When it comes to durability, a 50-year building design ideally should include 50-year coatings. Many building products consume substantial amounts of energy, water, and petrochemicals during manufacture, but they can make up for it in the operations phase. The same should be expected from architectural coatings.
This course provides useful advice to design and construction professionals on how the best paints and coatings protect building components long enough to produce a net-positive savings. In addition, buildings should have a beneficial effect on human health, so if coatings release harmful chemicals those exposures should be minimal as compared to the salutary effects on occupants and neighbors over years of facility use.
This course will discuss how to assess the sustainability value of architectural coatings relative to their performance value to end-users.
After reading this article, you should be able to:
- List the sustainability and performance benefits of architectural coatings in general and for specific types of coating products.
- Discuss green standards, labeling programs, and statutory VOC requirements for coatings used in the United States.
- Describe the variables of paint and coating selection that impact sustainability and occupant health, safety, and welfare, including productivity and psychological benefits.
- Explain the impact of sustainability improvements on paint and coating selection.
Take this BD+C University course
Related Stories
| Oct 22, 2014
Customization is the key in tomorrow's workplace
The importance of mobility, flexibility, and sustainability in the world of corporate design are already well-established. A newer trend that’s gaining deserved attention is customizability, and how it will look in the coming years, writes GS&P's Leith Oatman.
| Oct 21, 2014
Passive House concept gains momentum in apartment design
Passive House, an ultra-efficient building standard that originated in Germany, has been used for single-family homes since its inception in 1990. Only recently has the concept made its way into the U.S. commercial buildings market.
| Oct 21, 2014
Hartford Hospital plans $150 million expansion for Bone and Joint Institute
The bright-white structures will feature a curvilinear form, mimicking bones and ligament.
| Oct 21, 2014
Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid release plans for resorts in Nanjing and Wuhan, China
Jumeirah Group, a hotel group forming a part of investment group Dubai Holding, has chosen Zaha Hadid and Norman Foster to design two of three of its proposed resorts in Nanjing, Wuhan, and Haikou.
| Oct 21, 2014
Inside LEED v4: The view from the MEP engineering seats
Much of the spirited discussion around LEED v4 has been centered on the Materials & Resources Credit. At least one voice in the wilderness is shouting for greater attention to another huge change in LEED: the shift to ASHRAE 90.1-2010 as the new reference standard for Energy & Atmosphere prerequisites and credits.
| Oct 21, 2014
Perkins Eastman white paper explores state of the senior living industry in the Carolinas
Among the experts interviewed for the white paper, there was a general consensus that the model for continuing-care retirement communities is changing, driven by both the changing consumers and more prevalent global interest on the effects of aging.
| Oct 20, 2014
Singapore Sports Hub claims world's largest free-spanning dome
The retractable roof, which measures a whopping 1,017-feet across, is made from translucent ETFE plastic panels supported with metal rigging that arches over the main pitch.
| Oct 20, 2014
Institute for young innovators breaks ground at the University of Utah
The five-story, 148,000-sf building is designed to function like a student union for entrepreneurs and innovators, with a 20,000-sf “garage” that will be open for any student to attend events, build prototypes, and launch companies.
| Oct 20, 2014
UK's best new building: Everyman Theatre wins RIBA Stirling Prize 2014
The new Everyman Theatre in Liverpool by Haworth Tompkins has won the coveted RIBA Stirling Prize 2014 for the best building of the year. Now in its 19th year, the RIBA Stirling Prize is the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize.
Sponsored | | Oct 19, 2014
The Exploration Tower in Port Canaveral dazzles visitors
With a mission to provide the experience of a lifetime, the Exploration Tower at Port Canaveral, Fla., is designed to inspire, as visitors learn about the history and nature of the port and beyond. SPONSORED CONTENT
