Arnold’s Body Shop Inc. has adopted a green painting technology to reduce its environmental footprint at its Davenport auto body operation.
The new water-borne paint delivery system was installed during the weekend of June 13-15. It replaced the conventional petroleum- and solvent-based coatings and processes commonly used for auto finishes. Arnold’s Body Shop is at 3514 Vine St., Davenport.
The change marks the latest in a series of improvements made during the past several years to reduce the body shop’s environmental footprint by reducing waste and volatile organic compounds in the paint refinishing process.
Volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen react in the presence of heat and sunlight to form ozone.
In the 13 months between October 1985 and November 1986, Arnold’s generated and disposed of 583 gallons of liquid hazardous waste, owner John Arnold said. The company has since reduced its liquid hazardous waste to 55 gallons between October 2006 and January 2008, he said.
The internal procedures, new technology and equipment the company has added, including the new water-based paint system, have been a tremendous investment, Mr. Arnold said, adding that waste reduction is part of what a small business does to remain environmentally responsible.
“We recognized our footprint was a good size and we wanted to make it as small as we could,” he said.
The company’s installation of the new paint system and investment in state-of-the-art equipment is expected to “significantly reduce” the volatile organic compounds emissions by 54 percent and reduce its hazardous air pollutants by 91 percent through July 2009.
These reductions will make Arnold’s exempt from the new federal EPA Clean Air Act law that goes into effect Jan. 10, 2011 for existing businesses.
Arnold’s is one of a handful of auto body shops in the nation to adopt the new environmentally-friendly technology. Other applications were online in major cities on the east and west coasts. Arnold’s is only the second auto-body shop in Iowa to adopt the new system. The other is in Des Moines. Mr. Arnold knows of no others in the Illinois Quad-Cities.
The new paint technology “works better, more efficiently” than the old paint system, Mr. Arnold said. Customers cannot see the difference, he said, adding that the final product looks better than the petroleum-based finish.
Arnold’s Body Shop will celebrate the completion of the project today with an invitation-only open house. Representatives from Akzo-Nobel, the Iowa Waste Reduction Center, several Iowa legislators and members of DavenportOne will attend the event.
John Arnold’s parents, Duayne and Marion Arnold, founded the family business in 1969. John Arnold joined the company after graduating from the University of Iowa and working in Cedar Rapids. He returned to the Quad-Cities in the mid-1980s and became owner several years ago when his parents retired.
Arnold’s has become one of the largest volume auto collision specialists in the Quad-Cities. The company has 25 employees and three four-legged friends who serve as greeters. A labrodoodle, Dutch, is the company mascot and star of the company video on its Website, www.arnoldsbodyshop.com.
