shaded walkway, a feature many Phoenix area strip malls and shopping centers possess, your need for awning from a practical standpoint is minimal. You might still want an awning for the aesthetics (depending on the type of clearance between the top of your windows and the ceiling), but the sun likely won’t be a major factor in your decision.

However, if your business is a standalone structure, you likely don’t have many overhangs or covered walkways surrounding the structure. In that case awnings can have a real positive effect on your business’s energy use.

Some businesses may also be interested in shade sails or patio covers as seating areas. Restaurants and bars in the Phoenix area frequently have outside seating that requires shade. These areas can be used for much of the year when shaded, especially when there are also misters or evaporative coolers situated outside in the seating area.

Some non-food service businesses may also have outside picnic tables or seating areas for employees to take lunch or smoke breaks. Patio covers or shade sails are great ways to provide a little bit of comfort for employees who need to get outside for a little while.

These shade solutions are also great for schools or businesses with playgrounds. Providing sun protection for children is hugely important for their current and future skin health. In Phoenix, schools insistently encourage parents to apply sunscreen to their children prior to being dropped off at school. Some schools even require children to wear wide-brimmed hats to go play outside during the summer months.

COVID-19 Is Changing the Way Phoenix Schools Think About the Outdoors

Many educational institutions in Phoenix were faced with some painful complications relating to COVID-19. The prevailing guidance suggested children should be outside as much as possible, like when they’re eating lunch or taking breaks. That’s sometimes tough in Phoenix due to the danger the sun and heat pose to children.

Shade structures may be an important tool for keeping kids safe at school. Depending on where these shade structures are situated, they may even help reduce the energy cost of cooling classrooms, cafeterias and other rooms. Any shade structure that reduces the amount of direct sunlight a building receives will result in a significant drop in heat gain throughout the day.

Making Offices and Businesses More Comfortable

Many Phoenix workers are intimately familiar with the struggles of uneven office cooling. Areas near windows, especially when they’re bombarded with sun throughout the day, are significantly warmer than portions of an office that aren’t near windows.

Air conditioners pump out a lot of cool air to control the temperature in those parts of an office. Unfortunately, thermostat placement and HVAC design frequently imposes a one-size-fits-all solution onto office temperature control. That means the people sitting near windows stay relatively comfortable while those in internal offices or cubicles away from windows feel like they’re working in a refrigerator all day.

Awnings can help with this phenomenon. The less the sun rays can transfer heat into office windows the less air conditioners will need to work nonstop to cool those parts of the office. Not only will energy use go down but people sitting elsewhere may be spared from needing a sweater in their Phoenix office in the middle of July.

Are Awnings Right for Your Business in Phoenix?

If your Phoenix-area business has windows, chances are it could benefit from awnings. The team at Arizona Awnings has decades of experience designing and implementing the best possible awning solution for our clients’ needs. We would be happy to send someone out to discuss what types of awnings would best help your business meet its comfort and efficiency goals.



Schedule your free consultation by calling 602-252-3430.