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Author: falconuser

Falcon Acquires Enswico Group Global Operations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — JULY 7, 2015

Falcon Waterfree Europe GmbH, the European arm of Falcon Waterfree Technologies, LLC, the leader in water conservation technology and solutions for the commercial restroom, announced that it has closed a deal to acquire Enswico Group’s global operations, an industry leader in water conservation products. This acquisition continues Falcon’s strategic goal to be the leader in providing the most comprehensive water conservation technologies. Falcon’s existing technology has saved an estimated total of 20 billion gallons / 75 billion liters of water over the last ten years.

“The Enswico team is world class and is passionate about the same thing we are—creating the highest caliber water conservation technologies for the commercial restroom,” stated Simon A. Davis, President and CEO of Falcon. “By leveraging the strengths of a combined team, we are now able to offer the most comprehensive water technology solutions globally.”

“We found the perfect match with this deal. The power of Falcon combined with Swiss Environmental Technology (SET) will create many innovative synergies,” said Dr. Michael Wächter, General Manager of Falcon Europe.

ABOUT FALCON

Founded in 2000, Los Angeles-based Falcon Waterfree Technologies is the leader in the waterless urinal market. Falcon has offices in 6 countries and distribution affiliates in more than 50 nations, including marketing partnerships with some of the world’s best known urinal and washroom products manufacturers such as Sloan Valve Company, Bobrick Washroom Equipment, Corona, Ideal Standard and many others.  Falcon urinals are in use worldwide in entertainment venues, educational facilities, airports, restaurants, office buildings, and many other types of commercial and governmental facilities. Falcon urinals use a patented cartridge system that can save an annual average of up to 40,000 gallons / 151,000 liters or more of fresh water per urinal. Falcon urinals eliminate most related sewage costs, reduce carbon emissions by eliminating the energy needed to transport water and sewage, and are up to five times more hygienic than flush urinals. Falcon is privately owned by entities of Mapleton Investments and Capricorn Investment Group.  For more information visit www.falconwaterfree.com.

ABOUT ENSWICO

Enswico is a Swiss company committed to develop Cleantech products operating entirely without water worldwide, following the long tradition in Switzerland, the land of water, of sustainably using valuable water resources. In this spirit, Enswico applies its know-how and innovative power responsibly to develop ecologically practical and economically sustainable solutions. In addition to the most advanced Swiss-made Cleantech products, Enswico offers comprehensive consulting and supportive services worldwide.

 

WHAT WE’RE READING: PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY

 

“How can human communities sustain a long-term existence on a small planet?” This is the main question that resonates throughout Stephen M Wheeler’s book. We are all aware that many existing urbanization patterns are unsustainable in the long run, however our generation has pulled up their sleeves and has started to initiate a change. Green buildings and labels such as LEED (throughout the world) and EPBD (in Europe) have become a predominant building standard in many urban centers, expanding far beyond just skyscrapers and office buildings.

Planning for Sustainability presents a wide-ranging, intellectually well-grounded and accessible introduction to the concept of planning for more sustainable and livable communities. The text explores topics such as how more compact and walkable cities and towns might be created, how local ecosystems can be restored, how social inequalities might be reduced, how greenhouse gas emissions might be lowered, and how more sustainable forms of economic development can be brought about. Only by weaving together planning initiatives and institutions at different scales, and by integrating efforts across disciplines, can we move towards long-term human and ecological well-being.

Our favorite quote: “Moving towards a better, more sustainable future is above all a planning challenge, in the broadest, most creative possible meaning of the term. It is a challenge of envisioning future directions, carefully evaluating and studying them, and then working in a variety of creative ways to get from here to there.”

Here is to the challenge; we know we are up for it!

1,046 GALLONS OF WATER WERE USED – HAPPY FOURTH!

When we think about fourth of July, we think about meat. Hot dogs, burgers, ribs – a celebration of protein. We’ve always been told that our bodies need protein, and lots of it, and in the U.S.A., “protein” is synonymous with “animal products.” Not necessarily true. Our protein quota can be met very nicely by a whole food, plant-based diet, and even though it does not hurt to delight in a juicy burger every once in while, it’s worth looking to our plate to save a few gallons of water per day. Agriculture uses 80% of California’s water supply, and producing what you eat can require a surprising amount of water.

