Architects Say Durability Is Most Important Green Building Product Attribute, According To PPG Survey

Awareness Of PPG Ideascapes Brand Continues To Accelerate Among Architects

PPG glass, coatings and paint are featured in Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center), pictured here. Photo by Jim Schafer.

Pittsburgh, PA - Durability is the most important characteristic associated with building products in general and “green” building products in particular, according to the findings of a blind survey of U.S. architects commissioned by PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG).

The survey encompassed 629 U.S. architects representing a cross-section of job titles, experience, firm sizes and geographic locations. PPG has commissioned architect surveys at regular intervals since 2003.

The survey showed that PPG ranked fourth in unaided awareness among more than 70 building product manufacturers identified by participating architects, and that awareness of the PPG Ideascapes^SM brand - the overarching, architect-facing brand for PPG glass, coatings and paint - has more than tripled from 15 percent in 2008 to 51 percent in 2014.

	The Discovery Center at Discovery Park of America in Tennessee features Duranar® Pure White and Duranar XL Bright Silver Metallic coatings from PPG. Photo by Bob Delevante.

For green building products, architects mentioned environmental product declarations (EPDs) and independent product certifications as the most important product attributes, following product durability, representing an upward trend from the 2008 and 2012 surveys. Another key green building product attribute, lifecycle assessments (LCAs), declined slightly compared to the last two surveys.

For general building products, durability was followed in importance among surveyed architects by product warranties, product features and the responsiveness of product manufacturer representatives.

Other findings include:

Glass

• According to the survey responses, PPG is by far the most recognized brand for architectural glass, outpacing its nearest competitor by 23 percent. The brand was most preferred because of architects’ previous use of and experience with PPG architectural glass products, followed by their quality and consistency.

• By a significant margin, PPG is the most recommended architectural glass brand among survey respondents, leading its nearest competitor by 32 percent. Architects most often recommend PPG glass based on previous use of and experience with the products.

• PPG is the predominant green leader among architectural glass manufacturers, with 44 percent of respondents citing it as the industry’s sustainability leader, more than three times the nearest competitor.

Coatings and Paint

• According to the survey responses, PPG maintains the highest brand-name awareness among fluoropolymer coatings manufacturers, and Duranar® coatings, PPG’s flagship fluoropolymer coating product, remains the most highly recommended brand in the category.

• Surveyed architects most often recommend Duranar coatings based on familiarity and previous experience with the product, followed by their quality and consistency. Only Kynar 500® resin, an ingredient used in Duranar coatings and other fluoropolymer coatings, had higher brand awareness than PPG among coatings-related brand names.

• PPG also was identified as the green building/sustainability leader among fluoropolymer coatings manufacturers and was among the top-three green building leaders mentioned for interior architectural paint and coatings.

• PPG manufactures three of the seven most recognized interior architectural paints and coatings brands, and combined, PPG brands are the third most recommended in the category.

Consistent with past surveys, about 30 percent of responding firms reported doing work outside the U.S. Twenty-nine percent cited work in China and Canada, while 16 percent claimed work in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Twelve percent of surveyed firms have done project work in Mexico, and 10 percent each completed work in the United Kingdom and South Korea.

The online survey of 629 respondents produced a ±3.9 percent margin of error at the 95 percent confidence interval.

PPG IdeaScapes is a service mark of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc.

Kynar 500 is a registered trademark of Arkema, Inc.

About PPG

PPG offers coatings used on metal construction products. For more information, visit www.ppgmetalcoatings.com .