Eastman Chemical Company has long been involved in the building and construction industry, supplying products that find their way into high-quality paints, adhesives and sealants, asphalt compounds, coatings, flooring finishes, glazing material and roofing. At the 2014 International Builders’ Show this week, the company is highlighting several of its products and technologies that make building products cleaner, greener, longer-lasting and easier to use.
Five different Eastman businesses are represented in the booth (C1053), giving show guests an overview of the company’s depth in the building and construction market. Interactive displays and installation demonstrations help illustrate the effectiveness of Eastman innovations.
“We are dedicated to the building and construction industry, especially in the development of innovative material solutions that solve the market's most challenging problems,” said Tim Dell, vice president of innovation, marketing and sales for Eastman. “Our businesses at the Builders’ Show provide just a snapshot into the exceptional performance, quality and durability for which Eastman products are known.”
The products and technology represented at the show include: Eastman Cerfis™ technology for interior trim and millwork products; LLumar® and EnerLogic® window films; Eastman Texanol™ ester alcohol and Eastman Optifilm™ additives for architectural coatings; Heat Mirror® Insulating Glass; non-phthalate plasticizers, and adhesive resins and polymers.
Cerfis technology
A revolutionary coating system that combines process, equipment, and chemistry to create coated products with unmatched precision, consistent quality, and durable beauty, Cerfis technology lets manufacturers “start with the finish.”
By letting manufacturers rethink products from the outside in, Cerfis technology helps create products that stand out in the marketplace. Dimensions and profiles can be manufactured to precise tolerances using a variety of substrates and coating materials. The resulting products are cost-effective and sustainable, providing lasting beauty and functionality.
Cerfis technology is currently used on Finished Elegance® interior moulding, a durable interior trim product line with a silky smooth, white, finished surface that needs no painting prior to or after installation. Trimming out a home is simply a matter of cutting, installing and caulking. And because Cerfis also increases the dimensional stability of the wood substrate used for Finished Elegance, contractors can minimize waste due to warped or twisted boards and realize material-cost savings.
LLumar® and EnerLogic® window films
LLumar window films help increase comfort, decrease energy requirements, beautify windows, reduce fading and glare, and improve safety. Architects, designers, building managers and home-owners depend on LLumar for simple and cost-effective solutions to an assortment of window-related problems. The LLumar product portfolio includes:
- LLumar Solar Control Films
- LLumar Decorative and Privacy Films
- LLumar Safety and Security Films
LLumar energy-saving film smoothly adheres to the interior surface of existing windows. When professionally installed, LLumar window film:
- Lowers home cooling costs by an average of 40 percent*
- Provides up to 84 percent solar energy heat rejection*
- Shields up to 99 percent of the sun’s ultraviolet rays to help protect home furnishings from fading
- Reduces glare
*For homes with single-pane clear windows
Booth visitors can observe how easily LLumar window film installs at live demonstrations held throughout the run of the show.
LLumar energy-saving film enables remodelers to provide an affordable option to their customers who want to reduce uncomfortable solar heat and cut cooling costs without replacing their windows.
For four-season climates, Eastman’s patented EnerLogic low-e window film reduces heat loss through windows in winter and heat gain in summer by improving glass-insulating performance by as much as 92 percent. EnerLogic window film helps provide savings on cooling and heating costs, saving significantly on a home’s total annual energy expenditures. An interactive display will allow booth visitors to feel the difference EnerLogic window film can make on reducing heat gain and loss.
Eastman plasticizers
For more than 50 years, Eastman has produced innovative plasticizers that are used in a variety of markets, including building products. Eastman’s non-phthalate plasticizers can be found in many applications in the building and construction industry including flooring products like luxury vinyl tile, PVC-backed carpet, resilient flooring, cove moulding, and vinyl composite tile. In addition, many construction adhesives, sealants, and caulks have performance benefits due to the addition of Eastman plasticizers. Eastman offers the broadest portfolio of non-phthalate plasticizers in the industry, delivering the needed levels of flexibility and performance into finished products across a wide spectrum of end markets.
