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As a business ourselves, we know you are continually looking for new ways to increase brand visibility and impact. As glass has become an essential asset in office design, more commercial businesses are using decorative film to improve the visual appeal of both the exterior and interior of their buildings and store locations.

Continue reading to learn more about decorative glass film and how you can use it in your business to customize and enhance glass interiors and exteriors to highlight your brand.

What Exactly is Decorative Glass Film?

Decorative glass film is like wallpaper for glass windows and doors. It can be applied to a variety of glass surfaces, in a variety of designs, and its strong adhesive allows it to remain intact for years. Many patterns and opaque options exist as well, so you can increase or decrease visibility through the glass and choose whatever design will help promote your business the best.

Examples of Different Decorative Film Uses

Frosted Window Film

Decorative film installation is an affordable alternative to etched or frosted privacy glass. At a fraction of the cost, you can achieve the same lasting impression and save money to use on other projects. Frosted window film comes in a variety of designs from modern geometrics to natural scenic images.

A company logo design is a great way to increase privacy in your storefront glass while also highlighting your company logo in a subtle and welcoming way. Frosted film can also be used in reception areas and conference rooms to enhance your business’ professional feel.

Benefits of adding frosted window film to glass in your office space include added privacy, enhanced design, increased safety through holding the glass together, protection against ultraviolet rays, and more!

You can discover a variety of customizable designer films from Madico^®’s Decolite collection.

Printable Decorative Film Patterns

Maybe your business is looking to add more color to your space with murals and patterns. Custom Printable Decorative Film patterns might be the right option for you. They can be used to accent the architectural structure of the building and create a welcoming environment for customers.

Advantages of Madico^®’s printable film patterns include UV ray blocking ability and scratch-resistant coating for high traffic areas. Many businesses apply this type of decorative film to retail windows and displays, doctors’ offices, lobbies and elevators, passenger transport glass, and many other surfaces!

Explore the array of printable decorative film patterns that Madico^® has to offer, along with features and specifications, with our helpful product guide.

Black Out Window Film

If your business is looking to present a sleeker look or wants to block out an outside view, Black Out Window Films may be the way to go. Black Out Window Film can be used to create an environment of exclusivity, helping high-end end brands promote and atmosphere luxury and privacy.

Black Out film by Madico^® keeps out 100% of light and makes an excellent choice for office buildings, restaurants, and retail storefronts.

Other Uses of Decorative Film

Decorative glass films can be beneficial in bringing images or photography to life via translucent image films. You can make a glass window or door appear textured as well with a classic textured window film. The possibilities are endless.

Start Highlighting Your Brand Today with Revolution Wraps

*Credit Madico*

Sunlight is a critical part of our daily lives, delivering light and heat throughout the day.  At times, the sun’s heat can provide needed warmth — but when sunlight pours through the window of an automobile, home or business it can cause temperatures to rise past a comfortable level.

Choosing an automotive, residential or commercial solar control film can greatly reduce the heat that passes through a window during the day. These films improve energy savings by blocking up to 80% of the sun’s heat and also block UV rays that fade furniture and flooring.  But how does window film block heat?

How Does Window Film Work?

When sunlight reaches the earth, it includes three different types of light on the electromagnetic spectrum:

• Visible Light: The light that illuminates our surroundings during the daytime.  This is the only band of the elctromagnetic spectrum visible to the human eye.
• Ultraviolet Light: Invisible light that causes skin damage and contributes to color fading in fabrics.
• Infrared Light: Heat energy that is responsible for more than 50% of heat.

Window film designed to reduce heat gain does so by reflecting infrared heat.  Madico solar control films also absorb UV rays to help protect the skin of occupants and reduce fading of upholstery, furniture and flooring.

While solar control films absorb UV rays and reflect infrared rays, visible light continues to pass through uninhibited.

Does Window Film Reduce Heat?

One of the many benefits of window film is that it can help make your home, car or business a more comfortable place to live, drive and work by blocking heat coming from the sun’s energy. By eliminating energy coming from the sun, visible light is still able to pass through the glass while the temperature inside the room or car remains cool. Keep in mind that different types of window film will have different results in terms of the amount of light and heat that pass through the film.

Solar Control Film Impact

Solar control film can have a significant benefit when applied to homes, businesses, and automobiles.

Using Window Film to Block Heat in Your Home

In residential homes, as much as 83% of the sun’s energy is transmitted through clear single pane glass and up to 86% of this sunlight becomes heat, resulting in much warmer temperatures indoors. With Madico heat blocking window film, you can block up to 86% of the sun’s energy and more than 99% of harmful UV rays in your home. Window film helps in a number of ways such as saving on home cooling costs, reducing exposure to ultraviolet light and preventing your floors, upholstery and furniture from fading.

