Property Plus
Coimbatore
More takers for the green paints
Photo: K. Ananthan
COLOURFUL SPRAYS: Consumers have a wide range of paints to choose from now. —
As buildings that are eco-friendly and green get popular so are such construction products – paints, for instance. The options for consumers have moved beyond the realms of colour range and finish. Paints are now environment-friendly, odour free, fragrant and much more.
According to M. Bhuvanasundar, chairman of the Coimbatore chapter of the Indian Institute of Architects, though concrete and brick work exposed walls are still common in several places in the North, paints are mainly used as a protective cover to the inner wall, to get a better finish and for aesthetics.
Of late, awareness is improving about green buildings and use of eco-friendly products give credentials to these buildings as these materials are made from recyclable sources.
Normally, eco-friendly paints have low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) and are not harmful in terms of toxicity, etc. Use of these materials is becoming mandatory for green buildings.
However, more awareness should be created among customers on these products and their benefits.
The Property Plus takes a look at some of these paints and the demand for such products:
Muthukumar S. Iyer, Product Manager of Nippon Paints, says that a number of educated customers now ask for paints that are free of heavy metals and have low VOC level. “We are moving towards water-based paints.” At Nippon, the VOC is almost zero. Repainting is normally postponed by consumers due to the odour that persists for some days.
The odour-free paint that Nippon has does not pose this problem. The company is also creating awareness about the harms that are caused when some of the heavy metals are used in paints.
Rajeev Menon, senior zonal manager of ICI Paints (Dulux), says paints normally contain heavy metals such as lead and chromium.
These should be within permissible levels. If not, the paints can have harmful effects over a period of time. Dulux has a Safety, Security, Environment and Health Policy and educates its customers and painters on these issues.
It recently opened a paint studio in Coimbatore and saw a trend among customers, who walk into it, asking about eco-friendly paints.
Premium Semi-Gloss Enamel from Asian Paints is water-based and is supplied mainly for projects. This is an eco-friendly paint, which is lead-free and meets the European standards.
It is mostly used by institutions such as hospitals where repainting is made easy with this product. The entire enamel range from Asian Paints has been made lead-free since April this year, says a company representative.
Mr. Bhuvanasundar is confident that usage of these paints and other eco-friendly materials will go up in the future with more awareness.
M. SOUNDARIYA PREETHA
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