The Environmentally Responsible Choice
Looking to reduce embodied carbon?
The World Green Building Council issued a report in 2019 stating that the built environment contributes to 39% of global emissions. In the past decade the building industry has focused heavily on reducing operational carbon. Initiatives like net- zero and LEED have resulted in a lower carbon footprint of the overall built- environment. In practice these initiatives have uncovered new opportunities for action. The materials and the value chains of those materials that are used to construct buildings have their own carbon footprint- and it is significant. It is estimated that 11% of global emissions can be traced back to the carbon footprint of the materials used to construct the built environment.
This piece of the sustainability equation, often called embodied carbon, is an emerging area of focus for green building activities. Heavy focus is currently directed at materials with the largest embodied carbon like concrete and steel, but every effort to reduce embodied carbon counts. Often overlooked are the finishes used on both facades and interiors of the building. While the amount of coating needed on a storefront may be relatively small, the superior performance extrusion coating needed for the hundreds of lineal feet of curtain wall is not, and can make a difference.
Currently, curtain wall facades are finished in one of three ways: anodizing, liquid PVDF, or powder FEVE. Both liquid and powder architectural coatings meet and exceed the AAMA 2605 performance standard typically specified for large commercial building facades. FEVE Fluoropolymer powders, like IFS 500FP, have long had EPDs that help meet the LEED Material Resource credit, with some liquids eventually following suit. The difference comes in when assessing the overall carbon footprint of producing and applying the finish. Liquid PVDF coatings are supplied in organic solvents, often called VOCs or Volatile Organic Compounds. In a factory application of the coating, these VOCs are emitted into the atmosphere. While they are often “scrubbed” of their toxic chemical composition, CO² is one of the primary breakdown products. FEVE powder coatings are not supplied or applied in solvents. They are non-emitting, and this rather significant piece of the carbon footprint is eliminated. Using a finish with a lower carbon footprint on your building reduces the embodied carbon of that building.
Of course, there are many other sustainability advantages to using FEVE Fluoropolymer powders on your project, from the ability to reclaim, reuse or recycle, to the lack of toxic waste created – and many more in between. As we delve more into embodied carbon, it’s exciting to see how powder can yet again deliver technical performance, great aesthetics, and a more environmentally responsible choice.
The building construction and design community continues to engage in strategies to improve the sustainability profile of the built environment. Specifying a non-emitting finish, like superior or high performance architectural powder coatings, is one step that can make a difference.
Learn more about the different grades of architectural powders.
Talk to an architectural coatings professional.