Sherwin-Williams Fireproofing at AMFC Conference

November 29, 2023

Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings, a pioneer in shop-applied epoxy intumescent fireproofing for gigafactories and semiconductor production plants, will share its expertise at the Advanced Manufacturing Facility Construction conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The company’s Construction Solutions team is delivering a keynote presentation emphasizing the advantages of applying fire protective coatings in a controlled shop environment, as it allows for safer, faster and simpler facility construction.

“Speed to operations is a major shared objective for mega project construction,” said Joseph Windover, Construction Solutions Project Development Manager, Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings. “Early integration of off-site fire protection in the design process is key to advancing lean construction and ensuring project speed and predictability. General contractors and their clients, aiming for efficiency and reliability in next-gen EV gigafactories, are finding shop-applied intumescent coatings essential for faster builds, cost savings and smoother site operations.”

Sherwin-Williams is the specified provider of fire protective coatings on multiple high-profile EV battery and semiconductor projects. The company’s FIRETEX 9502® epoxy fireproofing, often referred to as “blue steel,” can deliver up to three hours of fire protection on a wide range of steel beams and columns. The product delivers robust chemical resistance and superior impact and abrasion resistance.

FIRETEX 9502 offers high film build per coat properties, which allows applicators to achieve substantial coating thickness (200 mils) in a single layer. In contrast, solvent-based coatings require multiple coats to achieve a similar thickness and depend on long cure times in between coats. This, combined with the weather and environmental impacts of field application, can significantly delay a project and disrupt the schedules of other trades.

Ideally coated with fire protection off-site by a trusted applicator, structural steel arrives to the job site ready for erection with minimal labor and less risk associated with traditional field-applied, sprayed fire-resistive materials.

“FIRETEX 9502 is a best-in-class advanced coating tailored for performance in EV battery and semiconductor facilities,” said Jacob Allard, Construction Solutions Project Development Manager, Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings. “We are industry leaders combining construction know-how with proven material science to deliver state-of-the-art plants in the race to electrification and decarbonization.”

Taking place November 28-30, 2023, in Nashville, the Advanced Manufacturing Facility Construction conference is focused on helping attending contractors and designers become partners of choice on the world’s most complex manufacturing projects through transformative design and delivery. Windover and Allard’s presentation, titled “A Lean Construction Model: Reducing Waste and Increasing Productivity Through Shop-Applied Fireproofed Steel,” will take place the morning of November 29.

To read more articles, see our last issue here.