The house paints that promise much more than colour

Martin Zhu, CEO and co-founder, says the paint produced by i2Cool was tested on the roof of a shopping mall in Hong Kong, but only on one of its two buildings, to see if there was a noticeable effect in terms of reducing system operating costs air conditioning (AC) in this building.

“We used a power meter to measure the power consumption of the AC system,” says Dr. Zhu. The cost of running an air conditioner in a painted building has dropped by 40%, he adds.

Dr. Zhu first started working on the paint as a graduate student, and he mentions that early versions released around 2017 contained silver, making it very expensive—over $100,000 just to cover a small area. After years of development, the coating now costs about $10 per square meter. It is now also available in a variety of light colors including grey, yellow and green.

The researchers noted that highly reflective coatings for passive cooling must be resistant to dirt and contamination, for example, to prevent their effectiveness from declining over time. And glare from ultra-reflective roofs risks heating up nearby dark buildings. Proposed 2020 document, external.

i2Cool paint does not contain heavy metals and uses a water-based emulsion, and although it is not biodegradable, it can be recycled, says Dr. Zhu.

The company’s latest major project is Dubai Mall. The roof of this vast complex is largest shopping center in the world by total area, external – will be completely covered with paint over time. To date, a plot of 1000 sq.m. has been commissioned.

According to Dr. Zhu, the situation is not yet available in Europe, but the situation may change. “We are in talks with some distributors in the UK,” he says.