nearlyeverypaintlabel carriesaneco-friendlyclaim.16-27)green... · mythic® paint introduces the 1...

Walk into any paint store today, andyou’ll see acres of cans sporting lit-tle sprigs and flowers and boasting

about how “green” they are. But what doesgreen mean when it comes to paint? Is onebrand “greener” than another?

If you’re confused, you’re not alone. About one inthree consumers say they don't know how to tell if greenproduct claims are true, and one in 10 blindly truststhose claims, reports the nonprofit group Green Seal.

So, if you’re a contractor with green marching ordersfrom your clients, specifiers and/or family, how do youchoose from this sea of eco-boasts?

Except for the 1998 U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency limits established for Volatile Organic Com-pounds, there is no single, overriding standard for whatconstitutes a “green” paint or coating today.

Basically, there are two kinds of green claims:• Those that meet the standards of an independent,

third-party certifying organization, such as Green Seal,GREENGUARD or the Master Painters Institute.

• Those that reflect a manufacturer’s in-house standards.Neither third-party certification nor private eco-labeling

is inherently “greener” than the other. Each group sets itsown standards, some overlapping and some unique.

by Stephanie Aurora Lewis, RA, LEED AP

Nearly every paint labelcarries an eco-friendly claim.What to believe?

SCHEMESGREEN

16 PWC MAY/JUNE 2009

All third-party certifiers are not createdequal. Each sets its own standards.

However, third-party certifiers have the advantage oftransparency in standards, established research qualifi-cations and independent verification that the paintmeets its claims.

Some paints carry more than one certification, andeach has critics and defenders. Performance of thesecoatings remains a hot topic of debate but, like it or not,eco-paint is here to stay.

Why go green?Today’s paint carries far fewer toxins than its an-

cestors—lead, most notably—but VOCs and otherpaint chemicals remain hazardous to people, air andwater.

“Every time we paint, we do damage to the environ-ment,” says John Lahey, president of Fine Paints of Eu-rope and a member of the U.S. Green Building Council,the nation’s leading third-party certifier of sustainablebuilding.

Adds Florida interior designer Mary Jane Grigsby: “Insome cases, indoor air quality is worse inside than it isoutside. We need to do all we can to make the indoor airquality better for everyone.”

Although ever-tightening standards and regulationshave slashed VOC emissions, they remain a major threatto health and air quality, the EPA reports.

The riskIndoors, highly concentrated VOCs pose an off-gassing

risk to contractors who work with them. Outdoors, VOCsthat leave building environments bind with other pollu-tants to make harmful new compounds that contributesignificantly to smog and to the permanent depletion ofthe atmospheric ozone layer.

“In 2002, Paint & Coatings manufacturers emitted6,000 tons of VOCs, while VOC emissions resulting fromthe use of paint and coating products was over 2 milliontons,” the EPA reported in its 2008 Sector Report.

Other paint toxins, including zinc, are discharged inwastewater—some to public treatment works and someto waterways. Meanwhile, American dispose of nearly70 million gallons of architectural paint each year.

Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that the nation’s tough-est environmental watchdog is located smack in the mid-dle of its dirtiest air: Southern California.

Green guardiansThe South Coast Air Quality Management District

(founded in 1947 as the Los Angeles County Air Pollu-tion Control District) generally leads the U.S. environ-mental charge. Southern California’s legendary smog canbe crippling, especially during the peak painting sum-mer months.

SCAQMD’s highly developed standards are the moststringent in the country, and many eco-watchers expectthe district’s paint standards to become the baseline fornational benchmarks in the near future. For now, if apaint is compliant (or better yet, “Super-Compliant”)with South Coast, it is shamrock green.

Specifying greenContractors who do commercial, industrial or new res-

idential painting may not have to make many decisionsabout green coatings, since many of those coatings arespecified. Still, a contractor may suggest an alternativepaint product if its chemical content and performancestandards can be shown as equal to, or better than, thespecified product.

