Top Resources for Designing More Energy-Efficient Commercial Restrooms

Sustainability is one of the top 2024 trends for commercial architects and designers. Why? The primary reason is that building owners and managers demand it. People increasingly want to see sustainable practices from the organizations they buy from and work for, and organizations are responding.

Take energy efficiency, for example. A recent survey of large energy users revealed that:

• 95% have installed basic energy-saving technology or intend to do so within two years.
• 93% have made process changes to reduce electricity usage or intend to do so within two years.¹

Restrooms may take up less than 10% of a public building’s square footage, but an energy-efficient restroom can make a significant contribution to an overall reduction in electricity consumption. Sloan offers several products and other resources that can help engineers, designers, and architects create more energy-efficient restrooms.

Here’s how you can take advantage of these resources to give your clients the energy efficiency they demand.

Understand the Water-Energy Nexus

One way a commercial restroom can use less electricity is to use less water. Water and energy are fundamentally connected in modern economies because energy is required to move water to where it’s needed, and water is required to generate energy.

Whenever you specify one of Sloan’s water-saving restroom products, you’re actually helping conserve energy, too.

You can gain a deeper understanding of the water-energy connection—and how these resources impact the bigger sustainability picture—in our accredited CEU course, Exploring the Connection Between Net Positive, Carbon Neutrality, and the Water-Energy Nexus. This course discusses a Net Positive approach to design and business operations that helps organizations minimize their impact on the environment.

If you need CEU credits to maintain your certifications, this course is a great way to acquire them while learning more about an essential 2024 commercial design topic.

Specify Hybrid or Water-free Urinals

Since water usage consumes electrical power, one way to reduce electricity consumption is to specify restroom products that require less water. And Sloan offers two urinal options that require almost no water—or none at all.

Hybrid urinals automatically inject water with a cleaning solution into the drainpipe, using just one gallon every 72 hours to keep the drain clog- and odor-free. They deliver exceptional performance and water savings for any commercial restroom environment, including healthcare facilities, restaurants and hotels, stadiums, schools and universities, transportation terminals, and office buildings.

Waterfree urinals use even less water—none, in fact. They’re not ideal for all situations, but a daily manual flush will keep them clean and odor-free.

Specify Reclaimed Water Flushometers

Another way to reduce electricity usage is to reduce the amount of water pumped into the facility by using reclaimed water to flush toilets and urinals.

Conventional water systems use fresh, drinkable water for flushing. A reclaimed water system, on the other hand, diverts water that’s already been used in sinks, showers, and other areas to flushometers for flushing. Using reclaimed water significantly reduces a building’s overall water (and power) consumption, which is why some municipalities require reclaimed water systems for certain new construction and renovation projects.

If you have the opportunity to recommend a reclaimed water system for a new building or renovation, you can save your clients thousands or even millions of gallons of water over the building’s lifespan.

But reclaimed water systems require special reclaimed water flushometers that are built to withstand the harsh chemical and particulate content of reclaimed water. Specifying Sloan® Royal® reclaimed water flushometers for a new or existing system will ensure your clients a long useful lifetime of water and electricity savings.

Specify Solar-powered Flushometers and Faucets

Sensor flushometers and faucets require electricity, and most are powered via hardwired electrical power or batteries, which need to be replaced frequently. Neither option is the most environmentally friendly.

That’s why Sloan offers several styles of solar-powered flushometers and solar-powered faucets that get all the power they need from a restroom’s ambient light. (They also have battery backups.) These options look great, deliver outstanding performance, and save electricity.

Specify Turbine-powered Sensor Faucets

One final, highly innovative way to save electricity in a commercial restroom is to install turbine-powered faucets. These faucets contain a small turbine that spins when water runs through, generating enough electricity to power the faucet’s sensor operation. (They also have battery backups.) It’s the same principle used by giant hydroelectric dams, only on a much smaller scale.

Sloan offers several styles of turbine-powered faucets, so you have lots of ways to design beautiful restrooms that save electricity.

Your Source for Sustainable Commercial Restroom Solutions

Sloan has always made sustainability one of our highest priorities. In addition to water- and power-saving technologies, we also offer detailed transparency reports and other tools that can help you and your clients create the most environmentally friendly restrooms possible.

Contact Sloan to discover more ways to save your clients water, energy, and money!

 
1—PwC 2023 US Large Energy User Survey, March 2023