Low VOC Coatings for Flat Wood Application

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Q: In Manitowoc County Wisconsin our allowable VOC emission for exemption status is 12lbs.VOC/1000 sq.ft. and 1660 VOC per month.  We are held to AWI specifications which tend to request solvent based products with high VOC contents.  How do I stay within this exemption using these products and hold to specs? 

Case Study... I have a project that has 2700 sq.ft. and that allows me 32.4 lbs of VOC per this finished product; however, the solvent has a 4.95 VOC for 1 coat therefore I cannot spray the necessary 3 coats to complete the project and stay within regulations and my company does not want and cannot, due to specs, use a waterborne alternative. Is there a alternative 2nd coat that has less VOC's and is not waterborne and can air dry that would be comparable to the solvent to a lesser degree not noted to the inexperienced eye? Any suggestions or loop holes you have are very welcome towards solving my problem. I await your response.

A: There are several manufacturers of wood finishes, and I wonder if you have already contacted companies such as Akzo Nobel, PPG, Sherwin-Williams, Maclac, etc.? I imagine that they have low VOC solvent-based coatings. Bear in mind, you can also use acetone to thin the high solids paints, because acetone is not considered to be a VOC or a HAP.

Have you considered using UV curable coatings on your flat wood line? UV coatings have virtually no VOC and you would easily be able to meet the regulations.

Here are some sites you might want to browse:

PPG Site Map of all coatings - http://www.ppg.com/car_indcoat/map.htm 

PPG Flatline finishes - http://www.iswonline.com/wwp/200206/ppg.shtml 

PPG UV Curable finishes - http://www.ppg.com/car_indcoat/liquid13.htm 

Sherwin-Williams Wood Finishes - http://www.sherwin-williams.com/OEM/wood/default.asp 

Akzo Nobel Wood Coatings - http://www.akzonobel-ic.co.uk/noflash/prodfrm.asp?mgrp=wood 

R.J. M. McGlennon Co. Inc. - http://www.maclac.com/ 

RadTech is the organization for the UV/EB curable coatings association. They have lots of information that might be helpful to you. http://www.radtech.org/ 

EPA's ETV Program has evaluated numerous wood coatings, On this site you will find their test data. - http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/wood/low/casebyco.html 

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