Kitchen & Bath

American Standard Brands announced its recent participation as an exhibitor at the Reinvent the Toilet Fair: India event, which was co-hosted by the Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. American Standard displayed an affordable, aspirational sanitation product designed to meet the needs of people in Sub-Saharan Africa, where water is scarce.

The goal of the Reinvent the Toilet Fair: India was to stimulate discussion and spur partnerships to improve global sanitation and bring affordable sanitation solutions to people who need it most. Also supported by the Indian Ministry of Urban Development, the fair served as an opportunity to recognize India’s leadership and commitment to improving child health and fostering innovative solutions to persistent development challenges. The American Standard project was one of approximately 50 exhibits on display during the two-day, invitation-only fair.

Funded by a grant from the Gates Foundation, a team of American Standard engineers visited Zambia and Kenya in the fall of 2013 to learn more about the sanitation inadequacies in this part of the world where there is a shortage of water. The company’s goal was to create a sanitation solution that enabled simple construction of a more hygienic latrine, improved the user experience, and supported a sustainable business model. This effort was modeled after American Standard’s previous success inventing the SaTo, a cost-effective sanitary toilet pan.This product employs ingeniously simple mechanical and water seals to reduce disease transmission by closing off pit latrines from the open air, for use in rural Bangladesh where no sewer infrastructure exists. This initiative also included the company’s Flush for Good campaign, aimed at raising awareness of the global sanitation crisis.

“Of the 1.1 billion people who defecate in the open, almost 60 percent are Indian,” said Professor K. VijayRaghavan, secretary of the Indian Department of Biotechnology. “Sanitation solutions using the latest technology need not be complex or driven by expensive gadgetry, but they need to be innovative and address the many aspects of this multifaceted problem.”

“Today, because of a lack of toilets and poorly functioning infrastructure, massive amounts of untreated waste winds up in the environment, spreading disease,” said Brian Arbogast, director of the Water, Sanitation & Hygiene team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We are privileged to host the Reinvent the Toilet Fair: India with our partners to advance conversations about sanitation – it is a testament to the Indian government’s commitment to improving how we deal with this pressing problem.”

Lack of adequate sanitation facilities affects 40 percent of the world’s population, with 1.2 billion people worldwide practicing open defecation. Each day, 2,000 people die from water and sanitation related diseases – most of them are children. To help alleviate the critical lack of safe sanitation facilities specifically in India, American Standard and its manufacturing partner, RFL Plastics, will  make SaTo pans available in this country for an affordable cost, with the goal of building a sustainable business that will ensure future availability of this life-saving product.

“American Standard is committed to working with communities around the world to develop safe and affordable sanitation solutions,” said Jay Gould, president and CEO of American Standard. “We believe this important work will accomplish a great deal towards helping achieve the United Nations’ 2015 Millennium Development Goal of reducing by half the proportion of people who lack safe drinking water and basic sanitation by the year 2015.”

For more information on the Flush For Good campaign or the Reinvent the Toilet Fair, visit www.flushforgood.com.

Elkay, a leading U.S. cabinetmaker and manufacturer of sinks and faucets is launching a mobile showroom tour. Bringing a showroom experience to life at the local level, Elkay will take everything – including the kitchen sink – on the “Heart of the Home” mobile showroom tour immediately following the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show. which concludes on February 6, in Las Vegas. The Heart of the Home tour will run through May, starting in the New Orleans, Louisiana market, then moving to the Miami, Florida area, and climbing the East coast.

“Kitchens are personal,” says Scott Fettig, director of product marketing, wood products. Fettig continues, “And while most of us are adept at using virtual tools for inspiration, planning and design, nothing beats an in-person, hands-on showroom experience with a designer or friend to bring those dreams to life. Elkay is excited to make that hands-on experience a reality through Heart of the Home local events in 16 cities across the country this spring.”

Local Events. Local Expertise.

In every mobile showroom event city, Elkay cabinet and sink/faucet partners will host consumer and designer training events. “The Heart of the Home Tour is a great way for our business partners to showcase their relationship with our company and our brands,” remarks Lou Katz, channel marketing manager, traditional cabinets. Katz adds, “We know that showrooms can’t possibly feature all our products, so this is a way to create local enthusiasm and highlight the latest in door style, material and finish trends.”

The 44-foot Heart of the Home showroom on wheels features seven displays, plus several iPads with additional product information, a variety of sample doors, and two flat screens looping some of the company’s vast library of completed room images. The exterior of the Elkay mobile showroom is wrapped with 3D kitchen imagery. Follow Me on Twitter, Facebook, or Even the Open Road. Each Heart of the Home tour stop has pre-event promotion on Elkay branded websites and social media pages. In addition, a full tour schedule and map is available at Elkay.com.

Since 1920, Elkay has been making innovative products and delivering excellent, domestic customer care. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, Elkay expanded its commercial offerings over four decades ago, and today delivers world-class sinks, faucets, foodservice fixtures, water coolers, drinking fountains and award-winning rapid bottle filling stations. Additionally, Elkay Wood Products is one of America’s leading cabinetmakers with eight brands in the marketplace. Like your family, the Elkay family has values and traditions that endure; for almost a century, Elkay has been an American-owned and operated company, providing thousands of jobs that support our families and communities.

For additional information, visit Elkay.com.

Thursday, January 5, 2012, EPA Administrator and Obama Cabinet member, Lisa P. Jackson traveled to Miami to meet with local green business leaders and she toured the Brownsville Transit Village, a new environmentally sustainable building project in an underserved community that incorporates water and energy-saving features.

The project, set to open in March, is being developed by Carlisle Development Group, which creates environmentally sustainable affordable housing. Carlisle is working in partnership with Alterna Corp., an EPA WaterSense^® partner and leading distributor of green building products. Alterna Corp. supplied plumbing fixtures by Sustainable Solutions International (SSi™): Caroma^®’s Smart 305 Round Front dual-flush, low-flow toilets and fluid™’s lavatory and kitchen faucets to the project. Caroma and fluid products installed, contribute to the estimated water savings of Brownsville Transit Village – over 5 million gallons per year and roughly $50,000 per year in utility savings (i.e., compared to standard plumbing fixtures).

EPA’s WaterSense initiative brings together local water utilities, governments, product manufacturers and retailers to promote water efficiency, and enhance the market through innovation and product design for water efficient products, programs and practices. EPA and its WaterSense partners have helped Americans save 125 billion gallons of water and more than $2 billion in water and energy bills. By reducing water consumption, the program has reduced 6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, protecting the health of Americans.