Online glass U-value, SHGC & shading coefficient calculator: V2.1.0

Related services Glass optical & thermal properties

We’ve just upgraded our online glass U-value, SHGC & shading coefficient calculator to V2.1.0, with the feature of argon gas concentration specification added.

It is now possible to vary the argon gas concentration to study its impact on glass U-value. The default argon concentration is 95%. Please click the screenshot below to access this online calculator and also read this article on the relationship between gas fill and double glazing unit (DGU) thermal performance.

Online luminance contrast calculator V1.0.0

Related services Luminance contrast

We are pleased to introduce our online luminance contrast calculator (V1.0.0, first version). Click the screenshot below to access this online calculator.

The calculation principle of this calculator is similar to the online total daylight calculator. The luminous reflectances of the two sRGB colors selected are calculated with color space conversion. The luminance contrast is then calculated from the two luminous reflectance results.

Online total daylight reflectance calculator: V1.0.0

Related services Daylight reflectance

We are pleased to introduce our online total daylight reflectance calculator (V1.0.0, first version). Click the screenshot below to access this online calculator.

Calculation principle

The calculator simply converts an sRGB color (common in screen displays and websites) to a CIEXYZ color, whose Y component is equivalent to the total daylight reflectance of the color (refer to this Wikipedia article for more details).

This calculator calculates total daylight reflectance only and it cannot calculate diffuse and specular daylight reflectances, as the latter two components are dependent on surface finishing, but not on surface color.

The conversion is a theoretical conversion and does not introduce conversion errors. In practice, one needs to manually match a physical color with screen displayed color. This manual process introduces some errors. Nevertheless, this online tools is still useful in estimating the total daylight reflectance of color samples.

20% total daylight reflectance

BCA requires that, for roof surfaces with greater than 20° inclination angle, the total daylight reflectance shall be less than 20% (What is daylight reflectance?). The table below lists 4 colors (grey, red, green, and blue) with close to 20% total daylight reflectance.

If your color is brighter than the 4 colors (except blue color, read the explanation below the table), it is possible that it cannot meet the 20% requirement.

Color typeColor valueTotal daylight reflectanceColor display
GreyRGB (123, 123, 123)
Hex (#7B7B7B)
0.198 (19.8%)
RedRGB (248, 0, 0)
Hex (#F80000)
0.200 (19.8%)
GreenRGB (0, 144, 0)
Hex (#009000)
0.199 (19.9%)
BlueRGB (0, 0, 255)
Hex (#0000FF)
0.072 (7.2%)

Human eyes are less sensitive to blue and red colors, but more sensitive to green and grey colors. In the table above, the total daylight reflectance of the most saturated blue color in the sRGB color space is only with 7.2% of total daylight reflectance.

Online glass U-value, SHGC & shading coefficient calculator: V2.0.0

Related services Glass optical & thermal properties

We are pleased to introduce our upgraded online glass U-value, SHGC & shading coefficient calculator. The current version is V2.0.0. Click the screenshot below to access this online calculator.

Online glass U-value, SHGC & shading coefficient calculator

Refer to this early post for the features of the V1.1.0 version.

New features added in V2.0.0

  • SHGC and shading coeffcient calculations
    • Note: limited to single glazing systems; this is due to the restriction of the mathematical model in ISO 9050/EN 410
  • More compact user interface
  • Tooltips on glass configuration schematics

Feedback and comments

We will improve this calculator regularly. If you have feebback and comments, please let us know.