With changes in the Building Code, you may need to know the solar absorptance ratings of our products. Solar absorptance is a measure of the amount of solar energy that passes into a material. It is defined as the ability of a material to absorb short-wave visible light.
Solar absorptance relies on colour, no matter what material you use. Dark materials have a higher solar absorptance and will absorb more solar energy. Choosing lighter coloured bricks and roof tiles will reduce the amount of heat energy entering into your home, leading to lower energy bills and increased thermal comfort.
In the design of energy efficient buildings, the architects and consulting engineers need to be able to calculate the heat loss or gain of materials used to construct these buildings. For this reason, our product range has been categorised into three (3) colour groups, Light (L), Medium (M), Dark (D) and an index value has been given to each group to assist with engineering calculations. These categories can be used in energy efficiency verification software, such as NatHERS. The classifications of the solar absorptance ratings are given below:
We have compiled these ratings for our New Zealand Clay Brick Product Range and they are given in the table below: