Industry News

TOTO, the largest plumbing manufacturer in the world with $5.1 billion in annual sales, announced today that its high-efficiency commercial wall-hung toilet, two ultra high-efficiency urinals, and wall-hung commercial lavatory have no Red List ingredients and are listed in the International Living Future Institute’s (IFLI) Declare Products Database as “Red List Free.”

Declare Program Status

The IFLI’s Declare Program, often compared to nutritional labeling on packaged food, has three Declaration Status options—“Declared,” “Living Building Challenge Compliant,” and “Red List Free.” If the ILFI finds a product contains an ingredient from the Living Building Challenge’s (LBC) Red List, that ingredient is listed in red on the label, and the product is listed in the Declare database as “Declared.” If it ascertains that a the product contains a Red List ingredient with a LBC exception, the exception is noted on the Declare label, and the product is listed as “LBC Compliant.” If a product has no Red List ingredients—like TOTO’s high-efficiency wall-hung commercial toilet, ultra high-efficiency urinals, and wall-hung commercial lavatory—it is listed as “Red List Free.” “Transparency is the ‘secret ingredient’ in all TOTO products. It’s the TOTO Way,” said Bill Strang, President of Operations for the Americas. “The IFLI’s Declare program offers an important opportunity for us to share our company’s industry leadership in products that contribute to healthy, environmentally-responsible design.” In addition to its “Red List Free” products, TOTO also announces three new PVC-free high-efficiency toilets (HETs) are “LBC Compliant,” five new HETs are “Declared,” and a new commercial undercounter lavatory is “Declared.” In new categories to earn Declare labels, TOTO announces four high-efficiency and ultra high-efficiency EcoPower sensor flush valves for both toilets and urinals are “LBC Compliant.” Its EcoPower high-efficiency sensor faucet is “Declared.” “TOTO is committed to making transparency reporting simpler, easy to understand, and useful to the build-design community,” said Strang. “Together with our partner, Sustainable Minds, we have furthered our commitment to moving ‘beyond compliance’ by incorporating the material health information from our new Declare labels into the existing environmental impact data for our products.”

Sustainable Minds Material Health Overviews

With its new Declare labels’ data as the foundation, TOTO has added eight new SM Material Health Overviews (MHO)—both stand alone and integrated in an existing award-winning TOTO Transparency Report. Additional MHOs will be added on a rolling basis. TOTO’s MHOs are a strategic marketing and lead generation tool that informs safer and healthier product purchase decisions. By distilling the essential technical information from TOTO’s disclosure documents, they make material health information understandable and meaningful, providing plain language interpretation and descriptions of how TOTO is improving the material health of its products. TOTO’s new MHOs may be viewed on the Sustainable Minds’ website in the TOTO Showroom. Healthy, ecologically sound products are highly prized by both design and construction professionals and consumers. However, identifying them is an often onerous burden. TOTO is dedicated to facilitating this process by providing deeper and deeper levels of transparency about its products’ material heath and environmental impacts.

To further meet the growing demand for sustainable building systems, Uponor North America (Uponor) is the first in the industry to offer a PEX purple pipe in sizes up to 2″ for commercial and residential reclaimed water applications. In addition to its existing ½”, ¾” and 1″ sizes, Uponor AquaPEX® Reclaimed Water pipe is now available in 1¼”, 1½” and 2″ sizes as well.

“Uponor has a strong sustainability culture and looks to provide products that align with the company’s philosophy of respecting the vital balance between people, planet and profit,” says Jayson Drake, director of Plumbing at Uponor. “Extending our current offering of Uponor AquaPEX Reclaimed Water pipe supports our mission of providing products that help our business partners build sustainable structures around the world.”

The new offering comes in response to a growing need for water reuse systems in drought-stricken areas around the country. Offering a reclaimed water pipe in larger sizes gives professionals the opportunity to design and install even more reclaimed water applications to help conserve fresh-water resources.

Uponor’s extended offering, which is available in 300-ft. coils for ½”, ¾” and 1″ sizes and 10-ft. and 20-ft. straight lengths for 1″, 1¼”, 1½” and 2″ sizes, provides all the benefits of Uponor AquaPEX that plumbing engineers and contractors have come to rely on — flexibility, durability, corrosion resistance, a 20-year proven history in plumbing, a 25-year limited warranty, and one simple ASTM F1960 ProPEX® expansion connection system that does not require any torches, glues, solvents or gauges.

“The best part about Uponor AquaPEX Reclaimed Water pipe is the fact that plumbing professionals don’t have to switch products when installing potable plumbing and reclaimed water systems,” says Drake. “They can seamlessly move from Uponor AquaPEX for the potable system to Uponor AquaPEX Reclaimed Water for the reclaimed water system without having to switch piping materials, tools or fittings.”

Watts offers a broad selection of Water Pressure Reducing Valves (WPRVs) in standard-capacity, high-capacity and OEM models for use in residential, commercial and OEM and specialty applications. They come in a wide range of sizes and with a variety of end fitting configurations for any application.

The highly durable WPRVs are lead-free and are suited for the most challenging uses, including businesses, schools, hospitals, irrigation, and agriculture applications.

To help match WPRV characteristics to system requirements, Watts provides performance curves for each type and size of WPRV it offers. The curves are based on and tested to the ASSE 1003 standard and compare the capacities of each valve with reduced pressure fall-off levels.

For more information visit Watts.com.

Wilo USA, a provider of pumps and pump solutions for water management, building services and groundwater, is pleased to announce the release of the Wilo Helix EXCEL high efficiency multistage pump line.

“The Helix EXCEL offers efficiencies up to 94% thanks to the EC motor and High-efficiency drive combination. We have seen from 20%-50% energy savings compared to a multistage pump with a VFD and high-efficiency motor” says Don Kahn, Product Manager, Wilo USA.

“The NSF 61 certification on select ranges, as well as the easy serviceability of the cartridge-style seal, make the EXCEL the ideal option for a wide range of applications,” Kahn concludes.

Wilo Helix EXCEL comes in 304 and 316 stainless steel, as well as in cataphoresis-coated cast iron construction. The EXCEL range can reach a maximum flow rate of 350 USGPM with a maximum head of 800 feet, and is suitable for applications such as water supply, pressure boosting, process water, pressure washing systems, industrial circulation systems, cooling water and irrigation.