PPG Architectural Coatings has won the award for Best Materials Innovation at the 2019 Building Innovation Awards for Johnstone’s Trade Air Pure, a bio-based wall and ceiling paint that improves indoor air quality.

The manufacturer fought off stiff competition at the awards, which celebrates the pioneering organisations that are embracing and creating new technologies, including those that help to deliver greener, smarter and safer buildings.

Developed with Air Purifying technology, Johnstone’s Trade Air Pure neutralises up to 70 per cent of formaldehyde from the air as soon as it is applied. Formaldehyde is one of the most harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in houses and public spaces, with molecules being emitted from a range of common indoor materials, such as chipboards, carpet, glue and interior fabrics. By reducing the concentration of formaldehyde, Johnstone’s Trade Air Pure enables architects and designers to satisfy increasing requirements from bodies such as BREEAM and LEED for improved air quality.

Thanks to the use of renewable raw materials, Johnstone’s Trade Air Pure is also 45 per cent bio-based and the packaging is made from 100 per cent recycled materials, contributing to a more sustainable world – one of the key factors that impressed the judges at the awards.

Johnstone’s Trade Air Pure is available in a variety of colours, including the PPG Voice of Colour colour palette, and dries to a desirable flat matt finish.
Danielle Aiken, specification marketing manager at PPG Architectural Coatings, said: “Air Pure is a product we’re really proud of so we’re delighted that it’s been recognised at the inaugural Building Innovation Awards, and to have shared a category with such remarkable innovations.

“Modern lifestyles mean people are now spending around 90 per cent of their time indoors, where the air can be up to 10 times more polluted than the air outside. Air Pure therefore provides a very timely and unique solution to a growing issue in the sector, while using bio-based products in its formulation to further help architects and specifiers meet sustainability objectives.”