NEWS
Shepherd Color’s Arctic IR Reflective Pigment Technology
Pigments That Can Beat the Heat
The summer heat is building and intensifying as of late…staying cool has become more important than ever. That’s where The Shepherd Color Company’s Arctic IR reflective pigment technology comes in—designed to help beat the heat before it even starts. With nearly 50 years of innovation, Shepherd Color has equipped paint, coatings, and plastics companies with cutting-edge solutions to meet tough performance demands and regulatory standards.
Everyone is familiar with sunlight, but only about half of the sun’s energy is used to perceive color. While a small portion is in the highly damaging UV wavelengths, about half of the sun’s energy is in the invisible infrared wavelengths of light. Standard black pigments like carbon black absorb in the visible for dark colors and continue to absorb in the IR even though they are imperceptible to human vision but contribute greatly to heat build-up. Shepherd Color’s Arctic pigments are engineered to absorb in the visible for aesthetically pleasing color but reflect the invisible IR energy. The higher the Total Solar Reflectance (TSR), the less energy is absorbed, and materials can stay cooler.
Shepherd Color’s Arctic pigments are a special class of our highly-engineered inorganic color pigments that have set the standard when it comes to durable color for a wide range of materials and applications.
These applications include:
- PVC siding and extrusions to prevent warping as well as plastic decking and lumber
- Cool roofs – such as IR reflective granules for asphalt shingles or pre-painted metal
- Cool pavement coatings to address urban heat island
- Cool-walls to improve energy efficiency
In the Arctic product line, Black 10G996 balances masstone color and tint strength while having a high TSR, while Black 10P950 has higher tint strength and Black 10G975 has a jetter masstone.
Dynamix Black 30C940 and Black 30C941 are IR Blacks, that can be easily-dispersed into coatings with a high-speed mixer without milling- a great way to try out the Arctic technology.
Shepherd Color’s Arctic pigments can help your materials stay cooler and improve the sustainability of plastics. More expertise. Better performance. Best Value. That’s Shepherd Color.
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