I have always wondered why awnings and similar covers aren't used more to shade buildings and keep them cool. It seems like the investment should pay itself off in reduced energy expenditures relatively rapidly.

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patwork 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Technology Connections on Awnings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhbDfi7Ee7k

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ajb 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Small ones like this may be fine, but buildings (especially old ones) may have surprisingly small margin for extra wind load laterally. What seems like a cheap option could require an expensive structural analysis, or an even more expensive later repair.

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Telemakhos an hour ago | parent [-]

Awnings used to be everywhere on brick buildings with no wind load problem. You can still see where awnings were meant to go on many old (early twentieth century) buildings. Air conditioning, not wind load, killed the awning. https://thecraftsmanblog.com/why-dont-we-use-awnings-anymore...

	▲	aitchnyu 11 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Do awnings have vents to avoid forces exerted by wind, like billboards?