Paints and coatings must meet the VOC limits defined by the SCAQMD Rule 1113 respectively the Green Seal Standards GS-11 and GC-03. These limits are given in g/l of the Substance.
However, in Europe almost none of the construction materials are provided with SCAQMD or Green Seal certificates. Instead, the European DECOPAINT certificate is very common for these products.
DECOPAINT:
• Like the SCAQMD or Green Seal certificates also the DECOPAINT certificate regulates the VOC-contents of coating materials in g/l (decorative, protecting or any other kind of functional coatings – including paints and sealants, but not adhesives).
• There are VOC-limits for water based and solvent based products. The VOC limits for water based products generally are between 30 and 200 g/l. The limits for the comparable product categories are below the comparable VOC-limits defined by SCAQMD Rule 1113 (100 – 730 g/l) or Green Seal Standards GS-11 (50 – 150 g/l) and GC-03 (250 g/l).
• However the VOC-analyzing method for DECOPAINT follows European regulations (ISO11890-2 and ASTMD 2369) and therefore is not comparable to the US American standards defined by USEPA (USEPA Reference Method 24) or SCAQMD (Method 304).
Will USGBC accept DECOPAINT certificated products instead of SCAQMD or Green Seal certified products?
Tristan Roberts
RepresentativeVermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
11477 thumbs up
February 14, 2011 - 9:43 am
Simone, I think you had similar questions on IEQc4.1 and IEQc4.3. As discussed on those forums, this certifiations would not be accepted right now by USGBC, although that could change in the future.What are your thoughts?
Susann Geithner
PrincipalEmerald Built Environments
1297 thumbs up
February 14, 2011 - 11:07 am
I agree. You can't used the European certificates, but we have applied for these credits successfully in European project. However we had to hired a building biologist expert. He calculated and/or tested to figure out the difference between the US and European method of determining/expressing VOCs.
Julien Daclin
Head of SustainabilityDeerns France
36 thumbs up
February 25, 2011 - 11:50 am
Susan, could you please share the contact details of your "building biologist"? The study he carried would be really useful for a few projects in france. Thanks
Susann Geithner
PrincipalEmerald Built Environments
1297 thumbs up
February 25, 2011 - 12:13 pm
They worked in "An den Bruecken - MK1+2" in Munich. These buildings are now LEED CS Gold and Platinum.
Dr. Riess; Buero fuer integrierten Umweltschutz (Office for integrated Environmental protection), Bremen in Germany; Phone 0421-2768200
www.riess-biu.de
Good luck with projects.
Reinhard Oppl
Independent consultant on VOC issuesformerly with Eurofins Product Testing A/S
329 thumbs up
March 2, 2011 - 8:20 am
There are certainly also other experts offering such services. As to give you one more example, just look at www.eurofins.com/leed-adhesives-sealants and www.eurofins.com/leed-paints-coatings. Services also available in French and in German language.