Deep cover

“We always endeavour to make our products more environmentally friendly without compromising on quality, durability or the variety of colours”
-Eirik Kristensen

Despite a decrease in activity in the construction sector, the paints and coatings industry is still booming, particularly in terms of greener and more sustainable practices and products. MENA Infrastructure invites a panel of experts for their opinions on where the industry is heading.

The Panel:

Nick Crowther, Business Development Manager for International Paint, AkzoNobel
Ameer Hamza Hassan, Chief Executive, Kansai Paint Middle East
Eirik Kristensen, Regional Marketing Manager for MENA region, Jotun Paints
Mark van Diemen, Managing Director, Sigma Paints Saudi Arabia

R&D is a big part of operations. What are your current focus areas in terms of new product development?

Nick Crowther. Sustainability and the reduction of our ecological footprint has become a key driver for International Paint and is an integral part of our strategy for research, development and innovation. We are committed to bringing to market new products that offer an environmental benefit to the end user whilst offering even greater corrosion protection and aesthetic qualities than the products that they replace. We are also focusing heavily on our intumescent fire protection range of products, and have recently launched our Interchar 1120. As a waterborne intumescent coating, its technology allows Interchar 1120 to have zero volatile organic compounds (VOC). Its ability to be combined with water based primers and topcoats, delivers a complete water-based solution for the customer, meaning the system meets the highest environmental standards.

Ameer Hamza Hassan. The environment, sustainability, customer needs and cost reduction are the major thrusts driving our R&D efforts. As a technology leader in many of the fields, we operate some of the largest R&D facilities in the industry, which have helped us to earn the trust and admiration that is demonstrated by our emphasis on continuous customer service.

In addition to working on completely new technologies, Kansai is also committed to continuous product innovation and improvement in all categories. Currently, in the OEM segment, Kansai is focussing on VOC reduction (water-based automotive paints) and energy reduction paints (three coats and one bake as opposed to three coats and three bakes). For the auto refinish segment we have developed the low VOC PG hybrid coatings, while for industrial segments we offer specialized protective floor and structural coatings for bridges and dams. Kansai has also developed anti-bacterial coatings for hospitals, the pharmaceutical and food industries such as the Ales-Silver coating system.

Eirik Kristensen, The majority of our operations in R&D revolve around the green concept. We always endeavour to make our products more environmentally friendly without compromising on quality, durability or the variety of colours. We aim to achieve products with lower VOC emission rates and free of lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium, tin, Apeo Phenol Ethoxilate and phthalates. Currently all our water-based products are within the allowed levels and we are working on transforming as much as possible of our oil-based products into water-based ones. The quality and durability of our products helps reduce the maintenance costs of the building thus resulting in a cost saving benefit for our customers. The myriad of colours ensures that we can go that extra mile that is required by our customers.

Mark van Diemen. New technology in the Middle East paint industry is helping to drastically reduce the environmental impact of VOCs in the region. VOCs can release low-level toxin emissions into the environment for years following the application, but scientific research supported by the research and development laboratories at Sigma Paints is helping to drastically reduce the impact. Working closely with PPG laboratories worldwide, Sigma Paints has developed advanced practices, which limit the amount of VOC in paints and coatings currently being used on many projects throughout the Middle East region.

Reducing the impact that paints and coatings have on the environment is one of our primary goals. This latest technology helps us to manufacture low VOC products while still being able to offer durable protection solutions to construction projects throughout the region. These developments will revolutionise the paints and coatings industry in the coming year.

There is a growing focus on sustainability and greener construction in the Middle East, in particular seen in the increase of LEED practices. How is this being translated into the paints and coatings industry? What is your company working on in terms of sustainable products?

AHH. As global environmental problems continue to grow in severity, Kansai Paint is working to develop many types of products that can contribute to environmental conservation, while ensuring products also maintain health and safety practices. Kansai Paint and its group companies strictly follow and practice environmental conservation policies and the company has adopted proactive systems to cope with the potential effects of all its products on the people and the environment. Kansai has developed Ales Eco Clean Series products for interior applications that have low VOC, low odour and include anti-bacterial coatings that also absorb formaldehyde and offers lead and mercury-free products. 

EK. In the Middle East the demand for eco-friendly products has increased as environmental concerns and the awareness about green has increased. Governmental regulations such as Abu Dhabi's Pearl Rating have been set, green building councils such as the Emirates Green Building Council, of which Jotun is one of the founding members, have been formed, and green projects such as Masdar are being constructed.

As a result, we have to do all it takes to meet these needs. Jotun has been in the forefront of developing eco-friendly products and follows strict European regulations as well as the major environmental standards around the world; constantly focusing on R&D investing US$25 million for product innovations. We have a wide range of water-based (emulsion), low-VOC products namely the Fenomastic family for interior and the Jotashield family for exterior. Fenomastic Gold has low VOC content, contributing to indoor air quality. Jotashield Thermo has a propensity to reduce the indoor temperature of a home thus having a favourable reduction in energy consumption. Our latest innovation in this domain is Jotashield SuperDurable, which was launched end of 2008. The water based Acrylic product comes as an alternative to the solvent based polyurethane products and can offer a 20 year span of peace of mind before the first maintenance is required.

MvD. Of course first step is to ensure that the products are LEED compliant.

Moreover, Sigma is very much focused on sustainable solutions that go further then simply developing a product – it ranges from reviewing the raw material sources, manufacturing practices to continuously informing property owners on the benefits for them on sustainable solutions.

At Sigma/PPG, we understand that sustainability is a driving design factor on projects region-wide and we are committed to making environmentally progressive paint products. These products play an important role in green building. Many of our products have low VOC content enabling them to assist architects, building owners and home builders in building green.

