Nobilis is a research and commercialization laboratory that formulates consumer product systems for the global paints and coatings industry. Our focus is making the decarbonization of the built environment profitable for all stakeholders. In doing so, we clean two of the dirtiest value chains to the end user – paints & coatings and the construction sector.
THE PROBLEM
Since 2007 the “Self – Priming”, “Paint and Primer in one can” and “one coat color collection” marketing strategies have continued the convention of “regular” performance. Rooted in a century’s old dependency on Titanium Dioxide [TiO2] these traditional coatings still require multiple coats on both painted and unpainted surfaces. They retail for a lot and quietly generate the Systemic Hyper-Problem in massive CO2e, life-cycle materials, petrochemicals, and energy wastes that the consumer financed Re-use and Recycle system [the second and third “R”] cannot handle.
How do you then define quality? We believe in the first “R” – Reduce. A maximum reduction in TiO2 [and supporting materials] minimizes exposure to all input costs for control of the life-cycle/carbon profile and footprint of the entire value chain and of adjacent chains such as the construction sector.
THE SOLUTION
Control TiO2 = Control Coats = Control Costs/Time/CO2e/Wastes™
Read more…
Through the Self-Build Technology™ Platform [Never a primer or 2nd coat any surface], the only sustainable coatings system in the world, we offer freedom from the chains that bind a global industry: multiple coats and heavy carrying costs both environmentally & economically whether you’re a raw material supplier, a manufacturer, distributor, retailer or end user.
This is the ‘end game’ and the last frontier in paint sustainability.
Nobilis brings much needed relief to one of the world’s dirtiest, excessive and underregulated industries through the most significant advancement since the move from oil-based systems to latex in the 1950’s.
Don’t take our word for it…
Victoria Scarborough
“Larger mature companies are in special danger of becoming complacent and risk averse, as external opportunities may be viewed as a threat to the status quo and potentially cannibalizing to their well-established product lines. Such complacency gives competitors an advantage if they are willing to take calculated risks, invest in technologies that deliver superior products that solve your customers’ pain points and satisfy unmet market needs. Thus, it can be advantageous to seek technology partners who, by augmenting internal resources and overcoming inherent biases, drive faster growth for your business rather than for the competition.”
Victoria Scarborough, Ph.D.
Vice President of Collaborative Innovation
The ChemQuest Group, Inc.
Arkema 2
“We see sustainability as a purpose, as a reason for doing business, and as a benefit to be included by design. Any sustainable solution needs to perform AND be economically practical.”
Richard Jenkins
SVP Coating Solutions
Arkema
Courtney Bassett
“Amid continued market complexity — tariff uncertainty, inflation, foreign exchange pressure and softening global demand have tested even the most established players. Despite these headwinds, many companies are evolving. They’re investing strategically, trimming inefficiencies and diversifying operations, showing that scale alone isn’t enough in today’s environment. Strategy is what’s setting companies apart.”
Courtney Bassett
Managing Editor
PCI Magazine
Juliane Hefel
“The R&D process may look different than the traditional NPI process. Working with startups and developing technologies requires the flexibility to focus on the long-term potential of innovation without the same ROI milestones used in the past. By accepting a different way of measuring progress, teams can work together with the freedom to explore technologies and applications that have the power to not just improve a product, but revolutionize the market. Developing flexible approaches to product development and manufacturing contributes to the resilience of the coatings industry as a whole.”
“Now is the time for action and I would encourage everyone in our industry to commit and get involved. By coming together to take on the critical Scope 3 challenge, we can forge a path towards a future that is low-emissions, positive for our businesses and our planet.”
Thierry Garnier
President EDRA/GHIN
CEO Kingfisher
Celanese
“We see sustainability as really an exciting opportunity for our business… looking at sustainability both as the right thing to do, but also something that’s good business.”
Global Sustainability Director at Celanese
Consegic
“The global coatings market is undergoing a paradigm shift toward greater environmental and health responsibility. Regulatory challenges, from VOC limitations and chemical bans to workplace safety and circular economy laws, are becoming integral to business strategy. While compliance can be complex and costly, it also presents an opportunity for innovation, sustainability and long-term competitiveness. Companies that proactively embrace regulatory trends, invest in safer formulations and streamline their compliance frameworks will be better positioned to thrive in an increasingly regulated and environmentally conscious global market.”
