{"id":47467,"date":"2017-11-02T12:38:42","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T16:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/?p=47467"},"modified":"2017-11-07T14:51:18","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07T19:51:18","slug":"nuances-vision-glazing-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/nuances-vision-glazing-color\/","title":{"rendered":"The nuances of vision glazing color"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photos \u00a9<\/strong> Tom Kessler. Photos courtesy Vitro Architectural Glass<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

by Kevin Ramus
\n<\/strong>As one of the world\u2019s most versatile building materials, with a wide range of aesthetic options and outstanding energy characteristics, glass provides numerous opportunities to enhance buildings\u2019 visual appeal and performance. As glass panels and insulating glass units (IGUs) become larger and glass occupies more real estate on curtain walls, storefronts, and interior building components, ensuring color uniformity and consistency across the fa\u00e7ade becomes both more challenging and more critical.<\/p>\n

It is important for architects to be aware of and attain color uniformity with glass. This can be facilitated by becoming familiar with the globally recognized L* a* b* color system developed by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE). It is also helpful to address related building glazing-color specifications and proven glazing-sample viewing techniques for more effective color evaluation.<\/p>\n

Measuring color in glass
\n<\/strong>Color uniformity of glass in an architectural application can be defined as variation in appearance of the color or shade within one glazed unit, or between multiple glazed units of the same type installed in the same plane and elevation of a building. However, as discussed later in this article, the appearance of visually perceived color differences within or between installed glazing units does not necessarily mean color uniformity requirements have not been met. This is where measuring the actual color of glazing units comes into play\u2014a process that begins with the measurements taken during the glazing manufacturing process. For the proper context, however, one should first define what \u2018color\u2019 is before addressing the topic of color measurement.<\/p>\n

For the purposes of industry standardization, color is typically defined according to a mathematical model developed by CIE. This globally recognized \u2018color\u2019 system numerically defines the color of glass (or any object, for that matter) with three vectors in a three-dimensional color space:<\/p>\n