When ORAFOL acquired a stake in Belgian specialty film manufacturer Group MAM (Michiels Advanced Materials) in September 2024, the move marked entry into a completely new market for ORAFOL, with the aim of adding advanced sun protection films to its product portfolio. The initial outcome of this is a new spectral-selective sun protection film - ORAGUARD HelioShield – which significantly minimizes energy consumption through its ‘light in, heat out’ technology.
Orafol's new interior and exterior spectral-selective sun protection film - ORAGUARD HelioShield – can help buildings to minimizes energy consumption by as much as 30% during the course of a year, through its ‘light in, heat out’ technology
Orafol CEO Dr. Holger Loclair says: "With this acquisition, we are laying the next cornerstone for the sustainable development of Orafol. Our entry into the development of spectral selective films is an important step as it is part of our targeted investment strategy into solutions that can help to significantly reduce energy consumption in buildings, with measurable benefits for customers and the environment.”
With large windows and glass facades, interiors heat up strongly when exposed to sunlight, demanding high-cost energy consumption for cooling. Effective spectral-selective sun protection films, like the ORAGUARD HelioShield, keep the heat out of the building interiors, thereby minimizing energy consumption considerably.
The key advantage of Oraguard HelioShield over many competitive options is that it is not purely a filter film, so it doesn’t darken the room and still allows a lot of visible light to pass through…’you don't notice that a protective film is installed’.
In addition to this, whereas most sun protection films absorb infrared rays, so the window pane itself heats up, which can damage the glass and can even lead to cracks, ORAGUARD HelioShield reflects the remaining wavelength ranges of the solar spectrum, such as UV or IR radiation, so the heat is not absorbed.
An additional benefit is that in winter, the film allows more warming infrared rays to pass through than in summer. But it also reflects the infrared rays from the heating source inside back into the room, thereby saving energy all year round: ‘cool less in the heat, heat less in the cold’.
Through being effective across all seasons, Orafol claims that ORAGUARD HelioShield delivers up to 30% energy savings over the course of a year, which can obviously play a significant role in helping companies to meet their own building Sustainability targets and green building ratings. In addition, thanks to almost 100% UV protection, the film offers greater protection of furniture and interiors from the ageing effects of sun rays.
ORAFOL produces spectrally-selective sun protection films in widths of up to 1829mm and relies on state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies to ensure consistently high quality. ORAGUARD HelioShield sun protection films can be easily retrofitted to existing glass surfaces. They have the best effect when they are attached to the glass from the outside. If this is not possible for technical or business reasons, it can also make sense to attach them to the inside of the windows.
