Environmentally friendly paint is all the rage these days. Companies like Sherwin Williams, Dunn-Edwards Paints, PPG, and Benjamin Moore have all jumped on board to make their paint as green as possible. But why, you ask. These paints are specifically designed for commercial or industrial projects, like schools and hospitals, to keep them safe from harmful chemicals, but can be used anywhere! Who doesn?t appreciate less vapors wherever they have to breathe, regardless of location? Houston commercial painting can definitely benefit from these special products.
It started in the 60?s with David Kyle, the executive VP of the Master Painters Institute. He claims the book Silent Spring, detailing the harm of the smog issues in LA at the time, truly began this thought process of needing to take care of our planet. From there, the idea just continued to grow and we have made significant progress in designing new paint to represent these new ideals.
Robert Wendoll of Dunn-Edwards paints says ?During the past 50 years, architectural coatings have gone from being 95% solvent-borne to 95% waterborne, and the VOC content of waterborne paints has been drastically reduced; white lead carbonate and other toxic pigments have been entirely replaced with safer alternatives; mercury biocides and many other potentially hazardous ingredients are gone.? The best part is that despite all of the chemicals being removed, the paint performance has actually improved!
?At Sherwin Williams we have made some major strides in the reduction of VOCs in our architectural formulations with <50 g/L VOC,? says Rick Watson, the company?s director of product information & technical services. ?We manufacture our own colorants (ColorCast Ecotoner), meaning VOCs will not be added to any Sherwin Williams product tinted with them and the colorants are GREENGUARD Gold certified. We also take into consideration LEED, South Coast Air Quality Management District, California Air Resources Board, and all of the environmental regulations applicable to the marketplace.? Green Seal certification means the product works well, reduces waste from using recovered material, and protects human health and the environment. LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification has many levels with various point systems to earn it, including good indoor air quality. It recognizes best-in-class building strategies and practices so to achieve it is quite the honor. The key point to remember is that regardless of what the paint contains, it must be durable to be considered ?green?. The reason for this is because coatings protect building substrates, which provide huge environmental benefits with material resources and conservation of energy. Thus, ?green? paint equals quality paint, and that isn?t cheap, but it?s worth the extra dollar to buy safer, cleaner paint for any project. We anticipate even more progress to be made on this front in the future, so don?t expect the green phenomena to wear off any time soon. Pro Painters, your Houston painting contractor, wonders what they will come up with next and anxiously awaits for the latest green technology to come through. Reach out to us today for a free quote on your very own ?green? paint project.
