Steve Kawaja, President of IFS Coatings (www.ifscoatings.com), visited ABC’s Tijuana plant to present the formal results of a six month program of laboratory tests. ABC’s ability to meet AAMA 2603, 2604 and 2605 standards was confirmed, and a Certificate as being an Approved Applicator meeting these rigorous AAMA standards was presented to Wadih Kuri, President and CEO of ABC Aluminum Solutions and ABC Architectural.
The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (www.aamanet.org) was established in 1936 to regulate standards for paint and powder coating of materials used in the fenestration industry. Aluminum has for many years been the material of choice for architects, and specifiers in architectural design, to beautify buildings with curtain wall cladding, storefront, and windows and doors along with numerous other products and applications used in the construction industry.
AAMA has established rigorous standards for the protection afforded by either paint or powder and identifies/designates each standard with an AAMA number.
Paint containing Kynar also achieves AAMA 2605 standard – this standard indicates that the coating, whether paint or powder has been rigorously tested against the elements, weather abrasion, sunlight, humidity, even salt and chemicals from pollution in the air, and achieves minimal degradation over a 20 year timeframe and beyond. 2603 – 5 years and 2604 – 10 years.
Architects have traditionally specified paint with Kynar for applications because it is older technology and they are familiar with it, but advances in the science of powder coating have enabled powder to not just meet the 2605 standard but offer other benefits as well.
Powder has been the coating of choice across Europe for years now, in large part because powder coating is a much more environmentally friendly product and process. It is estimated that whilst Europe has 23 powder coating plants, there are just five in North America; and ABC has one of these.
Wadih Kuri said “we greatly appreciate this recognition, the culmination of almost a year’s hard work, in conjunction with the IFS team. Steve, we thank you for all your guidance and efforts on our behalf in bringing us to this point. I know your laboratory scientific team worked day and night over a long six months putting ABC’s coated extrusions through sand abrasion, heated salt steam and water exposure, humidity, ultraviolet and other tests in order to ensure ABC qualifies for, and meets the ultimate AAMA 2605 standard”.
Wadih added “three years ago when we ordered the new vertical paint plant, there was a tough decision to be made – paint or powder. Yet, the decision was a simple one too – powder has no solvents and does not use chrome-based pretreatment. Powder looks beautiful, stands up to the elements, but is a much greener product altogether. The pretreatment cleaning uses specially purified water and non-harmful additives and there are no solvents to go into the atmosphere, and no environmentally harmful primers; once the metal has been prepared / pretreated, powder coating is a single application process, a further benefit.
In our view, architects and specifiers will become increasingly convinced that powder is the coating of preference for the foreseeable future; it uncompromisingly meets the needs of LEED standards for green building and green products, and far more effectively than does paint with Kynar.
Steve, we are very pleased to be working with your team that includes Ken Nein and Fiona Levin; Fiona is every week presenting this message of the environmental benefits of powder over paint to architects through the ‘lunch and learn’ program that also adds credits to mandatory annual education requirements.
Again, thank you to all concerned at IFS Coatings for this certificate confirming that ABC’s powder coated extrusions meet the full AAMA2605 standard”.
