Thank you to the Construction Products Association (CPA) for giving us the chance to talk about World Paint and Coatings Week (WPCW). We are grateful for the platform to highlight just how important coatings are to everyday life.
Paints, specialist coatings, printing inks, wallpaper. They are all around us but often overlooked; they are essential but often taken for granted; they help power manufacturing, the economy and society, yet are often undervalued.
Construction is a clear example of how integral coatings can be to other sectors. Coatings can be considered construction products themselves, which is why the British Coatings Federation (BCF) is a proud and active member of the CPA. When thinking of coatings used in construction, some of the first examples that come to mind might be masonry paints, floor or roof coatings, and decorative paints used to bring colour to a finished building.
But the list of ways that coatings are important in construction goes on. Varnishes and lacquers make beams and floors look good and last longer. Fire retardant coatings in communal areas of buildings, or intumescent coatings on steel, help slow the spread of fire and delay structural collapse. High-performance and protective coatings on large-scale infrastructure, such as bridges, protect against the elements and extend the time required between maintenance. And, increasingly, new types of coatings are even helping buildings use less energy by improving thermal performance and reducing heat absorption.
Coatings are used in many more indirect ways in construction too. From architects and designers using inks and colours, to vehicles relying on coatings to prevent rust and improve performance. There are scratch-resistant coatings on safety glasses, specialist coatings for batteries, the inks and coatings on food packaging that keep your lunch fresh, and inks that allow you to read the instructions for a new piece of kit. Anti-microbial coatings are crucial in hospitals, and coatings serve as integral elements in new energy infrastructure, like wind turbines or solar panels.
Coatings do so much essential work across the whole of the economy. Almost every solid object has a coating which is designed to preserve and protect, improve functionality, make things look better, or a combination of all those things. From your living room to satellites and aircraft, from anti-corrosion technology on your car to anti-fouling technologies on ships – coatings are an essential part of everyday life.
We’d love for you to connect with us on LinkedIn and join the conversation about coatings using the hashtag #WorldPaintAndCoatingsWeek. For more information on how coatings impact our lives, check out the BCF website at www.coatings.org.uk.