PHOTOS COURTESY CRYSTAL WINDOWS
The advantages of powder coating are numerous for aluminum building products. Powder coating offers excellent finish, strong performance, and customization, while providing a more environmentally sustainable and cost-effective solution for long-term durability. These advantages are crucial to the architectural industry since environmental concerns and building construction and maintenance costs are ever-increasing. All building aluminum architectural elements such as window or door frames, storefront systems, curtain wall structures, facade panels, railings, fencing, column covers, light fixtures, and other decorative components are enhanced with powder coating finish.
Powder coating has been popular for the architectural sector in Europe since the 1970s when environmental issues began moving to the forefront in the design and construction industries. Increasingly over the past two decades, design and construction professionals in the U.S. and other parts of the world have started to embrace powder coating for the built environment. This is primarily due to coating technology improvements making powder coating of aluminum superior to wet paint finishing in most applications, as well as the drive for greater sustainability and cost containment in manufacturing processes.
Powder coating’s surge in architectural sustainability
With enhanced awareness within the design and construction community of the benefits, powder coating for aluminum architectural products has enjoyed substantial growth in recent years. As cities and states across the country enact more aggressive environmental codes and architects specify products with greater sustainability in building design, building product manufacturers are evaluating cradle-to-grave implications of their products. For aluminum product finishing processes, powder coating offers substantial environmental benefits over liquid paint finishes, including:
- Low volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and no toxic compounds in powder coatings.
- Single coat factory application and no jobsite application required.
- Powder overspray reclamation and reuse.
- Non-chrome pretreatment of aluminum.
- Superior scratch, weather, and corrosion resistance for long-term durability.
- Superior color and gloss retention.
- Lower temperature curing with lower energy costs.
- No hazardous production waste.
- U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommended.
- LEED point contribution.
Building product manufacturers that have experience with powder coating operations, especially with their own powder coating facilities, can provide valuable insights and recommendations to architects, specifiers, developers, and contractors on the types of finishes available.
Choosing the right powder coating equipment
Powder coating equipment comes in horizontal and vertical configurations, each with benefits. Horizontal powder coat systems permit even coating of large flat components, such as shutters and panels, or smaller components such as fence caps and light fixtures regardless of orientation on the line. They are ideal for finishing companies handling smaller batch jobs, shorter lengths of aluminum extrusions, and frequent color changes. They are also well suited for production facilities with limited ceiling height, without the same level of
capital investment required for vertical powder coat systems.
Vertical powder coating lines offer faster production speeds, can handle longer components, and require less floor space for pre-treatment, powder application, and drying than horizontal lines. They do require significantly greater ceiling heights however, as much as 15.2-m (50-ft) ceiling heights to accommodate the vertical conveyors and longer extrusion profiles. Vertical lines are most cost effective for finishers with high volume, large batch jobs.
Supplier partnerships
Building strong relationships with powder suppliers and application equipment manufacturers is critical for powder coating finishers. Larger experienced powder suppliers can provide state-of-the-art formulations and essential on-site technical support, keeping operations flowing smoothly and efficiently.
Experienced suppliers can also help powder coat finishers handle supply chain challenges, such as the growing competition across many other industries for resin raw materials, which are used to formulate both liquid and powder paint. Products such as solar panels used to power smaller products, medical devices, electronic equipment, and Lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles also use resin and this puts tremendous strain on resin component availability. This primarily impacts liquid paint supply, which can require five times the high-demand resin components as powder coating.
The future of powder coating for facade products
Facade product powder coating will continue to grow due to its superior performance and “green” characteristics. Architects are increasingly aware that powder coating can perform well in even the most severe climates—harsh sun, salt air and spray, and temperature extremes—and they will continue to specify powder coating to protect aluminum windows and other facade elements. Building product manufacturers will seek powder coating fabricators certified for AAMA durability performance standards 2603, 2604, and 2605 to meet this demand. They will also promote their powder coated products as the more sustainable choice, helping building construction and renovation projects earn LEED points and meet sustainability goals across the country, with independent lab testing to demonstrate the powder coating finish level of aluminum architectural products. The future for architectural product powder coating is bright.
Steve Chen directs the operations and strategic growth of national manufacturer Crystal Window & Door Systems. As the second-generation leader of this family owned business, he has successfully expanded Crystal’s operation with five production facilities across the U.S., and customers in nearly every state.
