High-performance coatings have long played a role in protecting data center infrastructure. AI is driving larger projects, tighter construction schedules, and a shift towards modular construction, making coatings an increasingly important part of delivering facilities quickly while maintaining long-term reliability..
Increasingly, data center construction is moving toward modular and off-site approaches… and that fundamentally changes the role that coatings play Jacob Allard, Sherwin Williams. In this DCD>Talks episode, Jacob Allard, construction solutions executive at Sherwin Williams, explains how coatings are evolving beyond asset protection to support faster construction, safer working environments, and more sustainable data center operations.. “In this data center market, it’s seemingly all about speed,” says Allard..
Coatings move beyond protection. Although often associated with paint, coatings are used throughout a data center campus, from structural steel and concrete to flooring systems, battery storage rooms, cooling infrastructure, water systems, and building exteriors.. According to Allard, their primary role remains protecting assets against corrosion, wear, and environmental exposure, helping owners improve reliability and extend the life of critical infrastructure..
In a data center, coatings will almost certainly include high-performance primers and intumescent heat-protecting coating materials applied to structural steel. Flooring is another key material that many specifiers might not view as a coating, but resinous flooring systems are a mainstay in data centers with various options incorporating waterproof membrane systems or static control systems..
Outside of the data room, performance coatings support data center operations, including battery storage rooms, cooling towers, mechanical rooms, loading docks, warehouses, water storage tanks, roofing, and building exteriors.. “When you think about the scale of these investments… that protection becomes critical to ensuring long-term performance, reliability, and uptime,” he says.. Modular construction changes the equation.
For Allard, the biggest change is not the coatings themselves but how data centers are being built.. “Increasingly, data center construction is moving toward modular and off-site approaches… and that fundamentally changes the role that coatings play,” he says.. These new data centers, these construction projects, need to move at lightning speed Jacob Allard, Sherwin Williams.
Operators are increasingly adopting modular and off-site construction, meaning coatings are moving from a predominantly on-site activity to one that supports high-volume manufacturing environments. Prefabricated skids, equipment pods, and other assemblies require coating systems that can be applied quickly, cure rapidly, and move through production without creating bottlenecks.. “These new data centers, these construction projects, need to move at lightning speed,” says Allard..
Manufacturers increasingly view coatings as part of the production workflow rather than a finishing activity. He says that characteristics including cure times, recoat windows, and the number of coating layers required can significantly impact construction schedules, labor requirements, and project costs.
Those factors determine how quickly fabricated steel can move to inspection, how much labor is required, and how much flexibility contractors have once components arrive on site.. Supporting the whole project lifecycle. With data center projects becoming larger and more complex, suppliers are increasingly expected to contribute throughout the project lifecycle, extending their role beyond product delivery..
According to Allard, that support begins during the design phase, where coating systems can be aligned with construction methods and project schedules. During construction, technical teams help contractors overcome application challenges, ensure materials are available when needed, and reduce the risk of delays.
Support also extends beyond commissioning into long-term maintenance, helping owners maximize the life of critical infrastructure.. Sustainability in data centers isn’t just about the energy or water use. Owners are also paying closer attention to embodied carbon, and this is where coatings and fluid-applied roofing systems can play a really important role Jacob Allard, Sherwin Williams.
Taken together, these changes reflect a broader shift in customer expectations. Increasingly, owners are looking beyond coating selection to partners that can help manage risk, coordinate delivery, and support projects from planning through to ongoing operations.. Allard also argues that controlled factory environments improve both worker safety and quality by giving teams better access to coated surfaces while creating more predictable working conditions for multiple trades..
Sustainability. Many data center operators are working towards sustainability targets, and coatings can help them meet them in a surprising number of ways.. “Sustainability in data centers isn’t just about the energy or water use,” says Allard. “Owners are also paying closer attention to embodied carbon, and this is where coatings and fluid-applied roofing systems can play a really important role.”.
He argues that coatings contribute to sustainability in three main ways. First, by extending asset life and reducing premature replacement. Second, by improving transparency through Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), which provide verified environmental data to support specification decisions.
Third, by enabling maintenance strategies such as fluid-applied roof restoration, helping reduce landfill waste, minimize operational disruption, and extend roof life.. He adds that more efficient application methods also contribute to sustainability by reducing labor, material use, and project waste..
Beyond the data hall. Finally, Allard says that coatings have a role beyond the data center itself, supporting the wider infrastructure needed to power and cool AI facilities, including substations, battery storage, water infrastructure, and other utility assets.. For Allard, the key is engaging suppliers early so that material choices support both construction schedules and long-term operational performance.. “Speed without alignment creates risk,” he says. “Our goal at Sherwin-Williams is to help our customers move fast and move right.”.
Watch the full DCD>Talks episode with Sherwin Williams here.
