A comparison of the albedo of asian building materials in visible and UVB regions

This work presents the albedo measurements of UVB and visible components of selected building materials that are common within Asian architecture. Eight popular exterior wall materials were investigated in this study, and the measurement system included low mercury lamps and a tungsten halogen lamp that provided specific region illumination in the UVB and visible regions. The reflective radiation was examined through the use of a spectrometer. Results showed that the relative reflectance in the UVB region of specific materials was not compatible with the expected values in the visible region. Such information would facilitate the selection of architecture materials in order to obtain optimal UVB exposure in urban settings.