What does sustainability mean to Benjamin Moore?
Benjamin Moore remains steadfast in our commitment to our stakeholders and our long-standing pledge toward a more sustainable future. With an emphasis on the continued evaluation of employee needs and benefits, prioritization of high-demand products, and support for charitable partners and programming, these efforts remain at the forefront of our company culture. Premium quality coatings have been at the foundation of the brand for 138 years. Through third-party certifications like Green Seal and ongoing efforts to develop low-VOC coatings, we are able to meet the needs of customers and our obligation to the environment.
Tell us about Benjamin Moore’s Eco Spec line of paints. What makes it the brand’s greenest interior premium paint?
Benjamin Moore introduced the Eco Spec line in 2008 as one of our first zero-VOC paints ideally suited for commercial facilities, such as schools, corporate buildings, hospitals, nursing homes, medical clinics, and assisted living facilities. In 2021, as part of an effort to simplify our portfolio to better serve our customers, we discontinued redundancies and rebranded Eco Spec as our greenest product offering that exceeds the most stringent environmental standards for both commercial and residential customers.
The new Eco Spec Interior is a 100% acrylic paint that offers zero VOCs, zero emissions, and low odor. It delivers excellent hide, great touch-up, and quick-drying properties for a fast job turnaround. Also, our patented zero-VOC Gennex colorants ensure that Eco Spec remains zero-VOC, even after tinting.
Eco Spec is our greenest paint because it has been independently tested to be Green Seal-certified and certified asthma & allergy friendly by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. These independent certifications validate the fact that Eco Spec meets or exceeds the strictest environmental requirements. In addition to securing those third-party certifications, we’ve refreshed the Eco Spec label to drive appeal to a wider audience that insists on green attributes.
Why do your customers value low-VOC paints?
VOCs are volatile organic compounds that drying paint can release into the air, significantly affecting the immediate environment and, in some extreme instances, human health. In buildings that need to maintain good air quality like daycares, schools, and hospitals, it is important to use the most environmentally responsible products, because increased exposure to VOCs may elevate the risk of developing respiratory issues.
That’s why we recommend products like Eco Spec with zero VOCs, zero emissions, and low odor for the benefit of those spaces, their occupants, and the environment in general.
Why do you partner with Green Seal?
Green Seal is a respected global environmental certification organization and obtaining the Green Seal certification verifies that Eco Spec meets the highest environmental standards in the industry.
What product, innovation or accomplishment are you most proud of from a sustainability standpoint?
Our commitment to research and innovation has led us to many industry firsts, including:
- The first eggshell interior finish, in 1972
- The first Computer Color Matching System (now an industry standard), in 1982
- The first pearl interior finish, in1988
- Our zero-VOC latex paint, EcoSpec, in 2008
- The first company in the U.S. to introduce a zero-VOC waterborne tinting system to the marketplace (our patented Gennex Color Technology), in 2006
And years before the federal government required it, we eliminated lead, formaldehyde and mercury from our paints and met VOC standards.
The Federal Trade Commission has determined that an emission-free or zero-emissions (or VOC) paint claim can be substantiated by, among other things, evidence demonstrating the paint has trace levels of emissions six hours or less after application (and thereafter), and contains no substance that could cause material harm to the health of the average adult under normal anticipated use. Eco Spec paint meets this standard.
Finally, we take these proprietary ingredients and custom formulate them to optimize their performance in each of our products. You might call this process the key component of our competitive advantage and success.
What’s next for Benjamin Moore?
We will remain committed to our professional painters and customers that insist on green attributes, premium performance and the best color selection in order to exceed their expectations.
]]>Now, Green Seal’s paint certification is the only mark in the marketplace to qualify products for both LEED v4.1 low-emitting materials credit requirements and Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly badge — making it simple for health-focused buyers to identify safer products.
Working with Paint Industry Leaders
The North American paints and coatings industry has made major strides in green chemistry innovation in tandem with growing market demand for healthier, greener products. Leading manufacturers have achieved significant reductions in VOC content and hazardous chemical ingredients while maintaining the performance consumers expect.
