Surface Reflectivity calculations for walls with glazing

Ricardo Sá

Director of Sustainability

Edifícios Saudáveis Consultores (503 910 767)

LEEDuser Basic Member

79 thumbs up

January 28, 2021

Dear All,

According to LEED credit library, For at least 90% of regularly occupied spaces, use interior finishes with a surface reflectance greater or equal to 80% for ceilings and 55% for walls.

Our questions are the flowing:

Glazing Ceilings and walls, counts for the calculations? Should we exclude glazing (transparent) areas? Can you please give some guidance for calculations on areas that, for instance, part of walls are glazing?
Vegetated Coated walls, counts for the calculation?

Thanks in advance,

Post a reply

Jamy Bacchus

Associate Principal

ME Engineers

LEEDuser Premium Member

29 thumbs up

Tue, 02/27/2024 - 04:40

My read from the Ref Guide Feb 2024 (https://build.usgbc.org/bd+c_guide ) is that transparent or partially transparent surfaces are excluded. And for vegetated surfaces: If manufacturers’ data do not include reflectance, measure the reflectance of product samples (before construction) or the installed product (post-construction) using the methodology described in IES Lighting Handbook, or use reflectance charts such as Lighting Guide 11, Surface Reflectance and Color.