There’s been a growing school of thought that when it comes to wood, naked and natural is best. 
Both internal and external joinery, fixtures and fittings, notably cladding and window frames, have been increasingly specified without any form of timber treatment or finish. As a result, the UK is going to see more and more buildings ‘silvering’, as time and the elements change the colour and texture of unfinished exterior spec timbers, like oak and western red cedar.

According to manufacturers of treatments and finishes, however, specifiers who opt for timber as nature intended may be doing so on a couple of false premises: one, that treatments and finishes are, by definition, bad for the environment; two, that clients and consumers want their buildings to age naturally, anymore than they do other products, or indeed themselves.

“In the right location and used sensitively, greying cladding can look fine, but in some cases it just doesn’t work and there are more than a few instances of people complaining about what they see as the deteriorating appearance of public buildings using untreated wood extensively,” said one finish specialist. “Moreover, our R&D has been increasingly focused on making products more environmentally benign. Finishing your wood these days is not going to dock you ‘eco-points’.”

The latter point is strongly backed by most of the major finish producers, in fact they say that, if anything, they’re stepping up their focus on environmental performance. The big thrust, of course, has been on reducing the use of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – generally solvents – in line with ever tougher legislation.

The next EU measure to impact in this area, Phase II of Directive 2004/42/EC, comes in next January and will push down permissible VOC levels even further (see www.coatings.org.uk ). But most manufacturers say they’re already ahead of the game, with a range of water-based and other non- or low-solvent products in place, and more on the way.

Crown Paints points to one of its latest developments, Sadolin Ultra, a wood stain, based on high solids, low solvent resin technology. “We wanted a really translucent product that would give up to a seven-year maintenance cycle,” said Sadolin’s Julie Olsson. “It also had to be 2010-compliant.”

Industrial finish specialist Becker Acroma has also pinned its colours to the low solvent mast. Its latest development, so new it only has the code name EM1143, is a water-based lacquer that dries on
infrared curing lines in just 2.5 minutes. “This type of high speed [drying] line usually creates problems of ‘mudcracking’, but this new product is not affected and other benefits include clarity and very good leveling,” said Becker’s UK boss John Woolmore.

In developing its new water-based Ecosure range, AkzoNobel underlined its commitment to the planet by getting assistance from Forum for the Future, the charity dedicated to helping businesses take “action for a sustainable world”. The aim, said the company, was to reduce both VOC use and “embedded carbon”. The contribution from Forum for the Future’s ‘innovations team’ was a tool it called the Impact Analyser. This enabled Akzo’s Dulux Trade division to “compare the performance of the new products with their standard paint formulations from cradle to gate, from point of extraction up until the paint was in the can”.

Subsequently AkzoNobel says it’s been focusing on other ways to reduce its products’ environmental impact, notably in terms of disposal. This has led to the launch of a paint solidifier which turns waste paint to a lump that can be treated as normal household refuse and makes the can easier to recycle. Currently, claims Dulux, a significant proportion of the 56 million litres of paint the UK throws away annually ends up in landfill in liquid form, or being poured down the drain.

Osmo UK’s contribution to the greening of the market is its range of natural oil-based paints and stains. The company’s boss, Steve Grimwood, thinks these outperform the water-based competition and appeal to the ‘keep it natural’ specifier. “There’s a real tie-in with this sort of product and the increasing demand for certified timber, particularly FSC certified,” he said. Latest from the Osmo stable, he added, is its UV Protection Oil which can be supplied with or without biocide.

And, according to Crown Paints’ Liz Hickson, being a green finish supplier goes beyond what it says on the tin. “We’re also looking at things like manufacturing efficiency, distribution routes, using lorries with more efficient engines and double-decker delivery vehicles. It’s about sustainability as a business.”

Another key development trend is towards more intelligent products: paints, varnishes and stains that add more to the wood than colour and protection. Becker Acroma, for instance, has its Pyrolac fire resistant lacquer, and Hygiene+, which contains a biocide to keep everything from kitchen surfaces to hospital doors germ free. Becker’s Woolmore said these remain ‘niche’, but the niches are getting bigger. “For instance, the increased stress on fire protection in public places is driving demand for Pyrolac from our shopfitting customers,” he said.

Going back to green, manufacturers are claiming an environmental sales hook for these smart finishes too. For example, Dulux Light & Space high reflection paint is marketed as saving users 20% on lighting energy. A growing number of finish and finish additive producers, such as Ecos Organic Paints and Thermilate respectively, are also now increasingly pushing interior and exterior
insulating paints that help buildings stay warm in winter and keep their cool in summer. More than one of these claim to have based their products on micro-sphere ceramic-paint technology developed for spacecraft by NASA. That should give adherents of naked and natural-look timber even more pause for thought.