Moreover, not all manufacturing approaches are alike. Some industrial coloring systems require large amounts of dye and pigment in order to produce a visually effective surface. Other, newer processes reduce the base materials needed, making the products relatively more efficient in terms of resources needed. In addition, some coloring methods produce no VOCs at all, and some use air instead of water to convey the dye, so that no hazardous waste is emitted and water waste is reduced or eliminated.

In addition, recent advances in pigmentation and visual effects have been adopted in the manufacture of architectural surfaces, fabrics, wallcoverings, and ceiling materials. One of the most valuable is sublimation printing technology, also known as dye sublimation. The process combines dyeing, or impregnating color into a material, with a phase change process that goes directly from solid to gas—called sublimation—without the materials becoming liquid. While the term is used to describe how inkjet printers work, industrial processors for interior finishes such as ceiling panels are very different: Solid dye particles are changed into gas using heat and pressure, then bonded with polymers present on the target surface, and then return to their solid state.³

The colorant particles employed in dye sublimation printing are engineered to bond with polymers only. This means that higher levels of certain materials in the substrate, such as polyester and rubber, will tend to attract and bond with more dye material. For ceramics, glass and metals, a polymer coating (usually a polyester liquid) can be heat-applied so that the dye sublimation process adheres to the surfaces. Done properly, the process results in brighter color rendition and longer-lasting surface treatment than many other coloring methods, with less fading and discoloration over time.

Dye sublimation is an effective approach for a range of product processes, including digital textile printing—for fabrics and wallcoverings, for example—and digitally produced signage. As compared to UV-curable, latex, or solvent printing, the resulting materials are known for a high-end feel or texture—called hand in the interior finish industry. That means the final product stands up to close inspection by building occupants.

Mass Customization of Interiors

There are other benefits to the innovative color-printing processes enabled by dye sublimation. The techniques are highly efficient and allow for quick changes in the selected digital inputs, meaning that a custom run of ceiling tiles can be accomplished at a low relative cost. This is one reason that sublimation printing has become popular in such industries as point-of-purchase signage, entertainment, events, and exhibitions.

Ceiling Materials and Lighting

An element of sustainable interiors is the use of the ceiling plane to reflect daylight as well as electrical illumination to maximize lumen efficacy. This also improves the comfort and usability of interior spaces. A common measure of the light reflectance of a ceiling material is ASTM E 1477 for Light Reflectance (LR-1). A level of about 75% is considered good, although higher levels are possible.

In addition, the resulting patterns or images on sublimation printed surfaces tend to have a clearer, more “perfected” image with the potential for sharper color contrasts, as compared to historical coloring approaches for architectural materials. Surface imagery has been developed to mimic wood, leather, concrete, Venetian plasters, and the like. The designs are applied to translucent materials as well, which can be used with backlighting to create a glowing appearance or a startling effect such as a glimmering pattern or a luminous faux wood grain.

Put these two elements together, and you have a “new category of ceiling material,” says Kuperus, whose company began working with the techniques in 2010. “The technology has brought more colors and prints into the interior, including faux finishes that typically have been hand-applied by the trades onsite. Now they are produced with photographic clarity by the manufacturer using very efficient customization techniques.”

In fact, say producers, the methods have allowed manufacturing to become entirely “made to measure,” a significant change for an industry where stock colors and patterns are the rule, not the exception. This is a practical implication of mass customization, say architects such as Philadelphia-based KieranTimberlake: Their designs can more easily create bespoke results without associated disadvantages in product cost or project scheduling. The architects contend that offsite production of building are “less expensive, more sustainable, and offer tolerances and techniques not possible in on-site construction.”

Nor is mass-customization a step away from architectural craft: In their book Refabricating Architecture, the architects show how mass-custom manufacturing extends the work of early modernists such as Le Corbusier, who used industrialized construction to serve a larger audience with better, less expensive and more quickly built architecture.