Dow Thailand Group, the global leader in material science is establishing its advanced protective coating products in Southeast Asia and Thailand, bringing a variety of unique and diverse properties to floor and roof surfaces. When applied in appropriate settings, these technologies can also contribute to a projects sustainability profile and meet green building criteria.
In a recent interview with Mr. Jarrod Trusler – Marketing Manager for Dow Polyurethanes (PU), he explained that Dow’s protective coating range is highly diverse in where it they can be applied, and allows for flexibility in application method dependent on project requirements. Moreover, many products substantial has less or non-detectable Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) content allowing them to conform to international environmental and sustainability standards.
Jarrod described details of the protective coating products under trade names of TRAFFIDECK™ and VERDISEAL™ as diverse technologies for many types of construction & infrastructure projects, from transportation systems, sea ports, cold storages and warehouses, to sport stadiums and rooftop gardens.
TRAFFIDECK™ systems are very versatile and can be used to create a wide variety of flooring surfaces on many different substrate types, including concrete, metal, wood and bitumen to name the most common. These products can provide a lot of different benefits such as simply creating a long lasting, heavy duty coating which protects the substrate or structure, to non-slip surfaces to the with varying textures and elasticities. Some practical examples of where these high performing coatings have been applied include sea ports or ship decks which experience heavy loadbearing traffic and need to provide non-slip qualities to enhance the safety profile, or applied to car or passenger bridges which require the coating to have strong elastic qualities to be able to move with the structure.
“We are able to help project owners, specifiers or applicators understand the different coatings layers needed to be applied to create the types of the floor their project needs. We can help them identify what is the best and most cost effective for them depending on the qualities they want to achieve,” Jarrod said.
“A key benefit of having the right flooring solution is its ability to enhance safety. Choosing the right coating and aggregate to make a non-slip surface can be very effective in mitigating slips and fall. This is very relevant when looking at projects that relate to the aging population, as an example. There is a strong point to be made about is choosing the right surface coating that’s fit for purpose and that best suits the population, or traffic, that will be using it,” Mr. Jarrod pointed out.
The TRAFFIDECK™ series has been used by Dow and their partners many geographies around the world. Recently, the technology was applied during the construction of the new International Olympics Committee’s (IOC) Headquarters in Switzerland. The TRAFFIDECK™ coating system used contributed towards the project’s overall sustainability profile and was able to contribute toward LEED credits in order to achieve the building’s Platinum status, Jarrod revealed.
“The Olympics’ HQ is the great showcases. As we introduce this technology more broadly in Asia Pacific and SE Asia, we looking forward to see what exciting opportunities for collaboration exist as the construction and infrastructure market continues strong.”
The VERDISEAL™ series is a similar range of coating technology which has been used around the world for roof garden projects to provide a protective structure before establishing the garden on top of the building. This product is seen having a potential growth in SE Asia whereby rooftop gardening is increasingly prevalent. In Thailand, it is becoming more and more common to think about rooftop garden in the building design process, Mr. Jarrod commented.
The VERDISEAL™ protective coating serves multiple purposes when applied to a roof before the garden is installed. The most important is to create a hard to penetrate barrier which to prevent damage to the roof and result in water leakage. The VERDISEAL™ series are also high durable, elastomeric and heavy loadbearing, and when applied correctly can prevent plant roots from damaging or penetrating the coating, which ultimately protects the concrete and the roof itself.
Apart from these innovative coating technologies, Dow offers binding technology under the HYPOL™ series that can be used to make stabilized growth media for the agriculture and horticulture industry, including roof gardens. HYPOL™ technology binds together with soil and other growth enhancing ingredients to create a product that boosts growth performance and can help increase productivity. HYPOL™ binders provide the growth media with increased hydrophilicity and porosity which allow the substrate to hold more water. This essentially allows the garden to capture and store more water within the matrix, meaning the garden can be watered less therefore reducing the maintenance required.
“While this technology would be new for Asia Pacific, we would draw on our application knowledge from its use in the North America market to apply it locally,” Jarrod said.
Dow’s Polyurethanes team can provide more details on TRAFFIDECK™, VERDISEAL™ and HYPOL™ products and support their application here in Southeast Asia.
