Dunn-Edwards’ Director of Environmental Affairs Honored by the American Coatings Association’s Industry Achievement Awards

LOS ANGELES (May 16, 2012) Robert Wendoll, director of environmental affairs for Dunn-Edwards Paint, recently received an Industry Achievement Award by the American Coatings Association (ACA), in conjunction with the organization's 125th anniversary celebration. The award honors individuals for their distinguished achievement in service to the industry. With close to 40 years experience in the paint and coatings industry, Robert Wendoll is considered one of the leading authorities on the atmospheric impact of architectural paint and coatings. His leadership in various industry organizations has led to more self-regulation by many paint manufacturers and an increase in policy-relevant scientific research. He frequently interacts with regulatory agencies involved in the development of new or amended regulations affecting the paint industry.

During his 31-year tenure at Dunn-Edwards, he has focused on the company's environmental responsibility - not only ensuring its full compliance with all environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, but going a step beyond to lead the industry in minimizing and/or eliminating the use of potentially hazardous ingredients from Dunn-Edwards' paints.

Wendoll has been an extraordinarily active member of ACA's committees, including its Environmental Management Committee and its Architectural and Industrial Maintenance (AIM) VOC (volatile organic compound) Committee for many years. Wendoll has been a leader in identifying vital AIM VOC issues for the association to work on, also providing critical data and support to staff so that ACA could successfully work through these matters. Chief among these is the Paints and Architectural Coatings Environmental Study (PACES) project, for which he provided key information and direction that helped the successful completion of this multi-year research project. With his guidance, the project oversaw among many things, a Life Cycle Analysis to assess impacts of stringent, low-VOC regulations and the relationship between coating performance and environmental impacts and work in “Atmospheric Availability” that should advance the scientific understanding of whether or how much of the VOCs in coatings actually become available in the atmosphere for ground-level ozone formation.

The American Coatings Association is a voluntary, nonprofit trade association working to advance the needs of the paint and coatings industry and the professionals who work in it. The organization represents paint and coatings manufacturers, raw materials suppliers, distributors, and technical professionals. ACA serves as an advocate and ally for members on legislative, regulatory and judicial issues, and provides forums for the advancement and promotion of the industry through educational and professional development services.

Three other inductees honored were Nelson Augé, president of Kelley Technical Coatings, Inc., Steve Dearborn, president and CEO of Miller Paint Company, Inc. and Lewis Manring, vice president of Portfolio Optimization for DuPont Science & Technology.