Kerry Pianoforte, Editor01.22.24
Coatings World recently interviewed Bob Dirks, global segment manager architectural, at AkzoNobel.
Q: How did the market for architectural powder coatings fare in 2023?
Dirks: 2023 was a challenging time for the construction sector. This was due to the volatility of energy and raw material prices, a rising labor shortage and increasing interest rates causing projects to be put on hold. However, there’s a growing demand for powder coatings in the built environment. This gives us an opportunity to support our customers as much as possible and provide them with high quality powder coatings products as well as service. So yes, it was a challenging year, but fortunately our business continued to grow.
Q: Do you expect to see growth in 2024?
Dirks: For 2024 we believe powder coatings continue to be a growing technology, not only because of the durability and wide variety of colors, textures and finishes that powder coatings offer, but also because of our commitment to sustainability which lies at the heart of our business. AkzoNobel’s sustainability ambitions are tangible and aimed at making an important contribution to addressing the sustainability challenges faced by our company, customers and wider society. We focus particularly on reducing energy and material use, carbon emissions, VOCs and waste, while increasing our use of renewable energy and materials. Creating sustainability value for our customers is one of our main goals.
In addition, we expect growth potential in powder coatings that mimic natural metals as the costs of real natural metals are high at the moment. The construction sector around the world displays differences in growth potential: we expect a more saturated market in already developed regions and more growth opportunities in developing economies, where populations continue to grow. Emerging Asia will be the fastest growing construction market globally, due to a rise in residential demand.
Q: What are the color and design trends predicted for 2024?
Dirks: Every year, AkzoNobel’s Aesthetic Center teams up with an international group of trend and color specialists to decide the new on-trend color palette for the Interpon powder coatings brand. For 2024, the overarching trend is that we need spaces that offer us the simplicity to clear our minds, decompress and understand the things we really need, because in general, we’re experiencing information overload and complex life situations. Whether at home or at work, in school or hospital, or wherever we find ourselves, we need spaces where we can feel comfortable and relaxed. In this context we introduced “Sweet Embrace,” the Interpon Color of the Year 2024, a delicate shade of soft grey with a hint of violet and a subtle metallic effect – a color with a gentle optimism that’s understated yet liberating. The Color of the Year is launched as part of a complementary palette to transform exteriors, interiors, lighting, furniture, and furnishings across a wide range of sectors. Within the palette are a number of blues, greens and natural browns in metallic, smooth and fine texture effects that recall shades of seascapes and woodlands. These shades have a natural calming and clarifying effect and will help a building be at home in the surrounding landscape, allowing even modern, high-tech buildings to blend in with the natural environment. Expert color scientists, designers and architects from around the world and AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center have accessed more than three decades of color research and analysis to ensure the Color of the Year 2024 and its palette are on-trend.
Q: What are the latest products your company has launched?
DIrks: In 2023, we launched the Interpon D Low-E powder coating, that’s delivering an industry first in being able to cure at temperatures as low as 150◦C while still being Qualicoat Class 1 certified. The innovation supports the need for a collective responsibility towards a more sustainable future and AkzoNobel’s commitment to sustainability throughout the value chain. It improves efficiencies and reduces energy consumption at the customer end, while still delivering the quality performance expected from an Interpon powder coating.
Interpon D1036 Low-E is in fact more sustainable in one of two ways: it either cures at a lower temperature (150◦C compared to a standard curing temperature of between 180◦C-200◦C), cutting energy consumption by as much as 20%; or it can cure up to 25% faster than conventional powders. This allows for more products to be coated in less time, improving the efficiency of the coating line, and reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions.
The new powder coating supports sustainability in other ways too as it’s backed by an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), an independently-verified assessment of a product's environmental impact across its whole lifespan.
Available in a wide range of colors and finishes to match any creative style or imagination, Interpon D1036 Low-E features excellent levels of durability to protect color integrity and performance. It’s ideally suited to any architectural or industrial metal surface – both exterior and interior – such as facades, windows, pergolas, fencing, railings, metal office equipment and doors, where customers need durability and sustainability.
Next to the Low-E launch, we’re launching our EMEA ranges in other regions in order to make sure we’ve got a more global offer for our ranges. This means we’ve been expanding our ultra matt ranges into North and South Asia. The Stone Effect range as well as the STF (Wood Effect Range) have now been launched in South Asia and North America.
