According to World Green Building Council, there are a number of features which can make a building ‘green’. These include: 

• Efficient use of energy, water and other resources
• Use of renewable energy, such as solar energy
• Pollution and waste reduction measures, and the enabling of re-use and recycling
• Good indoor environmental air quality
• Use of materials that are non-toxic, ethical and sustainable
• Consideration of the environment in design, construction and operation
• Consideration of the quality of life of occupants in design, construction and operation
• A design that enables adaptation to a changing environment

Although VOC is given different priority in different regions, overall lowering VOC emissions is an important green step.

In some countries, there are bans or strict regulations on how much VOC you can emit in a project or as a company.

In general, lowering VOC is a sustainable choice, and when selecting paints and coatings looking for low VOC solutions will be beneficial.

Absolutely!

Paints and coatings typically represent a very low investment in the overall cost of a building, but can be a big contributing factor to a greener building.  In fact, for the LEED v4 standard – the cost of paints and coatings, which is typically less than 2% of a building cost, can contribute to as much as 27% of your overall LEED v4 points.

If you are in the starting phase of a building project and have decided to make it as green as possible - congratulations!

To start selecting the right rating tool or standard to follow, you may start investigating through your local builder's council or similar.

Your choice will depend on a number of factors including what region you are in, what climatic conditions your building will operate in and what type of building it is.

In addition, you may have specifications from the owners of the building as to what rating they want the building to have. Standards such as LEED and BREEAM are globally recognised but a country-specific standard might be more appropriate for your project.
 

The first step is to read up on the standard, and ensure you understand a little bit about it.

To specify paints and coatings for your project jotungbs.com is a great starting place! We have pre-written standard specifications for LEED, and an easy to use product selector to help you navigate in the regionally available paints and coatings that can help you achieve your green building standard easier.

A substantial part of Jotun’s research and development resources are dedicated to developing more sustainable products and technologies. The Jotun GreenSteps program and its five impact reduction areas are always on the innovation agenda:

• Reducing VOC emissions: by offering waterborne, solvent-free and high volume solids products across all categories
• Reducing hazardous materials: by substituting hazardous raw materials with those having lesser hazards comparatively and reaching worldwide bans and/or optimizing ingredients by not using persistent, bioaccumulating and toxic substances such as those mentioned on the candidate list, authorization list and restriction lists under the European regulation called REACH
• Reducing energy consumption: by offering products with heat reflective properties across architectural powder coatings as well as highly UV resistant exterior decorative paints thus reducing energy consumption used for cooling. In addition, Jotun is actively incorporating various energy-saving strategies within its own assets in pursuit of LEED and BREEAM certifications
• Reducing carbon footprint: by optimizing formulations and finding alternative technologies to reduce consumption of titanium dioxide, the production of which is highly energy-intensive. Strategic supply chain optimizations to increase distribution efficiency coupled with the high durability performance translates to lower embodied carbon from Jotun’s products used in a building and thus helps reduce the overall carbon footprint
• Reducing waste: by setting and achieving waste reduction targets across all operations and even extending this philosophy to our suppliers. Jotun protects customers’ property through high durability performance coatings adhering to surfaces thus reducing materials use for recoating and minimizing losses. Subject to thorough surface assessment and coating condition, coated structural steel may even be reused and put back into the construction loop in some cases

All Jotun’s EPDs can be found and downloaded on www.epd-norge.no, or simply by searching for regional products on jotungbs.com.

Exposed elements of a building are at risk of damage through impact or wear and tear. This can result in significant and unnecessary materials use and waste generation across the life of a building.

In addition, climate change can significantly accelerate the deterioration of materials used in a building. It is therefore important to consider the impact of climate change and its associated environmental changes on the vulnerable elements within the built environment.

Surfaces coated with highly durable paints and coatings will not need to be repainted as frequently, so the raw materials, energy, and environmental impacts invested in them can be spread out over more time. Thus, higher durability of the coating will not just positively impact its own lifecycle but also that of the whole building.