OUR COATINGS

At Energy Solutions our primary business is comprised of intensive, highly specialized cleaning & coating services. However, in each situation, the basic premise is the same--clean the substrate to the absolute best levels possible, and once cleaned, apply one of our proprietary coatings to preserve, protect & beautify the coated substrate!

Given this basic directive, we utilize two highly specialized coatings to seal & maintain the cleaned substrate:

Our "Glass" Coating

Our advanced glass-like coatings were originally developed by NASA for use in the US space program--NASA needed an extremely hard; highly durable; inorganic; crystal-clear; non-oxidizing; substance that would not rust, decay, or discolor. Additionally, this coating needed to be easily cleaned; resist graffiti and other foreign contaminants; & not support the growth of mold or mildew.

In their research, NASA scientists realized that glass offers all of these characteristics. However, traditional glass can be quite difficult & expensive to apply due to the need for high temperatures, etc. As such, they set about developing a simplified process that would ultimately yield the air-temperature cured coatings Energy Solutions utilizes in our day-to-day services.

The cured coating is crystal clear & highly durable while possessing all of the other characteristics noted above. In addition, it also has a slight positive charge that chemically resists the “sticking” tendencies normally found with most other coatings, materials & substances. The result, a highly durable, crystal-clear surface that is easily cleaned & maintained with traditional cleaning agents & equipment. (Please see our representative "Before & After" Pictures to better understand this coating's effect on various surface types.)

In terms of specific usage, our coatings can be successfully applied to: most metals; painted surfaces; hard surface flooring; concrete; brick & stone; wood; and many other surface types. The coating itself can be made to be shiny & bright, or totally invisible to suit a particular customer’s need & desires.

At Energy Solutions, we routinely apply these highly specialized coatings to our cleaning & coating engagements in the following areas:

• Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning/Refrigeration units/systems (HVAC/R)

• Hard Surface Floors, most notably ceramic tile, Terrazzo, slate, etc; but also, concrete, brick, aggregate, composition, etc.

• Brick & concrete pavers, stone, aggregates, and other similar materials

• Building exteriors

• Brass & Monuments--candelabras, door knockers, government seals, brick & aggregate pedestals, etc

• Vehicle coating--service & delivery truck, etc. (This highly specialized service applies a one-time coating to vehicles--trucks, vans, heavy equipment, etc--in order to reduce the cost keeping these vehicles clean, presentable & corrosion free. Our "sister" company, Grace Pacific Corporation, located in Hawaii, uses the same siloxane coating extensively to coat significant numbers of vehicles in their market.)

Self-Cleaning Titanium Dioxide Coating (TiO2)

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a potent photocatalyst that can readily break down almost any organic compound it touches when exposed to sunlight in the presence of water vapor (see below). However, until recently technology did not permit the manufacture of TiO2 particles sufficiently small so as to be effectively utilized in coatings, etc. Today that limitation has been eliminated, and Energy Solutions now possesses a TiO2-based nano-coating that can be readily applied to most surface types, imparting the self-cleaning characteristics of TiO2 to the coated substrate. When applied, the coating is completely invisible, yet performs its self-cleaning activities continuously whenever activated by normal ambient light.

Energy Solutions has successfully applied our TiO2-based coating to numerous buildings & structures in and around the Richmond area. We typically apply these "invisible" TiO2 coatings to the following surface types:

• Building exteriors--walls, outside structures, etc.

• Glass--hotel mirrors & bathrooms, building windows, vehicle windows, etc.

• Floors--concrete, brick, pavers, ceramic tile, aggregates, etc.

The following article and associated exhibits from the June 2006 issue of Popular Science Magazine depict, in layman's terms, how the self-cleaning properties of our Ti02 coating actually work (please also see this recent ABC News article also describing the properties of our self-cleaning Titanium Dioxide coatings):