Specification
Coloured PVB interlayers: a specification guide
Coloured PVB places the colour inside the laminate rather than on its surface, so it cannot scratch, peel or weather unevenly. Specification turns on three things: visible light transmission for the shade, colour consistency between production lots, and how the glass build-up shifts the perceived colour.
ImageOverlapping squares of coloured laminated glass showing how shades deepen where they overlap
Why colour inside the laminate outperforms surface tint
A surface-applied window film sits exposed. It can be scratched during cleaning, lifted at the edges, and degraded by UV — and when it fails it fails visibly, panel by panel, across an elevation that was meant to read as a single surface.
Coloured interlayer is sealed between the glass plies. It is mechanically protected by the outer ply and shielded from UV by the glass and by PVB's own absorption. The practical result is that interlayer colour lasts as long as the glazing.
Compared with body-tinted glass, coloured interlayer also offers far more shade freedom — body tint requires a full float line production run per colour, which is why the palette is so limited.
What to specify
- Shade reference against a physical sample, not a printed swatch or screen colour.
- Visible light transmission target for the finished build-up, not for the film alone.
- Colour tolerance (ΔE) both within a lot and between lots, since a facade is assembled from several.
- Total interlayer thickness, remembering that coloured and clear plies can be combined.
- Lightfastness data with the test method stated.
- The glass build-up the colour will be judged in — substrate and thickness both shift the result.
How the glass changes the colour
The perceived colour of a finished panel is not the colour of the interlayer. Standard float glass carries a green cast from iron oxide, which shifts warm colours noticeably and accumulates with thickness. Low-iron glass is far more neutral and gives truer colour, at a cost premium.
This is why colour approval must be done on a laminated sample of the actual build-up — same glass type, same thickness, same interlayer count. Approving against film alone reliably produces a disappointed client at handover.
Frequently asked questions
Can two different coloured interlayers be combined in one laminate?
Yes. Stacking coloured plies, or combining coloured with clear, is the standard way to reach intermediate shades and transmission values without commissioning a custom production run.
Does coloured interlayer reduce solar heat gain?
It reduces visible transmission and some solar radiation, which helps with glare and contributes to heat control. For a specified solar heat gain coefficient, however, a solar control coating is the appropriate product — coloured interlayer alone is not a substitute.
How do I match a coloured facade across a phased project?
Reserve material from a single production campaign where possible, require lot colour data with each delivery, and group panels by lot on the elevation. Where a lot boundary is unavoidable, place it at a natural break in the facade rather than mid-elevation.