School and hospital facilities across the country are turning greener by the minute. Only a few years ago facility owners and managers were taking a wait and see approach to the green building movement. Now they are realizing they cannot afford not to incorporate green thinking into building design.

Choosing products with a longer lifecycle and/or made from
environmentally responsible materials is another important
aspect of green restroom design.

Restroom design is just one factor in the green building equation, but still represents an important part of a facility’s overall water, energy and natural resource consumption. There are a host of new green restroom technologies and products, but before discussing those, it is key to understand how and why school and hospital facilities – in particular – can benefit from going green.

The typical green school uses 33 percent less energy than conventionally designed schools and will save an impressive $4 million on energy, water, and health-related costs over the lifetime of the facility, according to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Green schools cost, on average, only 1% to 2% extra to build, but can make that up through lower utility bills and improved student achievement. If all schools were built green starting today, the USGBC says $20 billion in energy could be saved over the next 10 years.

The green building movement coincides with the fact that many schools across the U.S. are sorely in need of renovations. In 2007, more than 35 billion tax dollars went toward K-12 construction, and $24 billion of that money was allocated to retrofits and additions. These numbers make school construction the largest construction sector of the American economy.

All in all, it is no wonder why more and more school decision-makers are jumping on the green bandwagon. About 1,000 schools – public and private – meet LEED standards or are in the pipeline to meet them, and schools are applying for LEED credit at a rate of more than one a day.

The significant consumption of water and energy use by hospital facilities also makes a compelling argument for green building practices. Being a 24/7 operation, hospitals are one of the biggest energy users in the country, using about twice as much energy per square foot as a commercial building. Also, water use in health care facilities can range from 68,750 to 298,013 gallons per year per bed, according to the non-profit organization Practice Greenhealth, formerly Hospitals for a Healthy Environment. About 25 percent of a facility’s water use is directed to domestic use and the remaining 75 percent is used for other operational needs.

Water use reduction programs typically reduce water consumption by 20 to 30 percent, says Greenhealth. In larger hospitals, the savings can be greater than $100,000 per year in water, sewer and energy costs. Further, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that each dollar a hospital saves in energy costs is comparable to generating $20 in new revenues.

Innovative Green
Restroom Products So how can facility managers apply green thinking to restroom design? Conserving water is one key, as is using more durable plumbing fixtures and accessories with a longer lifecycle to keep waste out of landfills. There is also the issue of recycled and renewable content in the plumbing products specified which can contribute to a facility’s “greenness.” Read on for more specific strategies for green restroom design:

Water Conserving Technology
Toilet and lavatory systems are often culprits of unnecessary water usage. Replacing toilets that use as much as 4.5 gallons per flush (gpf) and specifying low-volume toilets that use 1.6 gpf or less can save an estimated 14 percent in total water use. Waterless urinals, which work completely without water or flush valves, are one option to meet LEED requirements for water use reduction credits (see sidebar).

Some waterless urinal models are made from high-performance composite material containing 30% soybean resin. These fixtures can save up to 45,000 gallons of water per year per urinal and cut down on maintenance problems due to valve repair, low water pressure or overflows. In general, these fixtures are touch-free, so they are more sanitary than traditional flushable urinals.

Products Made of Recycled Content
Like the urinals made of soybean resin, choosing products with a longer lifecycle and/or made from environmentally responsible materials is another important aspect of green restroom design. Look for products that use as much rapidly renewable material as possible, or even better, recycled material. Such efforts both conserve resources and prevent overflow in landfills and also earn LEED credits.

Product manufacturers are increasingly incorporating post-consumer recycled content in restroom products, such as solid plastic toilet partitions made from 100 percent postconsumer recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic (i.e., recycled milk jugs). This solid plastic material stands up well to heavy usage and traffic. Lockers made of this same recycled material also make a sound choice in restrooms, locker rooms and other storage areas.

Specifying recycled solid surface lavatory systems or countertops in restrooms will also help ensure longterm durability and ease of cleaning. Recycled solid surface looks, feels and performs like regular solid surface, and meets all the current code and standard requirements. The integrated bowl design used with solid surface material eliminates crevices for microbes to hide, and the material is naturally resistant to bacteria.

Touchless Technology Getting Greener
Today’s green restroom designs are realizing great benefits from touchfree fixtures. First, touchless technology can reduce up to 30 percent of an average commercial facility’s water consumption. Such fixtures that feature less than the 2.5 water conserving gallons per minute (GPM) standard can also help earn LEED credit. These fixtures also save energy because the faucet automatically shuts off after a user’s hands leave the sensor area.

In addition, the latest touchless offerings are designed to eliminate vandal-prone sensor windows and provide more consistent operation in any restroom environment. The absence of windows helps improve activation, while vandals cannot puncture the sensors, and soap scum cannot interfere with the sensor window, since all of the mechanicals are safely housed within the faucet.

Another plus is that touchless restroom fixtures reduce the spread of germs and bacteria because users need not touch dirty and contaminated surfaces.

Hand dryers, paper towel dispensers and soap dispensers also come in touchless models. Hand dryers, in particular, have benefited from upgraded mechanicals. Newer models use 80 percent less electricity than other hand dryers, while drying hands in as little as 10 seconds – about three times faster than most hand dryers.

The energy to operate this new generation of hand dryers is generally less than 10 percent of the cost of paper towels, including labor costs for ordering, storing, replenishing dispensers, collecting and disposing of paper towels. That is not to mention the environmental benefits of conserving resources and eliminating excess paper waste. Reducing the amount of paper products used in the restroom will help cut the nearly two billion pounds of paper and cardboard waste from U.S. health care facilities each year. Avoiding hand towel clutter is also more sanitary for health care and school settings.

The Virtues of Light Power
One of the newest green touchless technologies to come on the restroom scene is a light-powered handwashing fixture. This specialized technology converts restroom lighting to energy, activating the flow of water to the lavatory system.

By using photovoltaic cells integrated into the top of the lavatory system, this technology converts light into electricity. Whether natural light or normal room-level lighting, the cells capture light when it is available and store the energy for later use in a battery-free system. This technology also eliminates the need for electrical hook-ups.

Until now, lavatories have used electricity and battery power. Diagnosing and replacing a dead battery can cost upwards of $400, and for some systems this can add up to $1,600 per fixture each year. While this technology eliminates these costs, it also helps reduce the 2.5 billion pounds of batteries that are sent to landfills each year. Electrical wiring is also eliminated.

Understanding LEED Certification…
At the project level, “green” building continues to gain momentum, but there is some confusion among industry professionals about LEED, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The USGBC certifies projects, not products. Rather, environmentally-friendly products such as low-VOC paint, under-floor air systems, waterless urinals and light-activated lavatory systems can help meet LEED criteria.

To achieve LEED certification, a facility must meet minimum standards in six areas of building design: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, material and resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation and design process. A minimum of 26 out of a possible 69 points across these categories must be met for LEED certification. Additional points add up to a higher level of certification.

We have only touched on some strategies for “greening” the restrooms of schools and health care facilities. While these trends are largely characterized by recycled products and touch-free technologies, more water and energy conserving technologies are likely to emerge. Building owners, facility managers, workers, students and patients – and the environment – will all be sure to benefit from the continuing deeper shade of green.

Kris Alderson is a senior marketing manager for Bradley Corporation of Menomonee Falls, WI, a USGBC member and manufacturer of locker room products, plumbing fixtures, washroom accessories, partitions and emergency fixtures. She can be reached at Bradley Corp., W142 N9101 Fountain Blvd., Menomonee Falls, WI, 53052-0309. For more information, call 800.BRADLEY or visit www.bradleycorp.com.