Green Design: Paint

Click on the images above to learn about the green design features of 14 Maple Avenue.

 

What’s so important about eco-friendly paint?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, indoor air is three times more polluted than outdoor air and is considered one of the top 5 hazards to human health. Paints and finishes are among the leading causes of poor indoor air quality.

Typical household paint contains up to 10,000 chemicals, of which 300 are known toxins and several are suspected to be carcinogenic. Worse, paints and finishes release low level toxic emissions into the air for years after application.

If you are calculating how much time you spend indoors (in your homes and offices) day in and day out, you can probably agree that using eco-friendly paint to improve indoor air quality is a good idea.

What are VOCs and low /noVOC paint?
Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, broadly-defined are unstable, carbon-containing compounds that readily vaporize into the air. When they enter the air, they react with other elements to produce ozone, which causes air pollution and can lead to health issues such as respiratory illnesses, nausea, headaches and a host of other negative effects.

Until recently, VOCs were considered an essential ingredient in household paint by helping to keep the paint in a liquid form and helping paint dry faster. In recent years, manufacturers have learned how to reduce the list of chemicals that go into their paints and the accompanying VOCs, so that there are now low and zero VOC paints available and affordable.

At the Dodge Foundation, all paints and coatings meet stringent VOC limits set by the Green Seal Standard. Adhesives and sealants, also typical sources of VOCs, meet standards set by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

For next feature...