APV Engineered Coatings’ Lon Bauer, senior coatings engineer, was a special guest speaker at  University of Kynar mid-November program, sponsored by Arkema Inc. and held at Atlas Material Testing Technology LLC.

Bauer presented to a group of 28 architects, engineers, specifiers and contractors, who were chosen to participate in the invitation-only class to learn about the key differences between NeverFade Façade Restoration Coatings with Kynar Aquatec (PVDF) and other high-performance coatings in the architectural industry. After the presentation, the guests walked through Atlas’ natural weathering testing site to see a variety of Kynar 500 and Kynar Aquatec weathering studies that have spanned over 50 years of exposure in the extreme humidity, temperature, and UV conditions of southern Florida.

After 10-15 years of exposure, the panels with Kynar Aquatec resin show very little color shift (delta E <5), and no signs of chalking from degradation of the PVDF resin. Other coatings in the study with the same pigments, formulated with acrylic, urethane, and even fluoroethylene vinyl ether (FEVE) resins, show much greater degrees of color fade, chalking, and resin degradation color fade in a bright red color, reaching as high as delta E >30 for FEVE and delta E >60 for acrylic urethane.

“It’s important for professionals who specify products for exterior restoration projects to understand a coating’s true service life from a chemical composition standpoint,” said Bauer. “Not all high-performance coatings are created equal and many are formulated with varying loading levels of key polymers that impact their ability to perform in subtropical outdoor environments over an extended length of time. NeverFade coatings contain high PVDF content that we list on our specification, complex inorganic pigments and proprietary UV additives for the ultimate long-term performance.”

NeverFade Original Topcoat and NeverFade Metal Restoration Topcoats are APV’s water-based, low-VOC exterior coatings for a variety of substrates for building façades in the architectural industry.

The formulations are engineered with Kynar Aquatec resin, a tough and industry-proven PVDF resin that resists thermal, chemical and ultraviolet degradation.

Incorporated into the NeverFade coating technology and coupled with high performance additives and specialty grade inorganic pigments, Kynar Aquatec resin is highly resistant to color fading, dirt pickup, staining, algae, mold, fungal growth and erosion. Applied with the compatible primer systems offered by APV, the NeverFade coating system can protect against rust, corrosion, and efflorescence, as well as promote long-term adhesion to the building surface. The topcoats are custom-color matched to each customer’s specification in bold and rich colors and come with a 15-year product-and-labor warranty for color performance.

“We were happy to expand our typical University of Kynar program to include not just architects, but engineers, specifiers, and contractors, who all work in the same arena,” said Vince Casmirri, marketing manager, Arkema Inc. “It’s a great educational opportunity to show them a ‘cradle-to-cradle’ example of how Kynar 500 and Kynar Aquatec coating systems transform the industry in real world applications. APV Engineered Coatings is a valued partner, and NeverFade Facade Restoration Coatings were an exciting topic at this event.”