The Environmentally Responsible Choice
A West Coast view from East & West Alum Craft Ltd.
We talk about powder coating for curtain wall, façade, windows etc. all the time. At the end of the day we sell a lot of it and it’s a popular choice for architects wanting a performance coating that looks great and delivers on improving the sustainability footprint the practice wants.
One architectural item that powder has long been used on is aluminum guard railing. While many railing or fencing companies don’t always go as far as offering Fluoropolymer coating options (though many now do, as design professionals want the same performance characteristics for all their exterior elements, not to mention the ability to match or complement colors), there is a full range of exterior coatings that can deliver protection, performance and aesthetics to exterior railing and fencing.
Check out this new apartment building in Little Italy, San Diego, CA.
Sleek, stylish and with great views out across the bay, the Savina is now the desired location in the city. Just image relaxing on your balcony after work, cool drink in hand, warm sun on your skin, looking out over a sparkling blue ocean.
What you don’t want in that picture is ugly, non-matching paint that suffers from performance failure and fades or rusts.
East & West Alum Craft Ltd. works hard to ensure that doesn’t happen. They powder coated the aluminum guard railings that were installed on the Savina building. Phillipsburg Blue SRSL 122854 was chosen by the architect to complement the exterior design and deliver hard working exterior performance from the bright California sun and salty San Diego Air.
Super Durable powder coatings are a great value option for this environment. As the name suggests, they offer improved durability over a standard polyester and will meet and exceed the performance requirements of AAMA 2604. This includes far exceeding the 1500 hours G85 salt spray test and five year Florida test – in fact up to a 10 year warranty is available on aluminum when super durables are applied by a Registered Applicator.
East & West Alum Craft Ltd. fabricate and coat thousands of feet of Aluminum Guard Railings every year. The aluminum is carefully cleaned and pretreated to aid corrosion protection and then the powder coating is applied.
Tony Dente from East & West Alum Craft Ltd. Explains, “we understand the value that a high performance finish applied to our Aluminum Guard Railings delivers in terms of protection from these harsh exterior conditions. And of course they have to look good. Working with IFS allows us to take the needs of the architect and project developer into account and deliver beautifully matched powders creating a quality finish and hard working protection.”
Over the years East & West Alum Craft Ltd. have seen the increase in design professionals looking for a more environmentally responsible choice without compromising on performance. Dente continues, “sustainable design is now part of every architectural practice and should therefore be on the radar of every architect and construction professional. It always surprises me how readily design professionals give up or even ignore potential sustainability improvements that are attained by moving to powder. At East & West Alum Craft Ltd. we can offer protection, excellent performance AND a more sustainable coating option through IFS powder coatings.”