Learn More About Residential Window Films

Using Window Film to Reduce Heat Gain in Your Car

Let’s face it: most people, whether at home or at work, have to park their car outside, which means parking their car in the sun. Even on cooler days, it may be noticeably warmer in your car than it is outside. In fact, a car parked outside for just 60 minutes on a 95-degree day can reach up to 157 degrees Fahrenheit on the dashboard, 123 degrees Fahrenheit on the steering wheel and up to 116 degrees Fahrenheit within the cabin of the car. With automotive window film, you can block between 35-65% of solar heat transmission and as more than 99% of the UV rays from your car. Some of the many benefits of installing window film in your car include:

• Reducing time and fuel needed to cool your car
• Reducing exposure to harmful UV rays
• Providing a more comfortable driving experience by reducing glare and heat within the car

Learn More About Automotive Window Films

Commercial Uses for Window Film

For businesses, one of the most important reasons to consider installing window film is to reduce the strain on HVAC systems. As much as 33 percent of energy expenditures from commercial facilities result from the load solar heat gain puts on their HVAC systems. With window film, as much as 86% of the sun’s heat and energy can be reduced, resulting in lower cooling costs and more consistent internal temperatures within the building.

Learn More About Commercial Window Films

Like most products that perform one or more technical functions, window film carries with it a set of terms that may go over the average consumer’s head at first glance. There are certainly some words we’ve all seen and used – such as light energy, heat energy, even ultraviolet and infrared. Beyond those, there are the more scientific terms, like reflectance, transmittance and absorption.

And the language gets even more technical than that. Some familiarity with window film industry terms will help you make a more informed purchasing decision. You’ll better understand the different functions of various films, which allows you to make a smart choice. And you’ll level the playing field a bit when it comes to talking with the window film professional who estimates and installs your project.

Here is a bit of window film terminology to know:

Total Solar Energy

The total solar energy is the entire spectrum of the sun’s energy that reaches the Earth’s surface. It contains visible light, ultraviolet (UV) light — both UVA and UVB — and infrared rays (IR). Window films block all of these types of energy to some degree and for different purposes.

Window tinting blocks out some visible light, which reduces glare, eye strain and interior fading. Protecting against UVA and UVB rays helps prevent skin cancer, premature aging and other skin conditions. Infrared rays are the primary source of heat in sunlight, so filtering them out improves thermal comfort and reduces air conditioning costs.

Total solar energy rejected (TSER) is the percentage of the total solar energy that a tinting system is designed to keep out. This metric is helpful for consumers because it accounts for more than just UV light. A solar architectural film might reject 68% of visible light, 78% of IR rays and 99% of UV radiation. Because of sunlight’s makeup, these numbers translate to a TSER of 46%.

While TSER is an excellent general metric to compare films, recognize that this number is a combination of multiple factors, which may hold varying weights for your application. For example, if you’re looking to prevent glare or darken an interior space, visible light may be most important to you. To better understand a product’s performance, it’s helpful to look at some more specific metrics.

Visible Light Transmitted

Visible light transmitted (VLT) is a measurement of the amount of sunlight a piece of glass lets through. This measure is expressed as a percentage of the total amount of visible solar energy exposed to the window. A very dark window film may transmit only 5-10% of visible light into a room, while a light or nearly clear film may allow 90% or more. A similar metric, Visible light reflected (VLR), indicates how much light bounces back to the source. It refers to both light from the sun outside and the building’s interior lighting.

Reducing visible light transmission is a common goal for customers seeking automotive glass protection. A subtle car window tint can act like a pair of sunglasses, making it easier to focus on the road and avoid eye strain. For homes and commercial settings, a high level of visible light reflected can reduce glare and block out light without the use of blinds or curtains. It can make interior spaces more comfortable and improve visibility.

UV Rejection

UV rejection tells you how much of this harmful radiation the window film can turn away. Ultraviolet rays cause damage and fading to interior furnishings and carpet. It’s also associated with an increased risk of skin cancer. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, UVA rays can cause premature skin aging, while UVB light can cause sunburns. Both can damage skin cell DNA, contributing to the risk of skin cancer.

Window films, whether transparent, tinted, matte or reflective, are excellent at rejecting UV light. Most window tint systems reject 95%-99% of UV rays from sunlight.

Emissivity

Emissivity is essentially the insulating quality of a piece of glass or the window film covering it. Low-emissivity (low-E) films allow very little heat to pass through the material. They can reflect a great deal of the heat generated on a building’s interior back inside, a desirable quality in colder climates. In warm temperatures, they can prevent outdoor heat from getting inside through the windows. Depending on the manufacturer, a low-E film might reflect 70%-80% of solar heat in the summer and 50% of interior heat in the winter.

Heat loss and gain through the windows is responsible for 25%-30% of heating and cooling energy use in residential buildings. Upgrading windows to improve their insulation can therefore have a considerable impact on energy costs. A General Services Administration study estimates an average 29% annual perimeter energy savings with a low-E window film compared to single-pane clear glass windows. These thin, protective layers offer varying degrees of insulation and can be an affordable alternative to replacing existing windows.

U-Factor

Another way to measure window film’s insulation properties, U-factor indicates the heat energy level, independent of the sun’s radiant energy, that passes through a glass and window film assembly. It’s calculated with a multiple of the difference between indoor and outdoor air temperatures. And, like low-E, a lower U-factor number means better heat retention inside a building in cold weather. It’s also good for keeping buildings and cars cool in hot weather.

Talking the window film talk will give you an advantage when selecting an adhesive window covering and getting the best value from your purchase. For the exceptionally scientific-minded, our full glossary of window film terminology provides an even deeper look into the functionality of these products.

*Credit Madico Window Film*