A Brief Intro to Architectural Louvres

You may have heard the term Louvre (spelt Louvers in the US) used in architectural terms, but may not fully understand what they are and why people are talking about them. First things first, they’re not talking about an architecture exhibition at the famous museum in Paris. (Just thought I’d make that clear).

The Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA), partly responsible for creating the European industry standard louvre test method, defines a louvre as:

This essentially sums a louvre up, they’re not generally moveable (although controllable louvres do exist) they are mostly there, as a fixed blade device, to provide airflow into (air inlet) and out of (exhaust) to whatever is behind them whilst protecting them from rain penetration.

Louvres have a diverse range of uses for both engineers and building designers.

• Aesthetically, louvres allow designers to hide (screen) unsightly machinery or create a feature on an external elevation.
• Functionally, louvres offer essential airflow and rain defence to plant machinery and building equipment.

As well as providing natural ventilation, an efficient louvre system can improve airflow to building systems, which means less power is needed to move the volumes of air required. In the cases of HVAC systems, this improvement in energy efficiency can sometimes mean a smaller and less powerful system is required for space heating and cooling.