Recent announcements by major flooring manufacturers stating their intention to be phthalate free in their vinyl flooring reflect customers demand to improve their indoor environments. With a 40 year history of performance, Eastman 168™ non-phthalate plasticizer is the industry-leading replacement for phthalate plasticizers.
The company will highlight several families of plasticizers at IBS, including:
- Eastman Effusion™ plasticizer, a fast-fusing solution that enables increased production line speeds and lower processing temperatures, allowing manufacturers to reduce their energy costs. It is ideal for resilient sheet flooring, luxury vinyl tile, vinyl composite tile, and PVC-backed carpet applications.
- Benzoflex™ RF-532 plasticizer is specifically designed for use in foam, clear or wear layers of resilient vinyl flooring applications. Used in the wear or clear layers, Benzoflex RF-532 imparts excellent stain and UV resistance.
- Eastman 168™ non-phthalate plasticizer, the industry standard general purpose non-phthalate plasticizer, with a 40-year history of use.
Eastman adhesives
Eastman adhesive resins and polymers are critical ingredients of the products in which they are found. From the rooftop to the concrete under the building, Eastman adhesives improve performance of building products including bitumen roofing, carpet tile, adhesives, sealants, plastic composites and concrete. With a wide range of solutions formulated to meet the needs of today’s manufacturers, Eastman is a leader in the global adhesive resin industry. Show visitors can learn about:
- Eastoflex™ amorphous polyolefins (APOs) used as waterproofing compounds for wire and cable-flooding applications and as asphalt modifiers for modified bitumen roofing membranes
- Eastotac™ hydrogenated hydrocarbon resins, which are used in applications where excellent color stability and low odor are critical
- Piccotac™ hydrocarbon resins, which are used in applications where compatibility with natural and synthetic rubbers is critical, such as assembly, pressure sensitive adhesive, rubber, asphalt modification, roofing and road paving
- Plastolyn™LV hydrocarbon resins that contribute to the manufacture of PVC-based products
Eastman Texanol and Optifilm additives
For more than, Eastman Texanol™ ester alcohol has been the industry standard for coalescents in architectural and protective coatings, providing the highest level of film integrity at low levels of coalescent. Eastman Texanol is suitable for all types of latex paints and maintains good performance regardless of varying weather conditions and substrate porosity. Through its longevity and success, Texanol served as the flagship product that led to a new generation of coalescents.
To address the market’s changing needs, Eastman now offers a variety of Eastman Optifilm™ additives for low-VOC paint, including:
- Eastman Optifilm enhancer 400, a very low-VOC, low-odor coalescent that is compatible with a variety of latex types and maintains a good balance of performance properties
- Eastman Optifilm enhancer 300, an efficient, low-odor, low-toxicity coalescent for latex paints and considered a VOC in North America
- Eastman Optifilm additive OT1200, which uniquely improves the application properties of paint through improved workability and longer open time over a range of application conditions
Heat Mirror® Insulating Glass (IG)
Originally developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Heat Mirror IG suspends one or more lightweight films inside the airspace of an insulating glass unit to create multiple “super-insulating” cavities. The films use nanoscale coatings of metal to reflect heat back to its source. Eastman’s wholly owned subsidiary, Southwall Technologies, offers Heat Mirror Multi-Cavity IG, which creates up to four airtight cavities, enabling “windows that insulate like walls” and delivering a thermal performance up to R20 (.05 U-value). It far surpasses the performance of even triple-pane glazing.
This innovative technology was used to retrofit all 6,500 windows of the Empire State Building, contributing to the building’s LEED Gold Certified comprehensive energy retrofit plan, and reducing the windows’ solar heat gain by 50 percent and increasing R values by 400 percent (R2 to R8).
Made in the U.S.A., Heat Mirror IG is a lightweight, drop-in upgrade for existing window systems. The technology can be combined with a wide range of glass types and gas fills allowing consumers and architects to choose the right levels of insulation, visible light and solar control for their specific needs. It qualifies for the ENERGY STAR® “Most Efficient” window category, is certified by Passive House Institute US, and is backed by a 20-year warranty.