Sustainable Outcomes of Long-Life Coatings

About this course.

Durable, long-life coatings deliver sustainability benefits because a coating that lasts longer is recoated less often, and each recoat that is avoided saves the materials, energy, emissions, waste, labour, access and disruption that a repaint would consume — so extending coating life reduces environmental impact and whole-of-life cost at the same time. The short answer is that durability is a sustainability factor in its own right: the greenest coat of paint is frequently the one you do not have to reapply for many years, and thinking about a coating over the building's whole life, rather than only at the point of purchase, is the foundation of getting sustainable outcomes from coatings. This module sets out why longevity matters environmentally and introduces the life-cycle thinking that runs through the course.

The repeat-impact problem. Every time a surface is recoated, a whole set of impacts recurs. New coating must be manufactured (raw materials, energy, transport). The recoat releases emissions on application (including VOCs, covered in Module 4) and exposes workers and occupants. It generates waste — leftover product and empty containers. It consumes labour and access — the time of the applicators and often significant access equipment such as scaffolding, elevated work platforms or rope access on tall or difficult buildings. And it causes disruption — closing or restricting the use of the space, moving occupants, halting operations. A coating that needs redoing every few years incurs all of this repeatedly; a coating that lasts many years defers or avoids the repeats. Because the access and disruption on many buildings cost far more than the paint itself, a longer-lasting coating can save a great deal even if it costs more per litre.