It’s a good idea, therefore, for contractors to becomeknowledgeable about green coatings and the groups thatinfluence them. Start by taking advantage of the techni-cal staff at paint companies, advises Robert Wendoll, Di-rector of Environmental Affairs for Dunn-Edwards Corp.and a veteran industry environmental expert.

“Some of the best data on comparative performancecan be found in benchmarking studies from paint man-ufacturers—side-by-side comparisons of a product withsimilar competing products,” explains Wendoll.

LEEDSince 1993, the USGBC’s Leadership for Energy and

Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building RatingSee GREEN SCHEMES on next page

Paint manufacturers maydesignate certain productlines as green or set theirown internal greenstandards. Others, likeEarthpaint and MythicPaint, promote theirentire line as eco-friendly.

WWW.PAINTSTORE.COM PWC 17

ronmental paint and coatings stan-dards in 1991-92 and completed itsfirst product certifications in 1992.In addition to certifications and test-ing standards, Green Seal providestechnical data and assistance to theU.S. government.

Green Seal’s new GS-11 standard,released in May 2008, is the main-stream test used today for calculatingVOC levels and detecting other harm-ful chemical and metals content. Thenew standard is based on data fromthe EPA’s long-standing paint testingstandards, the California Air Re-sources Board (CARB), and LEED cer-tification program requirements.

Like GREENGUARD, Green Sealis a member of ANSI. It also followsthe Guiding Principles and Proce-dures for Type I Environmental La-beling adopted by the InternationalOrganization for Standardization(ISO 14024), a nationally acceptedstandard for certifying products thatcomply with strict environmentalsafety principles.

A product that meets GS-11 is freeof a rigorous list of known hazardousair pollutants, ozone-depleting com-pounds, carcinogens, mutagens andreproductive toxins.

The new GS-11 lowered the levelof VOCs, increased the EPA’s origi-nal list of prohibited chemicals, andincorporated a new method formeasuring VOC levels that was 10times more accurate than previous

System has granted Indoor AirQuality credits for using low-VOCpaint. A building may gain a pointtoward its green certification if thepaint used meets Green Seal’s newGS-11 standard (see below).

Although LEED itself does notcertify products, including paints,several organizations do.

Green certifiersA handful of organizations act as

third-party certifiers of green paintand coatings. SCAQMD lists threeas qualified resources:

• GREENGUARD EnvironmentalInstitute

• Green Seal• Master Painters InstituteEach of these groups lists paints

with respect to VOC level andchemical content. But none hasstandards as tough as SCAQMD’s.

GREENGUARDFounded in 2001, the GREEN-

GUARD Environmental Institute(www.greenguard.org) is a non-profit, industry-independent, sci-ence-based certification programthat establishes indoor air standardsfor indoor products, environmentsand buildings.

GEI aims to improve public healththrough programs that reduce VOCsand mold and improve indoor airquality. Specifiers, manufacturers,architects and contractors use GEI’sfree information.

In 2004, GEI became a member ofthe American National StandardsInstitute (ANSI), further enhancingGEI’s credibility. ANSI does not cre-ate testing standards; rather, it pro-vides third-party verification andorganizational services for nationaltesting standards.

Green SealFounded in 1989, the nonprofit

Green Seal (www.greenseal.org) de-veloped its first science-based envi-


See GREEN SCHEMES on page 20

GREEN SCHEMES from last page

Dunn-Edwards Corp.At Dunn-Edwards Paints, professional paintingcontractors and formulation experts work side byside to develop and test all coatings.

Circle No. 37 on Reader Service Card

ing MPI’s GPS (Green PerformanceStandard) 1 or 2. For the completelist, visit www.specifygreen.com.

Scientific Certification SystemsScientific Certification Systems

(www.scscertified.com) provides in-dependent certification of environ-mental, sustainability, food qualityand food purity claims. The organiza-tion was founded largely in responseto California’s strict air quality en-forcement. In particular, SCS becamean expert organization in analyzingthe affect that paints and coatingshave on the ozone layer. SCS nowprimarily serves the California HighPerformance Schools program.

