The scoreboard: zero versus triple-digit declarations
Building Transparency’s EC3 catalogue shows 0 current EPDs for Alta Paints but a hefty 148 for PPG Protective & Marine and 44 for Carboline (EC3, 2025). When specifiers filter by resinous floor coatings or architectural paints, Alta’s products literally do not appear. A missing listing is not neutral; it is a silent strike-out during pre-bid reviews.
Decarbonization clauses rewrite the playbook
Hospital owners in Colorado and Utah now insert bid language that knocks five points off any product lacking a product-specific EPD. Similar clauses pop up in logistics hubs chasing Scope 3 cuts (USGBC, 2024). Price differentials under five percent no longer rescue a non-declared coating when carbon scoring tips the scales.
PPG’s blanket coverage wins mixed-use podiums
With 75 paint-by-area EPDs and 2 floor-system EPDs, PPG sales teams walk into design charrettes carrying an option for every substrate. Architects can keep one manufacturer on spec while stacking LEED points, saving coordinator time. That convenience locks competitors out before the first RFI.
Work for Alta Paints or competing against them?
Follow us for a product-by-product EPD analysis to understand which coatings get spec'd and where Alta falls short against PPG and Carboline.
Carboline owns the specialist niches
Carboline’s 9 spray-applied fire-resistive material EPDs and a dedicated resinous floor coating EPD let project engineers tick two compliance boxes with one brand. On military hangar retrofits last spring, that single-source detail shaved a week from submittal review, according to GSA meeting minutes (GSA, 2025).
Where deals slip through Alta’s fingers
Alta plays hardest in urethane cement floors and traffic deck membranes—the very categories piling up EPD counts at rivals. PPG lists Single-Ply Polyurethane membranes; Sika lists Single-Ply PVC and urethane-based roofing; Carboline sits ready with novolac epoxy floors. Every overlap becomes a reminder that Alta brings no verified environmental data to the table.
Speed is the new spec weapon
Launching a first wave of EPDs no longer drags on for a year. Manufacturers who centralise plant utility data and batching sheets have published within eight weeks when guided by a tech-enabled LCA partner, even for multi-plant portfolios. The heavy part is data wrangling, not modeling.
A lean first batch covering just five systems can reopen closed doors on every spec that currently filters Alta out. Throwing away revenue because of missing paperwork feels avoidable, doesnt it?
The risk of waiting
Expired declarations at Sika and Euclid show that even leaders must renew to stay visible. Alta, starting from zero, faces an even steeper slope. Each month without an EPD lets competitors cement their preferred-brand status in BIM libraries and master specs.
Bottom-line takeaway
Alta is not losing on chemistry or field support. It is losing in the search box. Eight weeks of focused data collection can flip the narrative, refill the bid pipeline, and prove that a solid product can also be a transparent one.
