Original photo by Sulthan Auliya on Unsplash
Our Meet the Member series is a chance to hear more from those joining the NZGBC and learn about their ambitions for the future. We asked Lisa Hopfengartner and Shane Wyatt, both members of the team at Tech Coatings, about the work they are doing.
Tell us a bit about Tech Coatings Ltd and the work you do.
Tech Coatings NZ Limited (TCNZ) was established in 2017 to provide environmentally friendly, tested and endorsed Intumescent Coatings to the Australasian Market. We are committed to significantly contribute to the ongoing transformative changes in the Passive Fire Industry.
The founder and Technical Director of Tech Coatings, Shane Wyatt, is one of the driving forces behind these positive changes. He has spent the last four years acquiring an in-depth comprehension of the different aspects that make up passive fire solutions and is now offering new perspectives to the market. As chair of the Coatings Working Group, appointed by FPANZ, he is leading a team of experts in compiling an industry Code of Practice.
As a company we are currently focusing on utilising a new generation of intumescent coatings for upgrading non-ferrous fire separating elements in existing buildings. By incorporating intumescent coatings into the process of upgrading these elements we are significantly decreasing the environmental impact of these upgrades.
We are proud to provide an intumescent coating solution that is environmentally friendly: Our solution has low VOC, no halogens or other toxins and is waterborne. At the same time, we offer much more than eco-friendly product features, we offer a new way of thinking to solve a longstanding challenge: The application of an intumescent coating onto plasterboard, which only needs an upgraded fire-rating, allows to dramatically reduce the waste and pollution that is normally associated with demolition and replacement of the same.
Tech Coatings’ main aspiration is to restore the trust in safe building practices in New Zealand. As a part of our overall contribution, we have chosen to increase the awareness of greener building practices in the Passive Fire Industry. When training our applicators, we are incorporating a foundation for positive behavioural change into our instructions.
How did you come to join the NZGBC?
We believe that everyone can contribute in their own way to create a positive future.
As a supplier of intumescent coatings, we are convinced that our responsibility starts well before we sell a bucket of paint and extends way beyond it. We have set-up a quality management system to ensure we are looking at our company practices as well as our product from every possible angle and identify ways to always improve our environmental impact – from manufacture to application through to waste created after a fire.
We joined the NZGBC because being environmentally conscious is one of the foundations of our company and we want to hold ourselves to the highest standards when it comes to our companies’ environmental impact. Our membership offers a space for us to connect with like-minded people and to create awareness for what is possible.
With joining the NZGBC we want to lead the way for the Passive Fire Industry and show that it is possible to make positive changes towards a greener future and we hope others will follow. We strongly believe that, as long as we are working on a holistic solution together, we will be able to make a difference.
What are some of the key challenges when it comes to fire protection paint in Aotearoa?
As a company we believe that looking at improving a single product is not enough - we are passionate about a truly holistic approach to passive fire solutions. The key challenge in the passive fire industry lies in the lack of an integrated approach. It is evident that there is a need to establish a coordinated way of thinking when designing, specifying, and installing passive fire solutions.
For us the foundation to allowing us to work in a close-knit industry framework is the cooperation and coordination of different trades and disciplines. But it does not stop there, the industry needs to establish standards and quality management systems, but even more importantly, keep educating itself.
Tech Coatings is convinced that a change in perspective towards a more holistic way of thinking is the way forward and will lead to success.