Green WiseProducts bearing the Green Wise

label (www.greenwisepaint.com)have been tested and certified by theCoatings Research Group Inc., an in-ternational group of paint manufac-

turers. The industry group saysGreen Wise coatings “meet environ-mentally determined performancestandards established by CRGI’sISO-accredited facility for specificproduct types.”

Green Wise is a newer organiza-tion that is not yet widely recog-nized and is not yet backed up byother credible industry standardssuch as ANSI.

tests. Before GS-11, VOC levels be-came more difficult to scientificallymeasure as the level approachedzero. GS-11 also includes, for the firsttime, testing for tinting compounds;previously, paint was tested only inits original white state.

“I’m excited to see that Green Sealis moving away from EPA Method 24and toward a direct measurement ofVOCs for low-VOC waterborne coat-ings," says Dane Jones, researcher atCalPoly, a leading researcher and ex-pert on measuring VOCs.

Master Painters InstituteFounded in 1996, the Master

Painters Institute(http://www.paintinfo.com/mpi/)also lists environmental data for cer-tain types of paint, but it focuses moreon rating paints for performance.

“Rating paints for their perform-ance standards is important whenchoosing a greenproduct,” says MPIPresident BarryLaw. “If one painthas a lower VOCcount, but it per-forms like white-wash, abetter-performingproduct that takesfewer coats may besafer for the envi-ronment and forhuman health.”

MPI provides theleading data andinformation on paints for the U.S.General Services Administration,which oversees government build-ing programs; MPI is also listed inthe Construction Specifications In-stitute MasterFormat program.

MPI uses 160 performance cate-gories to test whether paints meetcertain institutional standards, andit regularly retests products unan-nounced. Paints and coatings thatpass muster are designated as meet-


Circle No. 25 on Reader Service CardSee GREEN SCHEMES on page 34

GREEN SCHEMES from page 18

Adesso DesignEach certifying scheme has its fans. A Florida designer favors one byScientific Certification Systems for her projects, including this one.

ZERO TOXINS.

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mythicpaint.comMythic and the Mythic logo are registered trademarks of Southern Diversified Products, LLC

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MYTHIC® PAINT INTRODUCES THE

1David Bromstad, star of HGTV’s Color Splash, has developed a new color collection for Mythic Paint. Mythic is a revolutionary ultra low odor, zero-VOC, non-toxic paint with exceptional durability. David is excited about combining his color expertise with this unique paint.

“I don’t want to sacrifice my health or the health of the planet because of my passion for painting. However, as a designer I want the most durable and premium paints in the most luscious colors available. �ank You Mythic!” _ David Bromstad

Available at quality independent paint retailers.

Interested in becoming a Mythic retailer?888-714-9422


For painters, working greenmeans more than buying eco-friendly paint. For maximum

health and safety, think about the en-tire “life cycle” of the product andproject. Some tips:

Before the job• Buy only the paint you need.• Experiment with several paints

until you find the most durable, tominimize the number of coats needed.

• Hone your application tech-nique, to minimize waste and max-imize quality.

• Whenever possible, choosepaints rated Super-Compliant by theSouth Coast Air Quality Manage-ment District. A list is available atwww.aqmd.gov/prdas/Coatings/super-compliantlist.htm. If you can’t useSuper-Compliant VOC paint, avoidpainting during peak smog season:July, August and September.

• Consider buying paint madefrom recycled paint, which goesthrough a manufacturing reprocessthat filters, cleans and repackages thepaint. The paint is tested and canqualify for certain standards, includ-ing standards for VOC levels.

Amazon Environmental Inc. andKelly-Moore Paints are two compa-nies whose product lines include re-cycled paint. Some communitieshave even transformed their recyclingprograms into paint businesses.

In Oregon, for example, one region-al government produces MetroPaint,made entirely from locally recycledlatex. The initiative has recycledmore than 1 million gallons of latexpaint since 1992.

