As military and infrastructure construction continue to rise in Hawai‘i, the coating and painting industry is ramping up, too.
“Much of the state’s infrastructure is aging and in need of ongoing maintenance and protective upkeep, which will continue to drive demand for high-performance coatings,” says Nick Sonoda, HPM Building Supply director of paint. “Military facilities across the islands — including naval bases, Coast Guard stations and dry docks — require specialized coatings to protect against the unique combination of salt water, humidity and heavy operational use.”
Contractors and clients are looking for higher durability and longer integrity. Both coating and paint formulas and application technology are steadily filling that demand through developing new products and building upon existing materials.
Evolving Formula Demands
“For infrastructure projects, two-component epoxies and urethanes, such as those from Benjamin Moore’s High Performance line, are the most popular coatings,” Sonoda says. “These formulas are significantly more durable than standard exterior building paints and are engineered to withstand severe environmental conditions, including prolonged sun exposure, heavy rain, salt air and chemical exposure.”
Tnemec, Sonoda says, consistently offers innovative formulas built for heavy industrial use, such as their anti-condensation, thermal-break Aerolon coating line designed for marine and humid environments.
Sustainable production is also keeping pace, as environmentally friendly formulas are now becoming job scope standards.
“Architectural paints and coatings that are lower in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been available for some time,” Sonoda emphasizes. “That momentum is now extending into industrial coatings and infrastructure applications as well and manufacturers are developing low- to zero-VOC options that help contractors meet environmental regulations while still delivering the performance these projects require.”
Stressing Jobsite Safety
ACK Vice President Brian Niitani oversaw all field and office operations at the jobsite. “Construction logistics were a constant challenge,” he says. “The building footprint took up nearly the entire available workspace, leaving very little room to maneuver,” adding that construction barricades “had to be continuously relocated to balance the needs of both active construction and the school’s daily operations.”
The campus only had one access point off Laau Street, which meant that entry to the construction site, including for delivery of materials, had to be coordinated around peak traffic hours when the school’s entrance was congested with student drop-offs and pick-ups, as well as other campus events, according to Niitani.
“Drone-assisted pressure washing is emerging as a safer, more efficient option for surface preparation, particularly for hard-to-reach areas on elevated structures,” says Sonoda.
According to a survey conducted by the National Safety Council, “19% of workers indicated that drones are relevant to their role in preventing serious workplace injuries or fatalities. Employees in utilities (31%) and construction (30%) found the technology most relevant compared to other industries.”
“Recent developments in drones and robotic crawlers for surface preparation and coating application have begun to generate interest in the industrial coatings industry nationwide,” Ibara explains. “These technologies have the potential to reduce hazards for painters, such as falls and exposure to harmful solvents and chemicals in confined spaces.”
Experimental Products Enter the Market
More experimental technologies are also being explored, such as “smart coatings,” Ibara says, meant to provide early detection of corrosion through embedded nanotechnology that monitors structural integrity in real-time.
“Some also have self-healing properties that release anti-corrosion components when exposed to specific external conditions,” he adds.
But innovations like these are not yet a jobsite standard because they are in their infancy, so “it may be years before they become cost-efficient for typical infrastructure projects,” says Ibara.
However, Sonoda says that other innovations are readily available and are appearing more frequently on jobsites.
“New spray gun technology includes enhanced triggers that operate faster and deliver a more consistent spray pattern with less spitting, improving both efficiency and finish quality,” he shares. “Battery-powered paint sprayers, such as Graco units that run on 20V DeWalt batteries, are becoming more common on jobsites, giving contractors greater mobility and faster setup without the need for compressors or long hose runs.”
Keeping Busy
Infrastructure and new builds are not slowing down locally and providers are looking to expand their inventory to meet growing demand.
“There’s strong demand for products like Tnemec across Hawai‘i, and we’re exploring ways to grow our offerings in that area to better serve contractors working on large-scale infrastructure projects,” says Sonoda. “As the state continues investing in maintaining and upgrading aging infrastructure, we see many opportunities to be a stronger local resource for industrial-grade coatings to support our customers.”
HPM is witnessing this demand first-hand, as Sonoda reports the company is working on warehouse and commercial flooring projects, as well as “several infrastructure projects across Hawai‘i, including protective coating systems for bridges as well as large water tanks on a military base and within a national park on Hawai‘i island.”
As this demand continues to grow, Sonoda predicts more “industrial-grade coatings” will enter the local market moving forward.
