Painting green

Going green has catch up the paint and coating industry too
 The highest goal of green architecture is to be fully sustainable. That’s why achieving sustainability in architecture is a prime objective. Due to this the paint and coating industry is giving a due importance to sustainability too. Most of the companies are supporting green building through their eco-friendly finishing applications, ongoing research and eco-friendly business practices and facilities.
Going green“Green architecture should remain close to nature,” opines Mahesh S Anand, President – Decoratives, Nippon Paint India Pvt. Ltd. “Use only green products which protect the environment and improve the standard of living. Energy efficiency over the entire life cycle of a building should be the single most important goal.”
As a founding member of IGBC, Nippon Paint advocates and promotes green wherever it is present. The company takes green philosophy very seriously, right from its manufacturing practices to products.
Even Kansai Nerolac is one of the pioneers in development of eco-friendly product portfolio. “Recognised among global leaders in product innovation and widely reputed for an unmistakable conviction about environment sensitivity, Kansai Nerolac commands a principal position in providing state-of-the-art solutions in both its décor and industrial applications,” claims Yatnesh Pandey, Chief Manager Marketing, Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd. “Through our product portfolio and customer awareness campaigns to promote environment sensitivity, Kansai tries in its own way to gift a sustainable future.”
Managing environmentFrom its approach towards water, waste and energy management, Nerolac is one the pioneers in making efforts towards having a sustainable future. Its approach towards water management is guided by initiatives for reduction in water consumption, for which water usage monitoring is done by installing water meters at the water source across all KNPL major facilities. In many cases, effluent water from one process might be perfectly suitable for reuse in another process somewhere else on the site. Based on this thought, Nerolac has implemented various initiatives to reuse and recycle water so as to reduce fresh water consumption and recirculate treated water into processes or suitable applications. With efforts to achieve overall efficiency in sustainability, Nerolac has also taken some steps toward energy management. All these efforts have helped it become more efficient and elevate its environmental responsibility, thereby being the front runner in the paint industry to encourage and practice steps to provide a sustainable future to the country.
For Nippon Paint, commitment to the environment also remains a top priority. The company is all about creating sustainable futures for everyone. Its paints are formulated and crafted with careful attention to the needs of the environment, good health and well-being. As a result, Nippon has a range of water-based paints with no added lead and mercury, and near-zero volatile organic compounds (VOC) coatings.
Green productsNippon’s products are green with VOC either low or ultra low. However, Nippon Paint Odourless Aircare is a speciality product which abates formaldehyde present in the interiors using active carbon technology. It is also a near zero VOC product. Its anti-bacterial emulsion is unique of its kind which is most suited for hospitals, day care centres and old-age homes.
Nerolac’s impressions eco-clean range for interior wall paints and the excel total range for exterior paints are two range of products that are eco-friendly as they have zero VOC and are lead-free. These products do not emit harmful gases that damage the environment, thereby reducing indoor and outdoor air pollution caused by regular emulsions. Impressions Eco Clean, an interior premium emulsion paint, has been developed to have superior stain resistance quality and excellent washability with HD technology that gives walls a brighter and vibrant look. Excel Total range exterior emulsion paint is formulated with Japanese technology of weather defence formula, which delivers the all-important consumer benefits of excellent dust resistance and high water repellency. It also provides excellent algae resistance and rich sheen.
As for decorative paints, Kansai has initiated and popularised the concept and campaign called “Healthy Home Paints” to contribute towards a sustainable future. Nerolac’s pioneering efforts have also been recognised by renowned bodies like GRIHA, GS-11 and LEED.
Earth Matters In its continual strive to contribute to sustainable living, Nerolac initiated an online platform in the paint industry named Earth Matters, which has garnered tremendous popularity and traffic amongst industry personalities. It is a page especially designed for architects and designers to promote sustainable development as well as a common platform for general masses to interact, learn and get firsthand information directly from the experts themselves. This thought-provoking initiative was launched to help raise awareness on issues about the environment and its impact on architectural design keeping in mind that the social role of people as consumers and decision makers about sustainable architecture has been ignored. Earth Matter emphasises on the need for change in attitude and gives the architects, engineers and interior designers an opportunity to learn more on methods of sustainable practices toward building environmentally responsible buildings.
Towards tomorrowNippon is looking into other avenues like painting services and accessories. The company has also plans to launch few products which could be first of its kind like “virus guard emulsion” and “anti-mosquito paint”.
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Through our product portfolio and customer awareness campaigns to promote environment sensitivity, Kansai tries in its own way to gift a sustainable future.
 
Yatnesh Pandey, Chief Manager Marketing, Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd.

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