Historically, high-performance industrial coatings were used to protect large-scale infrastructure. The coatings safeguarded elements, such as bridges and industrial concrete floors, from corrosion, abrasion, and chemicals. Now the architectural coatings market is demanding more sustainable architectural coatings with the durability and protection properties of proven industrial coatings.
Organizations such as the Master Painters Institute (MPI) and the Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC) are developing standards specifically designed to drive greater performance in commercial architectural coatings that also satisfy the different needs of this market.
Steven Reinstadtler, construction marketing manager for coatings at Bayer MaterialScience LLC, discussed the migration of industrial coatings into the architectural coatings sector when he recently presented āThe Sustainable Movement of High-Performance Industrial Maintenance Coatings into Architectural Marketsā at SSPC 2013.
Sustainability for the architectural coatings value chain means higher durability and solids, longer time between maintenance cycles, waterborne systems with fewer volatile organic compounds (VOC) and solvents, and lower odor. Good aesthetics are just as important. Decision makers in this market drive sustainability in the built environment, said Reinstadtler.
The resulting next-generation coatings perform with the expected durability, scrubbability, and chemical resistance possessed by industrial coatings, while also fulfilling additional architectural coatings requirements of color retention, low VOCs and odor, low sheen, and a fast return-to-service time. Several application areas have experienced a successful migration of industrial coatings into the architectural coatings market. Reinstadtler detailed their successful use in flooring, interior and exterior wall, and graffiti-resistant applications. As technologies and formulations continue to improve, industrial coatings will be further incorporated into the architectural coatings market, according to Reinstadtler.
āIndustrial coatings manufacturers are developing tailored products to enhance existing industrial coatings,ā he said. āThis helps to address applicatorsā desires to use high-performance industrial coatings in the commercial architectural coatings market.ā +
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
AIA Course: Enclosure strategies for better buildings
Sustainability and energy efficiency depend not only on the overall design but also on the building's enclosure system. Whether it's via better air-infiltration control, thermal insulation, and moisture control, or more advanced strategies such as active faƧades with automated shading and venting or novel enclosure types such as double walls, Building Teams are delivering more efficient, better performing, and healthier building enclosures.