Bob Dirks, Global Segment Manager Architectural, AkzoNobel
Q: How did the market for architectural powder coatings fare in 2023?
Dirks: 2023 was a challenging time for the construction sector. This was due to the volatility of energy and raw material prices, a rising labor shortage and increasing interest rates causing projects to be put on hold. However, there’s a growing demand for powder coatings in the built environment. This gives us an opportunity to support our customers as much as possible and provide them with high quality powder coatings products as well as service. So yes, it was a challenging year, but fortunately our business continued to grow.
Q: Do you expect to see growth in 2024?
Dirks: For 2024 we believe powder coatings continue to be a growing technology, not only because of the durability and wide variety of colors, textures and finishes that powder coatings offer, but also because of our commitment to sustainability which lies at the heart of our business. AkzoNobel’s sustainability ambitions are tangible and aimed at making an important contribution to addressing the sustainability challenges faced by our company, customers and wider society. We focus particularly on reducing energy and material use, carbon emissions, VOCs and waste, while increasing our use of renewable energy and materials. Creating sustainability value for our customers is one of our main goals.
In addition, we expect growth potential in powder coatings that mimic natural metals as the costs of real natural metals are high at the moment. The construction sector around the world displays differences in growth potential: we expect a more saturated market in already developed regions and more growth opportunities in developing economies, where populations continue to grow. Emerging Asia will be the fastest growing construction market globally, due to a rise in residential demand.
Q: What are the color and design trends predicted for 2024?
Dirks: Every year, AkzoNobel’s Aesthetic Center teams up with an international group of trend and color specialists to decide the new on-trend color palette for the Interpon powder coatings brand. For 2024, the overarching trend is that we need spaces that offer us the simplicity to clear our minds, decompress and understand the things we really need, because in general, we’re experiencing information overload and complex life situations. Whether at home or at work, in school or hospital, or wherever we find ourselves, we need spaces where we can feel comfortable and relaxed. In this context we introduced “Sweet Embrace,” the Interpon Color of the Year 2024, a delicate shade of soft grey with a hint of violet and a subtle metallic effect – a color with a gentle optimism that’s understated yet liberating. The Color of the Year is launched as part of a complementary palette to transform exteriors, interiors, lighting, furniture, and furnishings across a wide range of sectors. Within the palette are a number of blues, greens and natural browns in metallic, smooth and fine texture effects that recall shades of seascapes and woodlands. These shades have a natural calming and clarifying effect and will help a building be at home in the surrounding landscape, allowing even modern, high-tech buildings to blend in with the natural environment. Expert color scientists, designers and architects from around the world and AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center have accessed more than three decades of color research and analysis to ensure the Color of the Year 2024 and its palette are on-trend.
Q: What are the latest products your company has launched?
DIrks: In 2023, we launched the Interpon D Low-E powder coating, that’s delivering an industry first in being able to cure at temperatures as low as 150◦C while still being Qualicoat Class 1 certified. The innovation supports the need for a collective responsibility towards a more sustainable future and AkzoNobel’s commitment to sustainability throughout the value chain. It improves efficiencies and reduces energy consumption at the customer end, while still delivering the quality performance expected from an Interpon powder coating.
Interpon D1036 Low-E is in fact more sustainable in one of two ways: it either cures at a lower temperature (150◦C compared to a standard curing temperature of between 180◦C-200◦C), cutting energy consumption by as much as 20%; or it can cure up to 25% faster than conventional powders. This allows for more products to be coated in less time, improving the efficiency of the coating line, and reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions.
The new powder coating supports sustainability in other ways too as it’s backed by an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), an independently-verified assessment of a product's environmental impact across its whole lifespan.
Available in a wide range of colors and finishes to match any creative style or imagination, Interpon D1036 Low-E features excellent levels of durability to protect color integrity and performance. It’s ideally suited to any architectural or industrial metal surface – both exterior and interior – such as facades, windows, pergolas, fencing, railings, metal office equipment and doors, where customers need durability and sustainability.
Next to the Low-E launch, we’re launching our EMEA ranges in other regions in order to make sure we’ve got a more global offer for our ranges. This means we’ve been expanding our ultra matt ranges into North and South Asia. The Stone Effect range as well as the STF (Wood Effect Range) have now been launched in South Asia and North America.
