Life Specialty Coatings has developed an infra-red heat-reflective coating system called Cool Armor IR sytem.

Photo courtesy of Life Specialty Coatings

Life Specialty Coatings, a third-generation family-owned high-performance coatings manufacturer, has developed an infra-red heat-reflective coating system called Cool Armor IR System that can cool down local school pavements (Playgrounds) by up to 30%.

The company, Life Specialty Coatings, is capable of producing thousands of different colors of heat-reflective coatings and has been working with largest school district in the United States to cover existing black-top asphalt and concrete surfaces in a variety of colors with heat-reflective coating material. Life Specialty Coatings representatives were contacted in late 2022 when the Los Angeles-based school¡¯s asphalt reached record temperatures of over 130-150+ Degrees Fahrenheit, potentially impeding students' ability to continue outdoor activities at various schools. The district released a plan to reduce the heat on school properties where black asphalt had a predisposition for heat retention.

Los Angeles-based Painters Union hosted the company to educate union-associated contractors on the innovative heat reflective system, which has garnered and piqued interest from Los Angeles County and neighboring districts outside of Southern California, including districts on California¡¯s central coast and Arizona, where summer peak time temperature is near or over 100 Degrees Fahrenheit. ¡°The Life Specialty Coatings team trained over 50 different contractor groups in Los Angeles County on applying the product for hundreds of schools across numerous districts. They showed us how to reduce the temperature by over 30% through inferred reflective technology, which should help protect the students and reduce the urban heat island effect by cooling down the city,¡± said David Lopez, Business Representative for the Los Angeles Painters Union.

¡°The product is actually an eco-friendly product and has no solvents in it,¡± said Life Specialty Coatings VP Sales, Joseph Benson. Very few family-owned and operated paint companies are left in the United States, and we have developed a coating to help the district protect their students, save money on AC costs, and fight climate change.¡±