Nippon Paint introduces COOL-TEC cool coatings, reducing overall outdoor temperatures, in line with the government’s efforts to mitigate rising temperatures

22 November 2021 — In recent years, climate change and global warming have become increasingly urgent concerns. In countries like Singapore, the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, a phenomenon where pavements, buildings, and other surfaces in cities absorb and retain heat, is compounded by the warm tropical climate and the heat generated by air-conditioner compressors. These factors have contributed to Singapore’s mean surface air temperature increasing at more than double the global average rate. As cited by Singapore Management University climate scientist Winston Chow, temperatures above 35°C in Singapore would result in an uncomfortable experience for humans and even our native flora and fauna. If left unchecked, the temperature in Singapore will continue to rise and cause severe public health. Nippon Paint’s COOL-TEC cool coating range is thus a means the brand has anticipated and fulfilled this market need to combat rising temperatures, underscoring the brand’s leading role in offering innovative functional paints and coatings.

Nippon Paint’s COOL-TEC range is Singapore’s first complete range of cooling coatings for exterior walls, roofs and roads. Paints in the COOL-TEC range adopt innovative solar reflective technology that reflects solar radiation and emission on the painted surfaces back into the atmosphere without warming the surrounding air. Each surface type (e.g. walls, roofs and roads) requires different paint system specifications, of which Nippon Paint has optimised for. E.g. It’s important to have waterproofing properties for roof coating and non-slip properties for roads. Nippon Paint’s COOL-TEC cool coatings are fast-drying, easy to apply, environmentally friendly, low-odour and non-toxic. 

Nippon Paint’s COOL-TEC cool coatings have been shown to reduce roofs’ surface temperatures by up to 22°C, external walls’ surface temperatures by up to 2°C, and roads’ surface temperatures by up to 9°C. When applied as a total cool coating system, it is observed to derive a cooler air temperature of 2.49°C. 

What this cooler air temperature translates to is a wide range of inter-connected benefits including cooler indoor temperatures (decreased reliance on air conditioners, thus more energy savings), improved occupant comfort, and lowered carbon emissions. It is also very much in line with Singapore Green Plan 2030 to reduce carbon emissions. One could deduce that when Nippon Paint’s COOL-TEC cool coatings are applied on a larger scale, more people in the community can enjoy the improved thermal comfort. 

To date, Nippon Paint’s COOL-TEC cool coatings range has been successfully applied on a number of public, residential, commercial and industrial buildings. These include National Heart Centre, Temasek Club, Hwa Chong Institution Sports Complex Costa Del Sol, Regency Suites, E-Bridge Infant Care & Preschool at Sengkang, Keppel DC Singapore 3 (T27) Data Centre and Woodlands Hospital. 

The COOL-TEC cool coating range comprises SolaReflect, an acrylic-based cool paint for exterior walls; SolaReflect Si, a silicon-based cool paint for exterior walls; SolaReflect Roof-Seal Waterproofing; and SolaReflect CoolFloor, a multi-part coating system for exterior roads and pavements. This complements Nippon Paint’s existing offerings of firstin-market products that have transformed consumer mindsets and radically raised the bar of the paint industry. These include Nippon Paint VirusGuard+, Singapore’s first antiviral paint, and MozzieGuard, the market’s first anti-Aedes mosquito paint.

Established in 1962, Nippon Paint Singapore is the leading paint manufacturer in Singapore. Today, it is wholly owned by Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd., - Japan’s first and largest paint company with 140 years of history. 

Firmly positioned at the vanguard of innovation, Nippon Paint Singapore has built its reputation on anticipating market needs and developing technologically advanced paint products that provide a range of functions in addition to decoration and protection. Its stellar track record includes a list of first-in-market products that have changed consumer mindsets and radically raised the bar of standards towards paint. 

Leading the market in the rapidly emerging ‘COOL-TEC’ cool coating category, Nippon Paint Singapore’s SolaReflect was the first solar heat-reflective exterior wall paint in Singapore. It continues to gain market share, cooling down buildings, improving occupants’ comfort and mitigating the much-publicised Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect that is causing Singapore to heat up at twice the rate of the rest of the world. In anticipation of escalating market demand, and aligned with the Singapore Government’s ambitious sustainability goals, Nippon Paint Singapore has developed the nation's first solar reflective cool floor coatings to pair with the exterior wall and roof paints to create a cool community housing estate. 

Guided by its core values of integrity and resourcefulness, and driven by an obsession with excellence in all its endeavours, Nippon Paint Singapore is committed to delivering innovative products and services that protect and beautify the built environment without harming the natural environment. It continues to relentlessly pursue research and development, investing heavily in formulating functional paints and coatings that show the world the wonders that paint can do.