CPFilms is a member of the National Association of Energy Service Companies and the only window film manufacturer that has developed a specific program tailored to meeting Energy Service company (ESCO) needs. An ESCO is a business that develops, installs and finances projects designed to improve the energy efficiency and maintenance costs of facilities over an extended time frame. Energy-saving measures used by ESCOs often include high-efficiency lighting, motors, and heating and air-conditioning equipment, as well as metering and centralized energy management systems. Reducing summer solar heat gain and winter heat loss through windows, by using energy-control window films, is also an important part of an effective building energy-saving strategy.

Fresno State University retained NORESCO, one of the largest energy service companies in the United States, to design and deliver a cost-saving strategy that would restrain ever-rising energy costs and that would pay for itself. NORESCO turned to CPFilms for a solution, and through U.S. Tint, they tackled the task.

Following an energy saving evaluation based on US Department of Energy standards and in partnership with the University and NORESCO engineers, 90,000 square feet of Vista Ambiance VE-35 low-emissivity (low-e) energy control window film was retrofitted to buildings throughout the campus by U.S. Tint. The film rejects 69% of the total solar energy passing through the building windows and helps to significantly reduce related cooling loads and the need for operating air-conditioning equipment. The low-e film also improves window insulating properties by as much as 30%, which further reduces cooling loads in summer and helps reduce winter heating needs. An additional 10,000 square feet of film, LLumar RK-20, was installed on the exterior of the windows at the Educational Building, which for practical reasons could not be filmed from the inside. The LLumar film effectively rejects 80% of total solar energy reaching the windows. The energy savings yielded by installation of these window films is a major contribution to reaching the contractual ESCO obligation of reducing total energy costs by 6%. Furthermore, the energy savings yielded by the film alone will pay for the film and its installation by U.S. Tint in three years. As an added bonus, with the film in place, the interior comfort has been greatly improved and the sun’s harsh glare tamed, with glare reduce by as much as 80 percent.