Sherwin Williams and Harmony

Ending our series that responds to builders who say low VOC paints don’t perform as well as traditional products, is this video from Sherwin Williams. Harmony, Sherwin Williams’ zero VOC paint, has GREENGUARD Children & Schools indoor air quality certification, which no doubt has some stringent requirements. But this video’s discussion of odor-absorbing and antimicrobial additives might mean the debate over irritating paint ingredients is bound to continue until manufacturers are required to list their ingredients on the can.

“Green” certifications that test chemical emissions don’t require compliance until long after the paint is dry

GREENGUARD®, Green Seal and SCS Indoor Advantage Gold. They’re all top third-party certifications designed to help us choose paint that will not make the air in our homes dangerous to breathe.

But while these labels mean chemical emissions have been measured — or in the case of Green Seal dangerous ingredients have been prohibited — none of them tells us what we are breathing at the time the paint is being applied. And certifications that test chemical emissions don’t require compliance with safety limits until 14 days after the paint is dry.

“When it comes to verifying sustainable claims, it may be wiser to start by being a ‘doubting Thomas’ instead of a ‘gullible Pollyanna’ …,” says Michael Mauch, AIA, LEED AP and principal of RWA Architects in Cincinnati, OH. “Third-party verification is supposed to work like Politifact — an organization to sort out the truth. But third-party verification is not a perfect system. In theory, it works, but in reality, there are many influences that can sway the outcome.” Read the rest of this entry »