Korean paint firms eye cool paint market amid extreme heat

Noroo Paint & Coatings Co.’s Energy Saver Cool Wall for building exteriors. [Courtesy of Noroo Paint & Coatings]

As scorching heat waves engulf South Korea this summer, local paint companies are directing their efforts towards the cool paint market.

Cool paints, designed to reflect solar heat and prevent surface temperature rise while blocking heat transmission indoors, have garnered increasing demand, driven by soaring summer temperatures due to global warming and rising electricity costs. During winter, these paints also enhance heating efficiency by preventing indoor heating from escaping outside.

According to sources on Monday, the Korean cool paint market is estimated to be worth around 50 billion won ($39 million) annually and has been steadily growing by over 20 percent each year, thanks to the highlighted advantages of reduced energy costs.

Samhwa Paints Industrial Co. is making strides in the functional paint market with its energy-saving cool paint. The company’s Cool & Save paint designed for architectural purposes contains special pigments with heat-blocking properties. This paint is known to reduce exterior wall temperatures by up to 40 percent during the summer.

The product received certification from the U.S. Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC), a specialized organization for energy-saving paint accreditation.

The company recently launched Biroad Cool, a methyl methacrylate (MMA) paint brand designed for floors and roads in preparation for this summer. This product applies special pigments that reflect infrared rays and is ideal for use in parking lots, school zones, bus stops, vehicle and bicycle lanes, and parks. In testing conducted by Korea Conformity Laboratories (KCL), the infrared reflectance of Biroad Cool was found to be 28 percent higher than that of regular products.

KCC, another major paint company, offers Supro cool paint for exterior walls and roofs, as well as MMA resin paint for pedestrian roads. The Supro cool paint utilizes water-soluble special acrylic resin, which, in internal evaluations, recorded temperatures up to 10 degrees lower compared to regular products like cement and waterproof coatings. This paint finds applications not only in urban buildings but also in difficult-to-install air-conditioned facilities such as barns, silos, and logistics warehouses.

Noroo Paint & Coatings Co. focuses on two major products - Energy Saver Cool Wall for building exteriors and Energy Saver Cool Roof for rooftops. The former received cool wall certification from CRRC in March this year. Noroo Paint anticipated a 10 percent increase in sales for both products compared to the previous year.

As heatwaves intensify, the demand for Noroo Paint’s shading agent, Energy Saver, used in greenhouses and barns, is also on the rise. This product functions by utilizing starch and other substances to achieve its shading effect, lowering interior temperatures in barns and greenhouse walls and roofs by up to 5 degrees to protect crops and livestock from the sweltering heat.