It is becoming easier to specify green products for interior design. The options available are growing and more companies become aware that consumers demand both high quality materials as well as performance from suppliers that meet the clients core values and concerns for creating a healthy home environment while protecting the macro environment and preserving our natural resources. In part three of our Green Design Series we take a look at some wall finish options including milk paint, clay plaster, and low voc latex paints.
Milk paint is a beautiful functional and durable wall finish but not the only option for wall low VOC green wall finishes anymore. A variety of extremely high quality and beautiful finishes like clay earth plasters are joining the challenge while the big players including Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams get in the game to stay.
Milk paint, or casein paint has been around for over a century. Historically this paint was made from natural organic raw materials including milk protein, lime and pigments were added for color. The mixture has a short life span ranging from 1 day to up to two weeks. Newer formulation are similar with some variations of the filler materials and pigments. Milk paint can be made at home or the dry materials can be purchased pre-mixed from various sources. You mix the dry materials with water to the right consistency and paint on. Milk paint does not " flow out" like industrial coating produced today. The texture of the brush strokes remain creating a pleasing effect. The Pigment also is not as consistent as a manufactured paint. This inconsistency provides a pleasing variety when dry adding to the hand crafted look.
The finish is "breathable" allowing air to pass through it. When used in areas like kitchens it is advisable to seal the finish with a varnish.
Unfortunately some companies have reproduced this effect using manufactured paints and have labeled the resulting finish a "Milk Paint Finish." These finishes are NOT Green and have added some confusion to actual milk paint finises.
Resources for these finishes include:
The Real Milk Paint located in Quakertown, Pa. http://www.realmilkpaint.com/
Clay-
American Clay Enterprises is a U.S. company based in Albuquerque, NM uses plaster as a base to create a variety of textures from matte to suede to "rustic organic textures." and can be applied by troweling or spraying. Colors for these finishes have a "natural" feel. The clay plaster also has a longer open time and unlike other plasters, it can be crushed and reconstituted with water.
Milk paint, or casein paint has been around for over a century. Historically this paint was made from natural organic raw materials including milk protein, lime and pigments were added for color. The mixture has a short life span ranging from 1 day to up to two weeks. Newer formulation are similar with some variations of the filler materials and pigments. Milk paint can be made at home or the dry materials can be purchased pre-mixed from various sources. You mix the dry materials with water to the right consistency and paint on. Milk paint does not " flow out" like industrial coating produced today. The texture of the brush strokes remain creating a pleasing effect. The Pigment also is not as consistent as a manufactured paint. This inconsistency provides a pleasing variety when dry adding to the hand crafted look.
The finish is "breathable" allowing air to pass through it. When used in areas like kitchens it is advisable to seal the finish with a varnish.
Unfortunately some companies have reproduced this effect using manufactured paints and have labeled the resulting finish a "Milk Paint Finish." These finishes are NOT Green and have added some confusion to actual milk paint finises.
Resources for these finishes include:
The Real Milk Paint located in Quakertown, Pa. http://www.realmilkpaint.com/
Clay-
American Clay Enterprises is a U.S. company based in Albuquerque, NM uses plaster as a base to create a variety of textures from matte to suede to "rustic organic textures." and can be applied by troweling or spraying. Colors for these finishes have a "natural" feel. The clay plaster also has a longer open time and unlike other plasters, it can be crushed and reconstituted with water.
(Sample Images from American Clay Enterprises Website)
The Company also claims that Clay plaster also helps produce negative ions in the air creating an environment more conducive to human life balancing the positive ions given off by electronic equipment found in most offices and homes today. According to the company website, "Negative ions are believed to produce biochemical reactions that increase levels of the mood chemical serotonin, helping to alleviate depression, relieve stress, and boost our daytime energy. Normal Ion count in fresh country air is 2,000 to 4,000 negative Ions per cubic centimeter (about the size of a sugar cube). At Yosemite Falls, you'll experience over 100,000 negative Ions per cubic centimeter. On the other hand, the level is far below 600 per cubic centimeter in an office with computers."
Benjamin Moore recently donated more than 300 gallons of its new EcoSpec interior paint for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Headquarter office in Washington, DC. According to Benjamin Moore, "EcoSpec products are 100 percent acrylic latex paints with quick drying time and no lingering paint odor. The low levels of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) make EcoSpec ideal for architects and designers interested in attaining LEED certification."
(The LEED Green Building Rating System is the standard of green building criteria developed by the USGBC. The new USGBC office suite opened in February 2007 and earned LEED Platinum Commercial Interiors certification, the highest level attainable.)
Benjamin Moore recently donated more than 300 gallons of its new EcoSpec interior paint for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Headquarter office in Washington, DC. According to Benjamin Moore, "EcoSpec products are 100 percent acrylic latex paints with quick drying time and no lingering paint odor. The low levels of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) make EcoSpec ideal for architects and designers interested in attaining LEED certification."
(The LEED Green Building Rating System is the standard of green building criteria developed by the USGBC. The new USGBC office suite opened in February 2007 and earned LEED Platinum Commercial Interiors certification, the highest level attainable.)
Sherwin Williams has two product that meet or exceed LEED's GS-11 Standards. First is it's Duration Home® Interior Latex offering a low voc options and second it's Harmony® Interior Latex offing a no-voc option. Sherwin Williams also claims to have developed a standard for Green coating that goes even "farther than most 3rd party certifications and calls it " GreenSure. More information can be found on the company website.
Richard Allan Marti Jr.
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