NC. As a business we have welcomed the introduction of environment standards such as LEED as it enables us to stand out from the competition by delivering products that assist in projects attaining LEED accreditation. We offer a prescriptive LEED paint specification for all operating environments and also for Intumescent fire protection systems up to and including a three-hour fire rating. This enables an engineer to select at ease the relevant system for a particular environment whilst being confident that this will meet the relevant LEED criteria.

Through our laboratories we have developed a full range of environmentally sustainable products, which we market under the 'ecotech' banner. We take seriously our responsibility to help our customers use coatings in a safer, more environmentally conscious manner.

There are currently steps being made to implement mandatory legislation in the paints and coatings sector. What are you thoughts on the current state of legislation in the industry? What are your hopes for the legislation in this sector in the coming six to 12 months?    

EK. Jotun as a company is pro-actively pursuing to develop stringent industry standards leading to more environmentally friendly products. Jotun works very closely across the region with all governmental authorities and co-operates with all guidelines, rules and regulations that have been defined.

Regarding protective coatings, related measures are mainly in the oil and gas and industrial projects where world-class engineering is evoked, and global environmental protection standards are followed. As for other sectors legislations are still in various stages of development. We do trust that regulations will naturally be there in the near future and Jotun is ready to commit to these regulations.

MvD. The current status of legislation is still behind Europe or the US. Without the government initiating mandatory implementation no progress will be made. Our hopes at Sigma include a quick adoption of European legislation not only in VOC limitations but also setting minimum quality standards for coating systems.

The emerging concept of green building has already attracted some of the biggest developers in the region, particularly in Dubai's booming real estate sector. But will the green concept impress not only conservationists, but also investors and developers who are looking for greener fortunes? The answer remains to be seen in this region.

Some of the green initiatives in the real estate and construction industry that have sprung up recently have advocated the LEED rating system. In the UAE, the Emirates Green Building Council is drafting a document to push the eco-rating system that is region-specific. Currently, some of the region's design consultancies follow the LEED-based system.

In Qatar, Kuwait, Dubai & Saudi Arabia we see an increase of paint related environmental requests, mainly in big projects. In Jordan, the Al-Mushatta Industrial City aims to attract investors by the installation of green and energy efficient architectural engineering. And, in the coming years, we expect that other Middle East countries will follow in the same footsteps triggered by the growing interest by developers in green buildings, which will clearly define what this booming sector could actually offer.

NC. The paint industry is extremely fragmented, particularly in this part of the world and the products on offer, whilst appearing similar can vary greatly in terms of quality and in terms of being sympathetic to the environment. International Paint has been successful in self-legislating and is committed to reducing the impact of our business on the planet whilst delivering more sustainable products and solutions to our customers. However, the introduction of legislation or minimum industry standards would be a welcome move in helping the general market to raise the games in terms of sustainability.

AHH. Kansai Paint will support any legislation to encourage paint companies to develop products that are eco-friendly and use materials that are non-hazardous. No doubt, any such legislation will force companies to put in more resources to R&D and develop products that are environment friendly. It will bring a healthy change to the paints and coating sector and we welcome this change. Kansai Paint is already putting in many resources across different paint categories to develop such products in view of the existing stringent environmental laws of Japan.

What do you see as the biggest challenges in the protective coatings industry over the next few years? And what are the biggest opportunities in your opinion?

MvD. The biggest challenge is to convince the property owners that durable systems are the most cost effective. The training of painters to increase the quality of their activities and thus the durability of the solutions is also a top priority for us.

NC. What drives us is knowing that what is good for our customers today is not necessarily good enough for them tomorrow. This benefits our customers because we sustain their future competitiveness by continuing to develop new products. Challenges will come in many forms as the market place is rapidly changing, never has this been more apparent than in the last 18 months. More so than ever our customers are looking to us for ways that they can improve efficiency and do more for less. This has created an opportunity for us offering paint systems that give a real cost benefit to the client through utilising the latest technologies. As a business we are extremely optimistic about the future market in the region. We have seen in these uncertain times, customers are looking to a supplier they can rely on to help them add value to their business.

AHH. The biggest challenge in the protective coatings industry is to keep up with innovation and the complexity in structures, which require a high degree of customisation of paint coatings. Most of the GCC countries have started to increase the pace of spending, and are putting in place major programmes to upgrade their social and physical infrastructure. The overall paradigm shift toward strengthening the domestic economies of GCC states is evident from the huge investments made in infrastructure. A lot of investment is being made in the region on new infrastructure like rail transit systems, bridges, heavy steel structures, housing schemes and new industries like petrochemicals. The massive spending in these sectors has created the need for specialised paint coatings. While all these changes have driven growth in the paints and coatings sector in these countries it has also made constant innovation a survival necessity.

EK. When it comes to protective, Jotun is among the pioneering companies worldwide, and our products have an excellent reputation in the market. The focus lies in meeting the level of protection we provide today in more environmentally friendly products. R&D's challenge lies in developing of more benign products either by reducing the use of solvents, and thus the emission of VOCs, or by the utilisation of an allergic binder; or ideally both.

Nevertheless, we can see three opportunities through which we can serve our customers better: colour, protection and function. When it comes to colours we continuously offer our customers new colours based on their need and the understanding of colour psychology. As for protection, Jotun is known for that, and to always meet our customers' expectations we benchmark our products against testing standards ISO 12944 and 20340. Moreover, the most challenging and innovative development over the coming few years will be in the area of functionality, mainly to develop products that exceed the traditional functions of coatings being limited to protection and/or aesthetics to new functionalities such as temperature indicating, thermo-chromic, lifetime indicating, gas detection and fire protection.