Architectural coatings represent the largest segment of the paints and coatings market as they are used on virtually every type of structure and multiple surfaces of interior and exterior residential, commercial, monumental, public, institutional and industrial enclosures. In 2023, this segment represented 60% of volume and nearly half of the dollar sales in the U.S. The global market size is projected to be about $75 billion in 2024 and about $90 billion by 2029. Architectural coatings are used for interior and exterior applications for decorative and functional purposes. In addition to providing improved aesthetics (decoration and color), they also offer a wide variety of functional purposes that include substrate protection (corrosion resistance), resistance to industrial and household chemicals, energy savings (IR reflectance and insulation), wear resistance and environmental resistance to extend substrate and building longevity. Coating types include ambient cure and baked interior and exterior topcoats, primers, sealers, stains, varnishes which are applied at the building site by spray, roll or brush or applied and cured (i.e. thermal cure) at manufacturing plants including coil coating lines and aluminum extrusion lines.
From a technology perspective, waterborne coatings represent the largest single market share of slightly over 40% due to driving forces to lower VOC and to minimize the health and safety hazards due to volatile organic solvents. Acrylic resins occupy about 45% of the waterborne market. From a global standpoint The Asia Pacific market occupies about 60% of the market, while the rest of the world accounts for the remaining portion. As many architectural coatings are also specified by architects especially for commercial, public and monumental buildings, I will include major coating types that architects specify as well.
Primary Resin Types used for ambient cure coatings are as follow:
- Acrylic latex polymers are used in exterior and interior applications to provide low VOC, excellent weatherability and versatility to adjust film forming temperatures and performance by varying the molecular weight and monomer choice and polymer architecture. Many of the acrylic latex types are also available in self-crosslinking capability to further improve chemical and environmental resistance properties. Versions are also available for interior applications.
- Vinyl-acrylic and Styrene-acrylics are used for interior applications or also to improve water and alkali resistance and lower cost.
- Alkyds are also used in many applications such as industrial and maintenance coatings over metal and for their ability to provide higher gloss and good overall performance properties. They are available in waterborne and solvent born types. Alkyds are also used for application on wood such as for stains and varnish.
Ambient Cure Coatings – For ambient cure coatings, many of which are applied on site, three of the most important test standards that are designed to provide improved performance include ASTM D5146 (Standard Guide to Testing Solvent- Borne Architectural Coatings) and ASTM D5324 (Standard Guide for Testing Water-Borne Architectural Coatings) and ASTM D3730 (Standard Guide for Testing High-Performance Interior Architectural Wall Coatings). These ASTM test standards are used to characterize and quantify the performance of these architectural (mainly for ambient cure coatings) for wet properties, dry times, film appearance, physical properties of the film and durability for the intended application.
Examples of various architectural formulas may be found on the ULTRUS® Prospector
Web site and browse under Formulations to Architectural Formulations.
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Factory Applied Architectural Coatings – Many architectural coatings are thermal cured and applied at coil coaters, or applied by applicators using spray or high-speed disk. Three of the most important standards used to quantify the performance quality for various applications include AAMA 2603, AAMA 2604 and AAMA 2605 are voluntary specifications for coatings applied to aluminum and AAMA 620 is the voluntary spec for “High Performance Organic Coatings on Coil Coated Architectural Aluminum Substrates. The AAMA 621 voluntary spec was for hot dipped galvanized steel substrates and zinc-aluminum coated steel substrates has been discontinued in 2019 and has not been replaced.
Table I – Weathering and Environmental Resistance of various AAMA Specifications
| Criteria | AAMA 2603 | AAMA 2604 | AAMA 2605 | AAMA 620 |
| Performance | Good | Very Good | Superior | High Performance |
| Substrate | Architectural Al | same | same | same |
| Weathering
(S. Florida) |
1 year S. | 5 years
5 DE color 8 Chalk >30% gloss ret. |
10 years
5 DE color 8 Chalk > 50% Gloss ret. |
Same with the addition of < 10% erosion |
| Application | Primarily Interior and residential | Premium residential, exterior commercial | High performance architectural and monumental buildings | same |
| Coating type(s) | Polyester and other types | Super durable polyester powder, Silicon Polyester liquid and 50% PVDF | PVDF and FEVE solvent, waterborne and powder. Hyper Durable Polyester powder | PVDF and FEVE solvent born |
| Humidity Resistance | 1,000 hours | 3,000 hours | 4,000 hours | 3,000 hours |
| Salt Spray | 1,000 hours | 3,000 hours | 4,000 hours | 3,000 hours |
| Cost | $ | $$ | SSS | $$$ |
Trends and Market Drivers
- Products based on Sustainable solutions (waste minimization, recycling, use of biobased materials)
- Low and no VOC coatings – The current National limit for Architectural Coatings is 250 g/L, with some regions in the US as low as 50g/L
- Elimination of toxic and hazardous materials
- Coatings which provide low or no odor
- Coatings which provide energy savings such as solar reflective coatings
- Improved performance – Chemical resistance, scrub resistance, weather resistance, and resistance to stains and abrasion.
- Interior coatings modified to provide antimicrobial properties
- Self-cleaning exterior coatings
- Implementation of nano technologies to provide a range of benefits that include improvements in:
- Energy efficiency (thermal insulation in buildings)
- Improved abrasion resistance
- Antimicrobial properties (nano-silver coatings)
- Corrosion resistance (modification using graphene, carbon nanotubes, and superhydrophobic nanoparticles)
- Self-cleaning exterior coatings utilizing photocatalytic titanium dioxide
Resources
- Organic Coatings, Science and Technology, Fourth Edition, Jones et.al., Wiley Interscience, 2017
- Architectural Coatings – ASTM International
- Winone Product Technologies Pvt. Ltd – The Future of nanotechnology coatings in architecture and building construction
- American Architectural Manufacturers Association Standards – AAMA 2603, AAMA 2604, AAMA 2605, AAMA 620.
- Mordor Intelligence Report (Architectural Trends & Forecasts (2024-2029)
- Architectural Growth Trends and Share Analysis Coherent Market Insights
- UL Prospector – Knowledge Center
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