Green Seal’s original leadership standard for paints and coatings, published in 1993, was the first to set limits on VOCs. Today, Green Seal’s is still the only standard in this product category to restrict carcinogens, reproductive toxins, hazardous air pollutants, alkylphenol ethoxylates, and a host of other chemicals, ensuring certified products are safer for building occupants while providing uncompromising functional performance.
Manufacturer investments and innovations have led to safer supply chains and improved air quality around the world. Case in point: In 2020, paints and coatings meeting Green Seal’s leadership standard prevented more than half a million pounds of VOC pollution across 120 million square feet of LEED-certified building space alone.
Aligning with LEED to Provide Buyers a Simple Choice
Green Seal regularly evaluates our standards for accuracy and relevance to ensure they correctly define sustainability leadership in an evolving marketplace. The updated standard protects indoor air quality; ensures certified products are safer for people and the planet; and aligns with the most recent version of the LEED green building standard (LEED v4.1), a key market driver.
The standard’s three key updates are:
- Strengthening VOC Content Limits. All products must comply with the VOC limits defined by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). CARB VOC limits reduce the potential for the formation of photochemical ozone and smog, which can cause serious respiratory issues.
- Requiring VOC emissions testing. Products must undergo VOC emissions testing conducted in an environmental chamber according to the State of California’s Department of Public Health Standard Method (CDPH). This test allows Green Seal to confirm low levels of off-gassing after paints are applied, increasing health protections for building occupants and promoting overall healthier indoor environments.
- Aligning two chemical restrictions with LEED language. A clarification that perchloroethylene and methylene chloride — which Green Seal prohibited in certified products decades ahead of government regulation — are not allowed to be intentionally added to product formulas at any level.
Products certified to Green Seal’s revised standard meet both the chemical content and VOC emissions testing requirements of LEED v4.1, making it easy for green building project managers to identify products that check all the boxes.
]]>Products certified to Green Seal standards must abide by strict limits to VOCs to protect human health. This post provides a quick overview of VOCs, how to choose healthier, greener products, and other tips for reducing your exposure to VOCs.
What Role Do VOCs Play in Products?
Sometimes called oil-based or petroleum-based solvents, many VOCs are included in paints and cleaning products to dissolve or dilute the other ingredients. Some VOCs function as flame retardants that are added to mattresses and building materials, which, as you can guess from their category name, are formulated to slow the spread of fire. Many fragrances are also VOCs, which are intentionally volatile and off-gas at a certain rate so that the scent lingers in the air.
How VOCs Collect Indoors
VOCs have high vapor pressures, which means they evaporate easily – or off-gas – when they come into contact with air molecules. Paint, for example, begins to off-gas when it is applied to a surface, and, depending on its chemical formula, may continue to off-gas for months as the paint completes the curing process.
Studies show that indoor concentrations of VOCs are often up to seven times higher than those outside – commonly a result of applying paints and personal care products, as well as daily home combustion events, such as cooking and heating with gas appliances. VOCs get stuck inside when a room has poor ventilation, as VOCs are added to our space faster than they can escape through a window or HVAC system. Additionally, heavier types of VOCs, called semi-VOCs (SVOCs), are emitted from products and then settle onto surfaces and are absorbed by dust. Inhaling and ingesting this dust is harmful to health, especially for children.
How VOC’s Affect Your Health
Acute inhalation exposure to VOCs can cause coughing, decreased lung function, low energy levels, headaches, and impaired mental focus. Chronic exposure to hazardous VOCs is associated with neurological disorders, including dementia and tremors. The World Health Organization estimates 3.8 million deaths occur each year due to indoor air pollution, including VOCs. The worst offenders include:
- Formaldehyde
- Terpenes, toluene
- Glycol ethers
- Acetaldehyde
- Phenol
- Methylene chloride
- BTEX benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEX)
- Flame retardants – PBDEs
Green Seal strictly limits these and other VOCs in certified products.
How VOCs Affect the Environment
VOCs interact with nitrous oxides in the atmosphere to form ozone — a greenhouse gas that can cause temperature increases when found in lower layers of the atmosphere. Because of this, VOCs also indirectly contribute to the formation of smog and particulate matter.
