Absolutely!

Paints and coatings typically represent a very low investment in the overall cost of a building, but can be a big contributing factor to a greener building. In fact, for the LEED v4 standard – the cost of paints and coatings, which is typically less than 2% of a building cost, can contribute to as much as 27% of your overall LEED v4 points.

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) - who developed LEED - does not certify, endorse or promote products, services or companies, nor does it track, list or report data related to products and their environmental qualities.

LEED is a certification system that deals with the environmental performance of buildings based on overall characteristics of the project. It does not award credits based on the use of particular products but rather upon meeting the performance standards set forth in the rating systems.

It is up to project teams to determine which products are most appropriate for credit achievement and program requirements.

Although USGBC does not certify, promote, or endorse products and services of individual companies, products and services do play a contributing role and can help projects with credit achievement.

Read more about LEED V4.

To help achieve your targeted green building standard easily, take a closer look at your material selection. For example in LEED, paints and coatings from Jotun’s Green Building Solutions can increase your building’s point eligibility across three different categories: sustainable sites, materials and resources in addition to indoor environmental quality.

Read more about LEED v4

The first step is to read up on the standard, and ensure you understand a little bit about it.

To specify paints and coatings for your project, our Green Building Solutions page is a great place to start. We have pre-written standard specifications for LEED, and our product page can help you navigate in the regionally available paints and coatings that can help you achieve your green building standard easier.

Although VOC is given different priority in different regions, overall lowering VOC emissions is an important green step.

In some countries, there are bans or strict regulations on how much VOC you can emit in a project or as a company.

In general, lowering VOC is a sustainable choice, and when selecting paints and coatings, looking for low VOC solutions will be beneficial.

From many perspectives, green buildings deliver a variety of benefits to your business and society at large. Green building standards provide a framework for carrying out construction and maintenance in an environmentally responsible – or green - manner. But they can make economic sense in building development, too.

Green building standards provide a holistic approach towards reducing a building’s environmental footprint, can add rental or sale value to a property and increase the focus on healthier solutions for the workers and occupants.

A common myth is that the same building standards are applied to determine whether a product installed within the building is green or not. But it is common practice for such rating schemes to reference specific product standards and/or certifications and require supporting documentation to substantiate claims.

There are a wide range available depending on your requirements and project location.

Learn more about Green building standards.

Jotun knows achieving green building standards can be complicated, so it developed Green Building Solutions to make it as easy as possible.

Green Building Solutions incorporates Jotun's set of hand-picked low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) and green building products for

• Architectural powder coatings
• Anti-carbonation coatings for concrete
• Decorative paints
• Floor coatings
• Intumescent coatings for cellulosic fire protection
• Protective coatings
• Want to know more? Read about Jotun's Single source solutions.

Want to know more? Read about Jotun's Single source solutions.

The most common standards are:

• LEED
• BREEAM
• Estidama
• BCA Green Mark Scheme
• GRIHA
• GBI (Green Building Index)

Read more about common green building standards or check out the World Green Building Council's comprehensive list of all the rating tools used globally.

According to World Green Building Council, a green building is a building that, in its design, construction or operation, reduces or eliminates negative impacts, and can create positive impacts, on our climate and natural environment.

Green buildings preserve precious natural resources and improve our quality of life.

Any building can be a green building, whether it’s a home, an office, a school, a hospital, a community centre, or any other type of structure, provided it includes features listed above.

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) communicates the environmental performance of products to its customers. EPDs are considered the gold standard in transparency and are increasingly used by architects and specifiers to select products when designing a green building.

A Product Specific Type III (third party verified) EPD is a declaration that quantifies environmental information on the life cycle of a product. The EPD methodology is based on a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) following ISO 14025, ISO 14044 and ISO 21930.

Type III EPDs are verified by a third party and is registered and published by an EPD operator.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is the most widely used green building rating system and LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement.

Available for virtually all building project types, from new construction to interior fit-outs and operation & maintenance, LEED provides a framework that project teams can apply to create healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings.

The various LEED rating systems developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) committees are created to transform the built environment and help towards lowering impacts by providing the building industry with consistent, credible standards for what constitutes a green building.

According to World Green Building Council, there are a number of features which can make a building ‘green’. These include:

• Efficient use of energy, water and other resources
• Use of renewable energy, such as solar energy
• Pollution and waste reduction measures, and the enabling of re-use and
• recycling
• Good indoor environmental air quality
• Use of materials that are non-toxic, ethical and sustainable
• Consideration of the environment in design, construction and operation
• Consideration of the quality of life of occupants in design, construction and
• operation
• A design that enables adaptation to a changing environment

All Jotun’s EPDs can be found and downloaded from www.epd-norge.no, or simply by filtering for products on our Green Buildings Solutions product page.

A substantial part of Jotun's research and development resources are dedicated to developing more sustainable products and technologies. The Jotun GreenSteps program and its five impact reduction areas are always on the innovation agenda:

• Reducing VOC emissions: by offering waterborne, solvent-free and high volume solids products across all categories.
  
  
• Reducing hazardous materials: by substituting hazardous raw materials with those having lesser hazards comparatively and reaching worldwide bans and/or optimizing ingredients by not using persistent, bioaccumulating and toxic substances such as those mentioned on the candidate list, authorization list and restriction lists under the European regulation called REACH.
  
  
• Reducing energy consumption: by offering products with heat reflective properties across architectural powder coatings as well as highly UV resistant exterior decorative paints thus reducing energy consumption used for cooling. In addition, Jotun is actively incorporating various energy-saving strategies within its own assets in pursuit of LEED and BREEAM certifications.
  
  
• Reducing carbon footprint: by optimizing formulations and finding alternative technologies to reduce consumption of titanium dioxide, the production of which is highly energy-intensive. Strategic supply chain optimizations to increase distribution efficiency coupled with the high durability performance translates to lower embodied carbon from Jotun’s products used in a building and thus helps reduce the overall carbon footprint.
  
  
• Reducing waste: by setting and achieving waste reduction targets across all operations and even extending this philosophy to our suppliers. Jotun protects customers' property through high durability performance coatings adhering to surfaces thus reducing materials use for recoating and minimizing losses. Subject to thorough surface assessment and coating condition, coated structural steel may even be reused and put back into the construction loop in some cases.

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) may be used for different applications including green product selection and building assessments.

Since it is transparent and verified comparable information, EPDs can help you assess the lifecycle implications of a chosen product from the design stage.

There are many standards to choose from globally. According to World Green Building Council, different countries and regions have a variety of characteristics such as:

• Distinctive climatic conditions
• Unique cultures and traditions
• Diverse building types and ages
• Wide-ranging environmental, economic and social priorities

ll of this shapes a country's approach to green building and will be reflected in the various green standards in the region.

Exposed elements of a building are at risk of damage through impact or wear and tear. This can result in significant and unnecessary materials use and waste generation across the life of a building.

In addition, climate change can significantly accelerate the deterioration of materials used in a building. It is therefore important to consider the impact of climate change and its associated environmental changes on the vulnerable elements within the built environment.

Surfaces coated with highly durable paints and coatings will not need to be repainted as frequently, so the raw materials, energy, and environmental impacts invested in them can be spread out over more time. Thus, higher durability of the coating will not just positively impact its own lifecycle but also that of the whole building.