Vehicle
A 1993 mid-sized sedan was used in the experiment. The car’s glazing and A/C system
were those installed by the manufacturer. The car’s A/C system included two control
mechanisms: a sliding lever that controlled the temperature of the output air and a sliding control
for fan speed (four levels of fan speed could be selected).
IRR film
An aftermarket IRR film was used for the experiment. Table 1 lists the specifications of
the film, as provided by the manufacturer. The corresponding specifications for two layers of the
film were not measured for this experiment.
Table 1
IRR film specifications.
Visible light transmittance: 77.0%
IR rejection: 77.1%
UV rejection: 99.0%
Shading coefficient: 0.6
Emissivity: 0.6
U-Value: 1.0
Instruments
Insulated type-T thermocouples (shielded from radiation) were used to measure skin and
air temperatures. Apogee® silicon pyranometer sensors were used to measure downward total
solar irradiance. Two Vornado® 800/1,500 W portable electric heaters with digital thermostats
were used to control and manipulate cabin air temperature. An Iotech® data logger and laptop
computer were used to collect and store all objective measurements.