What if.... you have two products being purchased for a project: 1) a zero-VOC paint, and 2) an anti-rust additive with 550 VOC g/l that is mixed in with paint after purchase. How would you document these products? Separately? In combination? Independently, the paint is clearly compliant, however, the anti-rust additive is not. The resulting combo anti-rust paint that is produced onsite and ultimately the substance that is applied to the project may or may not be VOC compliant; this would require testing I'm assuming. Separately, the additive itself does not exactly qualify as a paint or a coating (or adhesive or sealant, or otherwise) so does it need to be included in this credit, or anywhere in LEED, at all? Perhaps not? I saw below that color added at point-of-sale can be excluded. But, when considering the overall intent of this credit, the additive does contribute to odorous IAQ and could potentially be harmful/irritating to installers and occupants. What would you do in this situation? Thank you!

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Michelle Rosenberger

Partner

ArchEcology

LEEDuser Premium Member

421 thumbs up

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 16:11

Hi Alexis, This is a really good question. With two part products, we do tend to expect a combined VOC content but you're right that would mean testing. And obviously an on-site mix like this won't lend itself easily. I don't think this additive is comparable to a colorant that can be excluded. I do think this level of VOC application as an interior product should be acknowledged. An expert in this area may respond, but if it were me, I would approach it as a VOC budget. I would get them to provide the volume of paint and additive respectively that they will be using and declare the rust additive as an anti-corrosive coating. I can't imagine they use very much of it as compared to the zero VOC paint so you might be able to get it through on the cap and trade basis. Good luck.

Michelle Bombeck

Associate Principal

O'Brien360

LEEDuser Premium Member

24 thumbs up

Wed, 05/10/2017 - 15:57

Alexis, what was the outcome of this situation? I have a project looking to use Penetrol by Flood, which sounds like a similar product to that used in your project. Thanks!

Debra a. Lombard

Construction Administrator/ LEED AP

Bywater Woodworks, Inc.

LEEDuser Basic Member

42 thumbs up

Wed, 05/10/2017 - 16:27

since Penetrol is to be mixed with paints, I assume one would just add the VOCs of the Penetrol (550 g/l) to the VOC's of whatever they're adding it to for the final VOC's. That total VOC would then need to be under 250 g/L for rust inhibitors? Also MSDS for Penetrol indicates at least one ingredient is carcinogenic. Does LEED v4 prohibit ingredients that are carcinogenic? and if so what agency need to be the one to declare the ingredient carcinogenic? msds sheets will often indicate various stds and sometimes only 1 (ie. NTP and maybe not OSHA) will recognize it as a carcinogen. Thanks!

Alexis Thompson

Sustainability Specialist

Sellen Sustainability

LEEDuser Basic Member

8 thumbs up

Wed, 05/10/2017 - 18:01

Hi Michelle B, We ended up using a different product all together (one that did not require onsite mixing) that met LEED requirements. I think the solution that Michelle R proposed, doing a VOC budget listing each product independently, would have worked great too. Also - adding VOCs together for two products mixed together (a paint plus an additive) is not a good practice. To get VOC content for two products mixed together, you would have to have the final mix appropriately tested, per the standard. Mixing A+B could create a chemical reaction that may prove to be more volatile than the sum of it's parts... the cocktail effect.

Debra a. Lombard

Construction Administrator/ LEED AP

Bywater Woodworks, Inc.

LEEDuser Basic Member

42 thumbs up

Wed, 05/10/2017 - 18:16

Good comments. I'm curious where in the standard does it say that a paint additive and a paint mixed together need the final mixed product VOC's tested? I haven't seen that and would like to know if that's in the Std itself (that I missed) or just something LEED stated. Also, if adding a rust inhibitor to an alkyd paint, what VOC limit g/l # would then one use as the max VOCs for LEED? Thank you, Debra

Jon Clifford

LEED-AP BD+C

GREENSQUARE

LEEDuser Expert

261 thumbs up

Sat, 05/13/2017 - 14:28

Debra – In SCAQMD-1113-2004, under the definition, “Grams of VOC per Liter of Coating, Less Water and Less Exempt Compounds,” there is an alternate equation for calculating coatings that contain “reactive diluents.” These are products like epoxies, where two or more components are mixed together and react together to create a different chemical composition than what existed before mixing. This equation accounts for VOCs that get bound up into the new coating instead of being emitted. For the situation that Alexis describes above, since her two coatings were intended as separate coatings, this approach probably does not apply. Therefore, the VOC budget approach was probably correct. The product data or MSDS for most 2-component coatings lists “A+B” VOC content calculated using the alternative equation.

Deborah Ebersole

Principal

Studio D Consulting + Design

LEEDuser Basic Member

5 thumbs up

Thu, 07/27/2017 - 18:05

Alexis, Curious about the alternative product you located. I have a project running into this issue and trying to avoid the VOC budget if possible.

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