Consegic Business Intelligence
PCI Magazine
“PHILADELPHIA – The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) has been named a winner of the 2013 U.S. Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for its development of EVOQUE pre-composite polymer technology. This Dow product helps coatings formulators improve paint performance properties while using less titanium dioxide (TiO2), a white pigment that is energy intensive to manufacture but ubiquitous in architectural paint for its ability to provide quality hiding.”
Paint & Coatings Industry Magazine
Dow Coating
“Hiding is at the heart of every paint formulation and without TiO2, we would not have paint as we know it today,”… “But TiO2 has been stretched to its limits, both in terms of hiding efficiency and supply.”
Joan Schuller
Dow Coating Materials
Mike Stucky
“As we navigate the challenges of environmental degradation, the significance of collaboration in furthering sustainability efforts cannot be overstated… By recognising sustainability as a shared responsibility, understanding the interconnected needs throughout the value chain and ensuring accountability, companies can drive meaningful change.”
Mike Stucky
PPG Customer Sustainability Business Partner
Jim Reader
“There is increasing interest and demand for improving the sustainability of the coatings industry. This comes from consumers, applicators, producers, and suppliers…Companies will need to partner together…The first pillar focuses on minimizing the carbon footprint of the production process by using resources more efficiently…The second pillar targets improving the performance (handprint) by developing new products and technologies to help formulators reduce their environmental impact.”
Jim Reader
Senior Technical Manager
Evonik Corporation
Gehrenkemper
“…due to the high price of Tio2, a great deal of energy is being expended on coatings development with a view to lowering the content of Tio2 in paint…”
Gisela Gehrenkemper
Book Editor
European Coatings Tech Report
Vincentz Network
Chemours
“63 percent of coatings professionals identify balancing sustainability and cost as their greatest challenge to advancing sustainability in their coatings design.”
Chemours
TDMA
“High quality paints formulated with high TiO2 content have the lowest environmental footprint as paints formulated with high TiO2 content have the highest opacity, meaning fewer layers of paint are required to achieve the desired result.”
Titanium Dioxide Manufacturers Association (TDMA)
Earth Action
“It is worth noting that a substantial portion of paint consists of plastic polymers, which poses a high risk of environmental contamination and contributes to global plastic pollution.”
Earth Action (EA)
Arkema
“We are in the middle of a deep industry transformation driven by new expectations from customers, citizens, investors, governmental bodies and our own employees. That expectation impacts the entire value chain.” … “We need new ways of thinking and acting to meet these new expectations and to focus on connecting the downstream consumer and market needs to upstream innovation capabilities.”
Richard Jenkins
SVP Coating Solutions
Arkema
PPG
“our value chain faces the challenge of collaborating to identify ways to improve the life cycle sustainability performance of our coating products while enhancing their quality and aesthetic variables.”
Mats Hägerström
EMEA Sustainability Leader
PPG
OMYA
“Together we can do more with less, being focused on lowering the carbon footprint in end applications like paints & coatings.”
Nadine Nicolai
Global Business Development Director Construction
OMYA
Perstorp
“No company is greener than its suppliers.”
Jenny Klevås
Marketing Director
Perstorp
Arkema 2
“…understanding each other’s challenges, and bringing performance forward…an opportunity to create new fields of opportunities that the first movers will be able to capture.”
Helene Pernot
Head of Sustainable Offer
Arkema Coating Solutions
Walmart
“We must all take urgent, sustained action to reverse nature loss and emissions before we reach a tipping point from which we will not recover. People have pushed past the earth’s natural limits. Healthy societies, resilient economies and thriving businesses rely on nature.”
Kathleen McLaughlin
Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer for Walmart, Inc.
and President of the Walmart Foundation
Diebold
“In fact…the opacity benefit of TiO2 decreases as TiO2 levels increase, and there is an upper limit where adding too much TiO2 can even become detrimental to the overall light scattering power of the paint. In such cases, the only way to achieve complete opacity is to increase the thickness of the paint film.”
Dr. Michael Diebold
ChemQuest
“While optimization of TiO2 usage is an option, complete replacement or majority replacement is a dream. The reason is simple: TiO2 boasts the highest refractive index of any commercially-available material (no material can match its efficiency at bending light waves away from the surface of a substrate, creating the highest opacity in the thinnest gauge film). While products such as ROPAQUE™ provide a modicum of opacity, they can have significant drawbacks in typical end uses. Bottom line is that besides death and taxes, one can also count on TiO2!”
Joe Mass
The ChemQuest Group
Watch, Read, Listen
Titanium dioxide: “Optimisation has long been a salient conversation”
