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Paints
The purpose of paint is not only to give a pleasing decorative effect, but is also to protect building fabric and the overall health of the building. The qualities of paint that are particularly important are resistance to wear and tear, durability against weathering and ultraviolet light, vapour permeability, mould and bacteria resistance, and fire protection. The relative importance of these qualities varies according to different materials and situations.
Wolseley supplies a wide variety of paints to enable clients, specifiers and users to take full advantage of the exceptional performance qualities of natural and ecological products. Fundamentally however paint has got to be practical, available, and cost effective.
Paints can use natural oils, resins and preservatives, and cover all general applications for housing and landscaping. Paints can achieve a significant step forward for health and the environment by focussing on issues of greatest impact to significantly reduce synthetic and hazardous materials, replacing these with high performance low impact alternatives. As a result trade white emulsions can now contain
- Exceptionally low VOCS
- No Solvents
- No hormone mimics
- Considerably reduced resins and TiO2
- No chlorinated preservatives
- Over 30% less embodied energy
Wolseley Supply Partner - NBT
All NBT paints are designed to have minimum health impact. Indoor air quality is now a major factor in health and is the cause of many allergic and auto-immume problems. NBT trade white emulsion is a genuine solvent free, VOC free paint with no chlorinated preservatives, and no hormone mimics. The emulsions are also highly vapour permeable, thus assisting moisture control in buildings. NBT Gloss and Eggshell are water based acrylic eggshells to ensure minimum solvent/VOC pollution for decorators and occupiers.
Paint and buildings:
- Vapour permeable
- Mould resistant (NBT Beeck)
- Fire resistant (NBT Beeck)
NBT trade emulsions are vapour open thus helping to ensure moisture is not trapped in fabric, causing the risk of moulds, and the decay of building elements.
Paint and the environment:
- Embodied energy
- CO² emissions
- Pollution
- Habitat destruction
- Resource use
NBT Trade Emulsions have been reformulated to have 30% less embodied energy (and hence 30% less CO² emissions) than similar conventional trade emulsions. Transport is also a major issue in terms of CO² emissions, so it is very important that NBT trade paints are manufactured in the UK. NBT Trade paints have reduced the TiO² in their formula by over 25% from a standard emulsion, because this is the paint ingredient with not only the highest embodied energy, but also the greatest environmental impact in terms of resource use, habitat destruction and pollution. All ingredients, packaging etc have been assessed for environmental impact.
Environmental assessments of NBT trade paints are available along with an in depth article about environmental paint.
Trade Eco Paints
NBT Trade Paints have been formulated to NBT’s own specification and are manufactured in the UK. They have been specifically designed to tackle the most difficult environmental and health issues arising from paints.
