December 11, 2007

Light Reflectance Value

The exterior of our home is stucco. As we are going to try to get our home certified green by the FGBC, beyond being Low-VOC or no-VOC they also require an exterior paint with at least a 50% reflectance value. What does this mean? "Light Reflectance Value (LRV) is the total quantity of useable and visible light reflected by a surface in all directions and at all wavelengths when illuminated by a light source.

LRV is a measurement that tells you how much light a color reflects, and conversely how much it absorbs. LRV runs on a scale from 0% to 100%. Zero assumed to be an absolute black and 100% being an assumed perfectly reflective white. An absolute black or perfectly reflecting white do not exist in our everyday terms. The average blackest black has a LRV of approximately 5% and the whitest white is approximately 85%. Some yellows can measure up into the 80's or 90's as well."
(from colorstratagies.net)"

I am going to start small on this one and go to the home depot and see what is already mainstream. All paints have a LRV rating right on the container apparently.

No comments: