Kansai Paint Launches New Paint that Can Cut Power Costs by 40%

Kansai Paint Co., a Japanese manufacturer of paints and coatings, announced on April 26, 2011, that it has developed a new type of paint with high solar reflectance called "Alescool." Simply applying this paint, the company says, can help cut electric power cost of air conditioning by 40 percent during summer in Japan. The paint will go on sale across Japan through Kansai Paint's affiliated sales company.

Alescool is a new coating system that efficiently reflects sunlight (infrared light) with its paint film, thus reducing the thermal heat produced on a roof. Kansai Paint's research into thermal barrier mechanisms led the company to mix a special raw material that is effective in reflecting sunlight not only into its topcoat but also into its undercoat, thus establishing a method to double-block the sunlight.

As a result, thermal barrier performance has made considerable progress, realizing a new industry standard. A simulation test for Alescool's energy saving effect showed that: 1) it can reduce a roof's surface temperature by around 10 to 20 degrees Celsius in mid-summer, 2) it can reduce electricity costs for maintaining a comfortable room temperature by a maximum of 40 percent and, 3) decreased power consumption can also cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by up to 40 percent.

The high solar-reflective coating system comes in five lines of products for topcoats and two lines for undercoats for various intended uses and expected service lifetimes.

Posted: 2011/08/10 06:00:15 AM