Distributors who carry eco-friendly paints and coatings often promote their availability — but few actually measure the sustainability impact of those products. In 2025, customers and regulators alike are asking: How much of what you sell is actually sustainable?
By setting clear goals and KPIs, you can show real results from your product strategy — and your ERP system can track it all in real time.
Here’s how to define sustainability targets, choose the right metrics, and monitor the environmental (and business) impact of your eco-conscious paints and coatings.
🎯 EXAMPLES OF SUSTAINABLE GOALS FOR PAINT & COATINGS
✅ Convert 30% of your stocked paint SKUs to low- or zero-VOC alternatives
✅ Reduce the total gallons of high-VOC coatings sold by 25%
✅ Achieve 50% customer adoption for eco-friendly paint bundles
✅ Ensure 100% of stocked coatings meet regional VOC limits
✅ Generate LEED-compliant documentation for 80% of related jobs
📌 Tie these goals to year-over-year improvement metrics inside your ERP.
📈 KPIs TO TRACK IN YOUR ERP
📦 Low-VOC Paint SKU Ratio
text{Low-VOC SKU %} = left( frac{text{Low-VOC SKUs}}{text{Total Paint & Coating SKUs}} right) times 100
📊 Sustainable Paint Sales Volume
Track:
Gallons or dollars sold of low/zero-VOC paints
Sales by certification (GREENGUARD, LEED-contributing, etc.)
Region-specific adoption rates
🛠️ VOC Reduction Impact
Calculate:
VOC grams avoided per job or per year
Carbon emission equivalents of VOC reductions
Emission reductions per product type
📲 Pull from product-level VOC data in your ERP and aggregate monthly.
📑 Documentation Accuracy
Monitor:
% of green coatings shipped with proper compliance sheets
of projects where ERP auto-generated LEED submittals
Support ticket volume related to missing paint documentation
🧠 HOW ERP SUPPORTS THESE METRICS
Tag each paint/coating with VOC rating, certifications, and LEED credits
Link sustainability tags to your quoting and ordering workflows
Build dashboards to monitor sales and compliance data
Create customer-facing reports showing total gallons of eco-friendly product sold
🎯 Use these reports as marketing tools or ESG proof-points.
📋 BONUS: SET DEPARTMENT-SPECIFIC TARGETS
Sales Reps: % of quotes using sustainable coatings
Purchasing: % of orders placed for certified paints
Marketing: Monthly visibility of eco-product bundles
Warehouse Ops: Reduction in stocked high-VOC materials
Align your entire team around measurable sustainability goals.
🏁 FINAL THOUGHTS
Eco-friendly paints are more than just a product line — they’re a measurable impact on health, compliance, and the environment. By building clear KPIs into your ERP system, you gain visibility, accountability, and a compelling story to tell your customers.
📞 Want help creating sustainability dashboards or tagging your coating SKUs by VOC rating? Let’s build smarter paint workflows in your ERP.
