AkzoNobel Helps Keep South Asia Cool with Heat Reflective Paint

It gets really hot in South and Southeast Asia, with average summer temperatures in the region climbing close to 50°C (122°F), and the cost of air conditioning is prohibitive for most residents. With its reflective Keep Cool Technology, AkzoNobel is helping residents in the area keep cooler.

AkzoNobel’s Keep Cool Technology– also called Sun Reflect technology in some of markets – has been available in the southeast and south Asian region since 2010.  The Keep Cool Technology is found in the high-performance Dulux Weathershield range of exterior emulsions and Dulux’s water-proofing exterior basecoats in decorative paints.

AkzoNobel offers its Cool Chemistry portfolio, which includes Interpon D2525 Low Solar Absorption powder coatings, which contain a reflective pigment that deflects infrared light and the sun’s heat; CERAM-A-STAR 1050, a high-performance SMP coil coating which provides exceptional durability and offers superior resistance to moisture and UV exposure; and Dulux Weathershield Sun Reflect, a high-performance exterior wall paint which can reduce the surface temperature by up to 5°C.

Ultimately, one of the biggest challenges is how to keep buildings cooler without having to rely entirely on air conditioning.

“We developed our Cool Chemistry range of paints and coatings that can reflect sunlight, which helps to reduce the amount of energy that buildings consume,” Wijnand Bruinsma, AkzoNobel’s director for sustainability,  said. “As the planet continues to warm up, it means cities located in hotter climates in particular can benefit from incorporating these smart coatings into their design. And given the rate and spread of global warming, our heat-reflective products will also become an increasingly viable solution in other parts of the world.”

Bruinsma noted that Keep Cool Technology helps building owners and occupants benefit from this more sustainable paint solution.

Bruinsma observed that AkzoNobel’s range of cool chemistry paints and coatings has been designed to reflect the invisible infrared energy – which is virtually half of the sun’s energy – thereby reducing heat buildup and indoor temperatures compared to conventional paints.

“Designed to have Total Solar Reflectance (TSR) values above 35%, our products with Keep Cool technology exhibit lower heat buildup compared to conventional exterior paints,” Bruinsma said. “The result is a more sustainable building material that keeps exterior surface temperatures up to 5°C cooler.

“With this technology, we are able to play a small part when it comes to paints and coatings and dealing with two key trends: global warming and urbanization,” he added. “These require new solutions for the built environment to reduce costs and carbon footprint of energy consumption for cooling building and creating more comfort for building owners and occupants.”

“One of the challenges during the development stage was to innovate within the competitive market while maintaining pricing competitiveness,” said Bruinsma. “As a frontrunner in innovation, AkzoNobel strategically chose to introduce the Keep Cool Technology in its core exterior emulsions offering (the Dulux Weathershield range) in the southeast and south Asian region.”

Bruinsma reported that a simulation study conducted by a reputable third-party testing body, BSD Singapore, indicated potential energy savings from using higher solar-reflective colors with Keep Cool Technology compared to conventional colors.

“For a typical high-rise apartment block, savings in the annual cooling load were found to be up to 10%, and for bungalows, these savings could reach up to 15%,” he noted. “These savings demonstrate the effectiveness of Keep Cool Technology in reducing energy consumption for cooling buildings.”
 
“Our ‘Dulux Weathershield Express paint’ now requires less material use versus traditional façade paints,” added Bruinsma. “This specially formulated 2-coat paint system uses less materials, hence lesser embodied carbon in the built environment to begin with, but gives the same results as a usual 3-coat system – all of this while keeping the exterior surfaces cooler.”

Bruinsma said that AkzoNobel is receiving excellent feedback for its Keep Cool Technology.

“The consumer response to our Keep Cool products across including India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia has been overwhelmingly positive. Overall, the technology has been well-received for its proven ability to keep buildings cooler while increasing the resilience and durability of buildings, as well as more comfort for the people living in them,” he concluded.