Repeating the painting process over and over again can be costly both monetarily and environmentally. One application of traditional paint can appear to be inexpensive and fit for the environment. However, when you look at the amount of times you will have to repeat this process, not only over the period of 20 years as described in our model but over the span of your home ownership, you begin to see the effects on your bank account and our planet.
Choosing Lifetyme Exteriors Smart Color over traditional paint will allow you to save a nice chunk of change for your child’s education fund while at the same time expose less harmful substances to the air they breathe growing up.
Important information for homeowners who are conscious of the environment:
Every homeowner wants to know that the exterior of their home will look and stay beautiful, and that they are getting a good value for their investment- but is it possible to achieve this and still minimize the impact your home has on the environment? Let us show you how by choosing Lifetyme Exteriors’ SmartColor™, you truly can have it all.
Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, are chemical compounds that have high enough vapor pressures under normal conditions that they significantly vaporize and enter the atmosphere. Some VOCs are simply bad for your health, and others are greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Put simply, measuring VOCs determines a compound’s impact on the air we breathe and the environment around us.
Now, if you are concerned about the environment, why not go the non-traditional route and choose one of the “green” or “environmentally friendly” paints on the market? As the manufacturers of these paints will surely tell you, they often have been tested for thickness, gloss, sag resistance, smoothness and even durability. We have yet to see an “environmentally friendly” paint that has been tested for longevity- and with standard house paint lasting only 4 to 5 years, you can imagine why.
How does SmartColor™ impact the Environment?
You may already know that SmartColor™ is durable, long-lasting, and a good value over time. Let us explain how choosing SmartColor™ will also lessen the impact over time your exterior has on the environment!
Recent statistics show that a standard paint job lasts 3 to 5 years. For the sake of our comparison, we will remain optimistic and say, hypothetically, that you paint your house every 5 years.
Let’s compare the environmental impact of SmartColor™ to the recommended primer and paint of an industry leader over a period of 20 years. An average-sized home takes 10 gallons of standard primer and 10 gallons of standard paint to complete. An average-sized home takes 20 gallons of SmartPrime™ and 30 gallons of SmartColor™ to complete.
As mentioned before, the measure of a product or compound’s VOCs indicates the impact it has on the environment. VOCs are listed on any paint’s Material Safety Data Sheet, or MSDS. If we look at the MSDS for each of the industry leader’s recommended paint products, you will see that their primer contains 2.72* lbs of VOCs per gallon, and their paint contains 0.95* lbs of VOCs per gallon. Our SmartPrime™ contains 0.75* lbs of VOCs per gallon, and SmartColor™ contains 0.71* lbs of VOCs per gallon.
Using the figures for average gallons used from above, we can see that SmartPrime™ and SmartColor™ have less of an immediate impact on the environment than the leading competition.
Now, while every little bit counts, the real difference in environmental impact shows itself over a 20-year time span. Over 20 years, the damage of the VOCs released by typical primer and paint will repeat itself every 5 years at a total of 183.5 lbs/gallon of VOCs. SmartPrime™ and SmartColor™ will not affect the environment again after the first application.
As you can see, standard painting is as costly to the environment over time as it is on your wallet. Wouldn’t you rather never paint your home again- while preventing damage to the environment?
