Standard flush fixtures automatically gives credit in my county

Maria Porter

Sustainability specialist

Skanska Sweden

LEEDuser Basic Member

205 thumbs up

May 31, 2012

I just wanted to hear thoughts about the fact that our standard flush fixtures reduce water usage by 56 %, without us doing anything. Our toilets are as set at 4-6 liters for a big flush and 2-3 liters at a small flush. This results in savings of 56 % for the 2/4 liter alternative (0.7 GPF), and 34 % saving for the 3/6 liter (1.06 GPF) alternative. The latter of course not enough, but the first one fine. A discussion is however going on in my country whether the 2/4 liter fixtures work as they should and if pipes will be clogged or not. I have heard many opinions there. Also the third option above, what exactly is required and which projects is it applicable to. Could a zero-lot-line city project pursue this option? If the municipal water treatment company treats the sludge through anaerobic digestion to retrieve biogas etc, would that comply? After this the remainings are treated and stored for 6 months and later used in agriculture, is this sufficient? This is also standard procedure in my city.

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Joanna Switzer

Sustainability Project Manager

Atkins

LEEDuser Basic Member

59 thumbs up

Wed, 02/06/2013 - 09:55

Hi Maria, I am curious if you proceeded with documenting this credit and whether its undergone formal LEED certification review yet. Any update? As for the 2/4 liter toilets, the closest I am aware of in the US is the 0.8gpf Stealth pressure assisted toilet available from Niagara Conservation. It poses the same concerns for maintenance and not all clients or plumbing engineers are comfortable with specifying it. I recommended the owner purchase one and install in one of their existing facilities (they have numerous multi-family buildings) to get a comfort level first and that made a big difference in the decision-making process. In this instance, the owner experienced no problems with the "test" fixture over the course of a year that design for the new LEED building was proceeding. As a result, this allowed the use of it to move forward with formal building owner approval. From a functional perspective, it helped that the new LEED building was only 4 stories high (with only 75 unit toilets in all), as there's less potential for clogging over long length of pipe (stacking up through the building). It may have still been a concern in a high-rise building with 100's of toilets. The support and open-mindedness of this project's owner was also a huge contributing factor to this process!