Cleaning products, paints and coatings, and several other product types are required to have low VOC content if they are sold in California. The Golden State also leads the nation on VOC restrictions in products in part because it’s a critical public health issue for the region: California’s geography and climate leads to greater air pollution than the rest of the nation, especially in urban areas where 95% of its population resides. The U.S. federal government also sets restrictions as a way of enforcing the Clean Air Act.
VOCs in Cleaning Products
VOCs are most often found in cleaning products in the form of solvents and fragrances. Green Seal sets limits on the VOC content of cleaning products that are based on, but even more restrictive than, California’s regulatory limits. Green Seal is more restrictive because our calculations of a product’s total VOCs include fragrances, whereas California’s regulations currently exclude them. This means that many widely available household cleaning products cannot yet meet our standards because they have high concentrations of fragrances, such as when essential oils make up more than 1% of the product.
VOCs in Paints and Coatings
State purchasing laws and the global green building community have greatly increased the demand for low-emitting paint products to address indoor air quality.
What is VOC in paint? In general, low- or zero-VOC paints tend to be water-based and have significantly lower odor than oil/solvent-based paints. Flat (or matte) paints with fewer than 50 grams of VOCs per liter are generally considered to be low-VOC, while a zero-VOC paint is one with fewer than 5 grams per liter. Nonflat paints (such as satin and semi-gloss) are considered low-VOC if they have fewer than 100 grams of VOCs per liter. It’s important to note that the VOC content on the paint label does not include the VOCs added in the paint colorant at the point of sale, which can significantly increase VOC levels.
Green Seal sets limits on VOCs in two ways: content and emissions. We restrict VOC content in the product formula, and we also require an emissions evaluation to verify that the product does not off-gas hazardous chemicals during a specified period after the initial application, providing an indicator of safer air quality for building occupants.
Green Seal certification also restricts the VOC content of colorants added at the point-of-sale. Any colorants used with Green Seal-certified paints cannot cause the final product to exceed the category VOC limit by more than 50 grams.
How to Reduce Your Exposure to VOCs
To protect your health, open windows, turn on a fan, or cover your nose and mouth with a mask or other fabric when applying cleaning products, fragranced products, paints, and coatings. Whenever possible:
- Choose fragrance-free products.
- Choose Green Seal-certified paint, cleaning, and personal care products.
- Use low-emitting paints and low- or zero-VOC content paints that comply with California Air Resource Board limits.
- Avoid aerosol products.
By choosing safer paints and cleaning products and taking simple precautions when applying them, you can protect yourself and those around you from the negative health effects of VOCs.
Related Content
When is disinfecting appropriate? The CDC now says to disinfect when someone confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 has been in the building within the past 24 hours.
This is the same guidance Green Seal provided last Summer in our Safer Guidelines for COVID-19 Disinfecting for Schools and Workplaces, a free public resource that is now being implemented in more than 1 billion square feet of building space, including by Green Seal-certified cleaning services.
Why Disinfecting Can Harm Instead of Help
It has been clear for some time that dousing a space in hazardous disinfecting chemicals won’t do much to prevent the spread of COVID-19. There are two main reasons for this: COVID-19 is much more likely to spread through person-to-person and airborne transmission than it is through surface-to-person transmission, and coronaviruses are relatively easy to kill on surfaces with plain old soap and water (or regular cleaning solutions).
There is a natural instinct to turn to the harshest chemicals available to attack a nasty virus, but the CDC’s new guidance should reassure us all that we can follow the science to avoid a dangerous reliance on disinfection. Doing so will avoid health risks ranging from cancer to serious respiratory disease – an especially grave risk for vulnerable populations such as children and the 1 in 13 Americans with asthma.
Not All Disinfectants are Created Equal
For the times when disinfecting is appropriate, some disinfecting products are safer than others. Green Seal has curated U.S. EPA’s List N: Disinfectants for Coronavirus to help you identify safer ones.
Unlike other active ingredients commonly found in disinfectants, the active ingredients we recommend are not linked to asthma, cancer, endocrine disruption, DNA damage or skin irritation. Find our list of recommended ingredients and products here.