World Cup partnership highlights Arizona cooling tech company
The ASU graduates behind EnKoat have taken their cooling paint technology to the world stage. After covering one million square feet of roofs, the company has partnered with the FIFA Houston Fan Festival to lower metal bleacher temperatures by 40 degrees. FOX 10’s Steve Nielsen reports.
TEMPE, Ariz. – A couple of Arizona State University graduates have made major waves in the roofing industry, and now the World Cup has given them a new opportunity. They say their roofing paint actually cools as it gets warmer.
What we know:
On top of a roof painted more than a year ago, a real-life example can be seen of the promise made by two graduate students at ASU a few years ago.
“We’re in Arizona, the hottest state, this is where this technology thrives,” Matthew Aguayo said.
Timeline:
Before tubs of five-gallon roof paint were made, Aashay Arora and Matthew Aguayo revealed their product in 2024. EnKoat is made up of materials that act like an ice pack, freezing at night and cooling during the day.
Now it is on a million square feet of roof across the country and the results are impressive.
By the numbers:
“This metal roof deck is reaching temperatures up to 175 degrees right now,” Aguayo said.
During the midday test, the asphalt roof hit 195 degrees. On their year-and-a-half-old EnKoat painted roof, temperatures are much lower.
“We’re seeing 120 to 125 degrees Fahrenheit, so we’re seeing a delta of 60 to 70 degrees just by applying our coating on top of here,” Aguayo said.
They claim a 30% drop in HVAC costs because of it.
Big picture view:
Now their focus grows from Tempe to Houston for the Fan Fest at the World Cup.
“This is the first time, so yeah, we’re really excited about that,” Arora said.
EnKoat signed a deal with the FIFA Houston Fan Festival to paint metal bleachers to cool the metal.
“I think that brings a lot of visibility to the technology because a lot of people, thousands of people are going to be in Houston to watch these games,” Arora said.
What’s next:
They say the metal cooled 40 degrees. They think it could be just the beginning.
“Now it’s like out there in the world and it’s on the world stage. It’s not just local. It’s not just limited to a state, not just limited to a building. It’s for everyone,” Arora said.
Many stadiums have metal bleachers such as Mountain America at ASU, Casino del Sol Stadium at University of Arizona, and even the Rose Bowl. They’re using the World Cup as a launch pad to target that market.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from the two ASU graduates.
