Last June, Jotun launched ‘Jotashield Extreme’ to address increased demand for heat reflective and ecofriendly paints in Saudi Arabia. In a news release dated June 27, the company said that Saudi Arabia continued to be the GCC’s largest and most dynamic infrastructure market with over $100 billion-worth of infrastructure projects underway and $80 billion-worth of pledged housing projects, according to the latest edition of the Saudi Arabia Infrastructure Report for the Third Quarter of 2011 from Business Monitor International (BMI). In this light, Jotun believed that there was a demand for heat reflective and ecofriendly paints. To help address this, the company revealed that launch of ‘Jotashield Extreme’, had been introduced into the Saudi market, as it provided thermal indoor comfort.

Paint products could ably reflect heat and the damaging effects of the sun, the news release said and pointed out that the continuing development in urban areas in Saudi Arabia is expected to produce an Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect – a phenomenon where metropolitan areas become slightly warmer than its surrounding rural areas. “Studies have shown that the temperatures in urban air domes in Saudi Arabia can run up to 40C warmer than the surrounding countryside,” Jotun said. “The UHI effect prompts an increase in air conditioning costs and also creates more air pollutants.” The company claimed that Jotashield Extreme provided significant temperature reductions upon application.

This is evidence of the fact that the paint segment is becoming a part of the HVACR sector.