Insulpaint, which manufactures and distributes coatings systems, is currently working with Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Curtin University in testing two products. The QUT work is being carried out with Professor John Bell, assistant dean (research) in the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering. Bell is looking at antifungal matter and how products can absorb it, with Bell already patenting a product which purifies organic matter in water to drinking quality. This might sound like an ingenious product, but which has nothing to do with building.
But Gerrard Twomey, managing director at Insulpaint, is taking the process one step further. He is looking to incorporate Bell’s patent into protective coatings which can be applied to the roofs of commercial and residential buildings. It is expected the coating will absorb and eliminate organic matter which lands on the roof. Any rain which falls on the roof can then run off into rainwater systems and result in purified, drinkable quality water.
Bell’s patent is based on titanium technology, which Twomey says is four times more effective than current nanotechnology. Titanium is a mineral which is corrosion-resistant and is used in metallurgy to remove oxygen and nitrogen from steel to toughen it. Insulpaint currently uses titanium dioxide in its products, with a self-cleaning component in it. “[The] waterproofing styrene resin stops the nutrients taking hold and then the titanium helps to clean it. It’s a natural mineral so it’s non-toxic,” he says.
The way Bell’s product will work is when pollutants hit the roof, there will be a reaction with the coating — the coating heats the organics when they come into contact with it, resulting in a reaction on the surface.
Insulpaint is also working with Curtin University to develop similar technology, but for walls, and will heat more than just organics. “Curtin has some other technology using different particles that absorb gases. So they absorb volatile organic compounds and the gases in the rooms. For example, from furniture, carpets, paints, etc. So anything in the room it’ll absorb and actually eat it,” Twomey says.
There is the possibility of incorporating both the Curtin University and QUT technology into one product. In the trials being carried out with Fremantle Council, a combination of both technologies is being used — Bell’s product on roofs and Curtin’s technology on internal and external walls. It is also being trialled on two buildings which have sick building syndrome, where the coatings will be applied to the ducting systems.
“We’re going to test them and see which one’s worked the best in different areas. It may be on the inside of air-conditioning ducting and in the buildings themselves,” Twomey says.
In the buildings where the coatings are being applied to the ducting systems, Insulpaint is going to clean out the air-conditioning systems and look at trapping the fine particles that come from exhaust fumes. Twomey says “most filters will take up to 2.5 microns of fine dust. We’re looking to get that down to 0.5, because that’s the one that’s causing all the damage.”
Insulpaint is going to measure the trials by carrying out plate samples in the buildings. It will also measure how much pollution is being carried through the air-conditioning systems by checking filter systems and taking swabs inside the buildings.
There is amazing potential for a product combining the technology of both university’s research, particularly for the environment. With some roof insulating paints, effectiveness can be quickly lost when dirt builds up and reduces the reflecting qualities of a surface coating. Acid rain can also break down the ceramic beads, causing the loss of the insulating air pocket.
“You get a lot of buildings with roofs leaking — a major problem for commercial buildings and even domestic, and that’s cause for expansion and contraction. When you get water coming in, then you get mould and mildew into a building, so prevention is better than cure,” Twomey says.
The company has previously been involved with trials with Fremantle Council at the Fremantle Markets. Twomey says it applied Insulpaint to the roof and eliminated the need for air-conditioning to be installed in the building. “We went in there on the hottest day of the year at 42.6°C and we took an infrared measuring device into the markets — it was 27°C [inside],” Twomey says.
The company’s products already fight pollution through an ingredient called Acrad 8. The Acrad 8 fibres comprise 100 per cent styrene acrylic resin, which is impervious to airborne pollution and extreme weather conditions. Insulpaint products are also waterproof and micro porous, which allows the substrate to breathe. “The basis of that is to prevent the water from actually soaking into the coating, and therefore it doesn’t allow the nutrients and everything in the coating to take hold,” Twomey says.
“What we’re actually hoping is to turn buildings into anti-pollution fighters that will absorb pollution and eat it.”
