The Economy of Self-Interest - The Referendum on Paint - Part 4

By: Tony Margani of EVOpaint™

What is the business case for sustainability?

When I am the lead car in the left hand lane and the advanced green arrow turns I move like lightning because I know that the advance is only going to last so long and I know that my sluggishness might make it or break it for the vehicles behind me. Maybe you feel the same? And maybe you feel there are those that act like the arrow is just for them.

This past month I have made the case for a new standard in paint for the developer/builder and the homeowner by employing the concepts of self-interest and sustainability as a single mutually beneficial economic system. This is expressed by the first scenario above where doing what’s best for you and for the group is the only way forward. The second, those that soak in all the glorious advantages and conveniences of the arrow for themselves (by habit or intentionally in order to maximize their benefits at the expense of minimizing everybody else’s) will only keep ahead of the game for so long before they start to realize that in order to succeed in the new sustainable economy they need all the cars lined up in behind to make the turn. It might not sound like it but the apt description of the next type of leader is somebody that does not stay the course currently exploited but succumbs to the pressures of new standards and leverages this in order to sell products; for the purpose of this 4 part series, new condos and homes.

I like to consider myself what I call a ‘contemporary capitalist’ because while I am in business to make money, I believe we need to move beyond blind profits and convoluted marketing and make incentive a permanent built-in advantage for the products we manufacture and sell. This is a far cry from the consumer financed initiatives that fund waste creation for big paint (Article 3). Achieving any real measure of success for sustainability in the business world depends on broad acceptance using functional incentives; and the only way I know how to accomplish this is through radical technology innovation.

Advancing our sustainable built environment has to become more than a few of us quickly manoeuvring to accommodate everybody else, it has to become an orchestrated affair  where each vehicle in the turning lane thinks, feels and acts like they’re  the lead car. We need everybody wanting to BE the lead car and with the incentive model I propose, builders, homeowners and manufacturers can redefine how we consume our paint and prevent the waste it generates with real measurable benefits for ourselves. YES! Self- interest can be good! For a final time let’s re-visit the model:

A true, sustainable and quantifiable, one-coat paint that never requires a primer or second coat but a single application to achieve a finished result over any surface. This delivers material and labour cost savings of 66% to the builder and consumer and prevents 66% raw material extraction, energy, transport, production and post-consumer wastes, rewarding users beyond their money and time savings with an effortless, tangible, built in eco-incentive.

When this concept is fully digested through the construction industry and the channels that voice for homeowners there is no going back to multiple coat painting as the incentives are too great for everybody involved. It remains accurate that when all parties benefit then true sustainable development will sky rocket.

Toronto firm Cityzen Development and its sister company Dominus Construction, internationally renowned for the Absolute World project in Mississauga, Canada, is a builder that leads by design and realizes the incentives of this paint model. “There is an ongoing conversation in the industry about sustainability and when considering how to adopt sustainable building practice particularly LEED targets, so this new paint model makes sense for builders. The benefits are countless not only for us, but also for our purchasers.” Says Sam Crignano, President at Cityzen. “This is a new and important piece to building green, it’s easy to implement and the environmental and immediate financial benefits are evident.”

Purchasers today choose communities and lifestyles that raise their profile by maximizing efficiencies and reducing wastes. They know it’s smart and profitable to be at the forefront of introducing technology that improves standards. Developers/builders operating under these commitments speak well for quality and long-term value, helping potential homeowners favour communities that meet their economic and environmental objectives.

The global conversation on sustainability in every industry sector has a specific dialogue that is being refined by how best to achieve their respective sustainability index. I believe we have reached ours for the paint industry and its largest client – the construction sector. I believe we have now finally moved beyond the dialogue by allowing innovation to steer us. The paint incentive model admits to a reduction of 66% in production output simplifying resource consumption and manufacturing. It also adapts to everything that retailers, contractors and homeowners have ever known about paint without any new education or compromise to the desired end result for any painting project. Finally, it empowers the developer/builder and homeowner beyond the reality of unwillingly or unknowingly supporting the current paint system that is generating immeasurable wastes and making them literally pay for it with time and money.

These relentless incentives will continue to welcome more of us into the conversation on how to be smarter about our paint consumption.

I believe that through this model we can strike a balance with paint technology, shifting the incentive from the pockets of the manufacturer to the developer/builder and in turn to the homeowner. I officially welcome you now armed with the knowledge that there is a lot of time and money to be saved, to re-examine your involvement with paint and then assess if the communities you’re interested in and live in align with today’s new standard.

Freedom from the cost, time and wastes of multiple coats is hard to imagine when it's all you've ever known, but it's here. This is the new conversation in paint and in this economy that means more now than ever!