The Master Painter Australia - April 2016 Vol. 1 | Page 49

A cooler environment?
No sweat!

INFRACOTE ™ - INFRARED REFLECTIVE COATING
Infracote uses technology to reflect
the sun’s radiation away from the
roof surface.
It works by targeting the invisible infrared portion of
the sun’s radiation which means coated surfaces stay
cooler and last longer than a coating that absorbs it.

Total Solar Reflectance

The sun’s radiation is spread across
visible (colour we see) and invisible (mainly
infrared) wavelengths.
Touch a dark coloured roof or car when
it has been in the sun for a while and it’s
quite hot. In fact, some dark coloured
roofing can reach temperatures of over
90 degrees.
Roof surfaces capture enormous amounts
of the sun’s radiation due to their large
surface area and angle of exposure.
Given the effect dark roof colours have
on house interior temperature, as well as
its energy efficiency, it is surprising then
that dark colours make up more than
70% of the colours used in our suburbs.

An effective method to measure a coatings
reflective capability is to measure its Total Solar
Reflectance (TSR). TSR figures are values that express in
numerical terms the total solar reflectance of a given
surface and are usually expressed as a percentage (%).
The higher the percentage, the more effective the
coating is at reflecting the sun’s radiation. The surface
temperature of a coating can vary greatly when
influenced by such things as cloud cover and wind.
Maintaining solar reflectance is directly related to
the surface remaining clean. Infracote incorporates
nanotechnology so that the surface of the film
cross-links around nano-particles to enhance the
coatings dirt-shedding capabilities.

To prevent the roof space heating up
in the first place you need to reflect
heat away from the roof surface. While,
white and light coloured roofs are the
best choice for reflecting the sun’s heat,
they are not always practical or in some
cases, not allowed by Council planning
regulations.

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