In Vermont, the Chittenden SolidWaste District produces Local Color,made from locally recycled paint.Cans are inspected for quality, sort-ed by color, re-blended, double-fil-

tered and sold in two- and five-gal-lon pails.

• Choose eco-friendly cleaners, sun-dries and prep products. The SouthCoast AQMD lists Clean Air Solventcertified cleaning products atwww.aqmd.gov/rules/cas/prolist.html.Also see “Greener Prep,” on page 54of this issue.

On the job• Keep lids closed on all paint con-

tainers when not in use, to preventVOC emissions and excessive odor.

• If your work will disturb paint ina home, school or child-care facilitybuilt before 1978, learn about the

forthcoming lead-safe practices man-dated by the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency. See “Getting theLead Out,” page 60.

Clean-up• Do not mix leftover water-based

and oil-based paints.• Clean up water-based paints with

water only, but do not rinse the clean-up water down the drain or pour it into


BEYOND PAINT:WORKING SAFER

Tips and solutions for professional painters.

Dark reds, browns, greens and blues—today’s wall color trends are for deeper hues. Pros commentedabout lower tape adhesion on dark paints and we wanted to investigate.

We selected the lightest and darkest paint colors (such as orange, purpleand blue) from the same paint chipof several national brands. The colors were painted on primed wallboard and allowed to dry for several days. Next, different brands of masking and painter’s tapes were applied to the painted boards with equalpressure. Tapes were then pulled from the wallboards after 3, 7, 10 and 14 days.

In all cases, adhesion levels for all tapes were lower on the dark-colored painted surfaces. This drop in adhesion was more pronounced on flat and eggshell finishes.

Based on this experiment, we recommend using Scotch-Blue™

Painter’s Tape for Multiple Surfaces #2090 on dark paints, because it hasa medium adhesion level. If you’re masking onto a light-colored wall (particularly on flat or eggshell surfaces) then Scotch-Blue™ Painter’s Tape for Delicate Surfaces #2080, which has a low to medium adhesion, is a good choice.

Michele Eller3M Technical Service Specialist 651-736-6926

Advertisement

Can paint color affecttape adhesion?

Presented by 3M

3M and Scotch-Blue aretrademarks of 3M.© 3M 2009

Circle No. 193 on Reader Service CardSee DISPOSAL on page 24

J.J. Snyder StudioContractors need to update their skills to apply thenew low-VOC coatings properly, says J.J. Snyder,of J.J. Snyder Studio, in New York.

the ground or storm drain. Take it toa local hazardous waste center.

DisposalAmericans dispose of nearly 70

million gallons of architectural painteach year, according to the EPA.

This does not include leftover paintkept by painters or clients, some of

Many states ban disposal of paintin the trash or down storm or sewerdrains. In California, for example, un-used latex paint is considered aClass 1 Hazardous Waste and must bedisposed of in a special hazardouswaste landfill.

Check with your local governmentregarding acceptable disposal prac-tices in your community. Some com-munities have established specialcollection programs to accept paintfor disposal or recycling. Other recy-cling programs can be found by call-ing 1-800-CLEANUP or visitinghttp://earth911.com/hazardous/paint.

When disposing of paint:• Read and follow the manufactur-

er’s instructions (on the label) forproper disposal.

• Consider donating leftover paintto housing or arts groups. Check withyour local government, Habitat for Hu-manity or civic arts organizations.

“We donate our leftover paint toartist communities in New YorkCity,” says J.J. Snyder, owner of J.J.Snyder Studio in New York.

• Recycle empty containers. Acontainer is considered empty if nopaint can be removed with a brush orby holding it upside down.

For a comprehensive Painter’sGuide to Clean Air, visithttp://www.aqmd.gov/prdas/Coatings/CoatingsMainPage.html.

which is “undoubtedly dried out byconsumers outside of the original con-tainer, spilled down drains, or disposedof by contractors and large industrial,commercial and institutional users assolid or hazardous waste,” EPA says.

Paint can contaminate drinkingwater and ocean water. Latex paintmanufactured before August 1990may even contain lead.



DISPOSAL from page 22

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