LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Currently refreshing its facade, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is getting its most environmentally friendly treatment ever thanks to a touch up with special “green” paints.

Standing at 199-feet-tall, the Tower of Terror attraction is being covered from top to bottom using a special low volatile organic compound paint, also known as low VOC paint.

In Florida, Walt Disney World Resort is a leader in the use of low VOC paint. Until Walt Disney World Resort began using the paint just two or so years ago, low VOC paints were not widely available at most large paint distributors in Florida. Previously, distributors and painters considered VOCs essential to the durability and performance of paint, both in how well the paint withstood outdoor weather conditions and how quickly it dried.

Low VOC paint significantly reduces environmental emissions that can react with other elements to produce ozone and cause air pollution.

“Here at Disney, the use of low VOC paint extends from our longstanding commitment to conservation and is part of our environmental journey,” said Don Weschler, director of engineering services for Walt Disney World Resort. “Since our switch to low VOC paints just two years ago, we have reduced the amount of VOC emissions from our property by more than two-thirds.”

Weschler says once paint suppliers developed the low VOC paint formulas, they were tested at an independent laboratory to ensure they would provide the same durability during Central Florida’s warm and rainy seasons as the paints used across Disney Parks since 1971.

Walt Disney World Resort then developed a conversion matrix in-house that allows for a low VOC substitute for almost any type of paint in use.

The Blizzard Beach rehab project is another example of a large-scale project using low VOC paints. As Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park reopens this spring, the bright colors – from the showcase “snow” on Summit Plummet to the smallest details at Lottawatta Lodge – will all be thanks to the environmentally-friendly paints.

Last year, Walt Disney World Resort and its many contractors used more than 110,000 gallons of paint. That’s enough paint to cover 7,000 standard-sized homes.