The Dow Chemical Company recently hosted a two-day media event at is Paint Quality Institute (PQI) and Exterior Exposure Station in Spring House, PA and its Northeast Technology Center in Collegeville, PA.

The event commenced at the PQI and included several presentations by coatings experts from Dow. Among the highlights of the day was a presentation by John Calderaio, exterior exposure station manager, Dow Coating Materials.  His presentation “Science Eye for the Paint Guy” focused on what ingredients and properties make a quality paint.

“Paint is no longer simply durable and aestetically pleasing, it can now provide increased dirt resistance, easier cleaning with advanced stain beading, improved sheen, durability and longevity and even remove formaldehyde from our indoor air,” he said. “High quality ingredients are the foundation of a top quality paint.”

According to Calderaio, using high quality ingredients will result in better color retention, stain resistance and good adhesion. “There are four important steps to keep in mind for a quality paint job: prep surface, choose quality tools, select quality acrylic paint and paint under the proper conditions,” he concluded.

Debbie Zimmer, director, communications and alliances Paint Quality Institute presented the latest PQI Survey results.

Some of the key findings of the survey include:

• Performance properties and availability at the preferred store are the two most important factors for paint pros when choosing a paint

•  Three quarters of professional painters agree that paint standards or regulations such as LEED, Green Seal, MPI, GreenGuard or UL Standards are extremely, very or moderately important

•  Hiding is a key problem professional paints face.


The third session addressed the issue of creating a paint for contractors with improved touch up and performance. Linda Adamson, technical service manager and Tara Conley, technical sales manager for Dow Coating Materials presented “Additives for Cost Effective PVA Binders.”

Dow carefully combines additive and binders to aid paint-makers who are looking for optimal formulations desiged for specific use and offer the value of compatibility across a broad range of performance targets.

Some of these products include:

•  Maintenance: ACRYSOL DR-180 rheology modifier to replace cellulosic thickeners for improved application and touch-up

•  Premium: ACRYSOL RM-725  rheology modifier for improved coverage, sag/leveling balance and creamy in-can feel

•  Quality: ACRYSOL RM-6000 rheology modifier for reduced thickener use and better coverage.


The first day of the media event concluded with a tour of Dow’s Exterior Exposure Station aka “The Paint Farm” by Lou Fioravanti. The tour of the paint farm focused on exterior paint properties and characteristics.

Each year, Dow Coating Materials tracks exterior paint performance on more than 40,000 test panels to better understand what makes high-quality paint. Many paint brands rely on this information when creating new paints to bring to market. Of Dow’s 20 exposure stations sites worldwide, the exposure station at Spring House is the largest, hosting 60-70 domestic and international customer visits per year.

The second day of the event was held at Dow’s Northeast Technology Center in Collegeville, PA. Dow began operations there in 2013 and currently 800 employees report to the site. The site serves as Dow’s Northeast Technology Center. It is one of Dow’s largest R&D facilities globally and serves several businesses within Dow.  Coatings is one of the key markets served, including architectural coatings, industrial coatings and traffic paint.

The visit to the site included a tour of the facility and demonstrations. Among the highlights was a product showcase of Centurion and Liquidarmor, a demonstration of the process of scale-up, formulation science core R&D with High Throughput Research and a microbrial high throughput demonstration.

The event concluded with a round table discussion with some of the key leaders at Dow. Among the speakers were Sarah Eckersley, global director, R&D and TS&D, Dow Coating Materials, monomers and plastics additives; Richard Strittmatter, global R&D director, Dow Microbial Control, Northeast Technology Center Site Leader; William Wagner, global business director, acrylics, North American business director, Dow Construction Chemicals; Jose Maria Bermudez, North America business director, Dow Coating Materials and Chuck Martz, global marketing director, Dow Coatings Materials & Plastics Additives, global business director, industrial coatings.