Article Journal of Building Physics 1–14 Ó The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1744259117731344 journals.sagepub.com/home/jen Infrared thermographic measurement of the surface temperature and emissivity of glossy materials Petr Alexa 1 , Jaroslav Solar ˇ 2 , Filip C ˇ miel 2 , Pavel Valı ´c ˇek 3 and Miroslava Kadulova ´ 4 Abstract Determination of the surface temperature and emissivity of glossy materials is a compli- cated task due to the relatively wide range of emissivity values and the reflection of infrared radiation from surrounding objects. As a consequence, standard methods used in infrared thermography are not applicable. In this article, an alternative method is pro- posed for the measurement of the surface temperature and emissivity of glossy materi- als used in the external structures of buildings that is based on an external source of thermal radiation. It is shown that the method gives quite accurate values of emissivity of both low- and high-emissivity glossy materials, whereas the surface temperature of low-emissivity glossy materials is less accurate and strongly depends on the accuracy of the used thermal camera. Keywords Reflected radiation, infrared thermography, surface temperature, emissivity, glossy materials 1 Department of Physics and Institute of Clean Technologies, Technical University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic 2 Department of Building Constructions, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic 3 Computer Technology Unit, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic 4 Department of Physics, Technical University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic Corresponding author: Petr Alexa, Department of Physics and Institute of Clean Technologies, Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 33 Ostrava, Czech Republic. Email: petr.alexa@vsb.cz