Let’s see how much water a plate containing a good 8 ounce steak, grilled potatoes and asparagus would require to produce:

 

The number next to the plate above represents the direct and indirect amount of water required to produce your food plate, based on U.S. data from the Water Footprint Network. (Images and data from LA Times)

Numbers aside, hope you enjoy the holiday weekend! And if you do go for a nice yummy steak, which we all know many of you will, take a shorter shower and or flush efficiently. Little steps can go a long way!

Cheers.

 

 

CA DROUGHT: WHAT ABOUT WATER RIGHTS?

California water rights is a complex hierarchy that governs who gets water during a drought and who doesn’t. It is based on seniority, and in dry years, when there is not enough water in the system to serve all water rights holders, those with more junior rights are required to cut back. The senior rights have been in place since the Gold Rush era and later on in 1914, they were tweaked a bit. The priority system is based on the concept of “first in time, first in right.” People who got in early have senior rights. Everyone who made claims later has secondary or “junior” rights – and they only get water once the senior rights holders get the water they’ve claimed.

The system has worked well in the past. However, with California’s population growing steadily, and state water supplies shrinking due to effects of climate change, that system has become antiquated, debilitated and unresponsive to our century’s demands. For the longest time, rights created before 1914 were off-limits to many state regulations. Until now. With drought conditions continuing into the summer months, the State Water Resources Control Board extended curtailments into senior rights dating back to 1858. Not only will the junior right holders be affected, but so will the ones that have been untouchable for centuries. The water rights affected by the notice adds to the growing number of water rights being limited due to the State’s ongoing drought, and relates to all other water restrictions being applied to home and business owners alike.

The west is experiencing extreme conditions, and with that comes the need to change. It’s time for California to adjust – if that means altering traditional policies, so be it! Let’s revise how we grant rights, how we extract and divert, and furthermore, how we deliberately use our precious supply of water. In the end it will make a world of a difference.

 

BOMA

 

We will be at BOMA today and tomorrow! THE BUILDING OWNERS AND MANAGERS ASSOCIATION (BOMA) is a nonprofit organization serving the advocacy, education and networking needs of commercial real estate professionals in the Greater Los Angeles area. We will be joining members such as building owners, private and government building managers, and other commercial real estate providers to learn and engage.

BOMA/GLA is governed by established bylaws and plays an important public role as a leader and public advocate for the industry. As an organization they regulate education programs to enrich all members, engage in government legislative lobbying, support professional designation in property management and provide tools for businesses like us to build networks and relationships that add strength to the community.

Hope to see you there!

STORY OF A RETROFIT: TOROKO METRO STATION

 

Welcome back to our series of post where we will be showing before and after pictures of some of our installations. Have you ever wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes of a bathroom renovation? Well you have come to the right place. Today we are taking you all the way across the Pacific to Taiwan.

California is not alone when in facing a serious water shortage. Taiwan has been facing one of its worst droughts it has ever experienced as well, and water resource agencies are having ton quickly adapt to this reality. Leaving businesses no choice but to follow along. Retrofitting restrooms is just one of the water-saving choices that are being made in Taiwan.

FRONTINSIDE

The Toroko Metro Station is a two-story platform structure that houses both passenger and freight stations. They have chosen to retrofit their restooms to our F4000 waterfree urinals in order to help do their part and cut back on water usage at their facility.

BATHROOM 1

BATHROOM 2

We are always excited to feature what our customers are doing around the world, and this is just one of the examples.

Read the original post from the folks in Falcon Asia here. 

 

 

LATEST WATER USE REPORT IN LA COUNTY

According to California Department of Water Resources, Californians use an average of 196 gallons of water per capita per day, including all businesses except agriculture. But there are wide differences by community, and the moist coasts uses less water than the arid inland.

See below, water usage in Los Angeles County based on water districts, population and location for the month of April. Where does your city come in?

 

DIRTY IS CLEAN

On Wednesday, we took the time to celebrate Drought Day. It was a very successful online gathering and we discussed issues such as drought shamming, mandatory water restrictions and water dependency in Los Angeles. One thing that caught our attention during the ongoing conversation, was the motivation in people to change certain daily habits in order to save water. Things like eating less meat and taking shorter showers were mentioned several times, so we thought it would be cool to put a few graphics together to show how much we can save. By changing a few simple things in our daily routine, we can make a difference. You know your go-to pair of jeans? You don’t have to wash them every week.

Use them more, let them be as comfy as possible and you can reduce water usage by 77%! Who knew dirty jeans could go this far?!

How else can you save water? Share ideas on twitter and Instagram with #falconwaterfacts. Have a fantastic weekend.

 

WORLD DAY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT

 

In December 1994 the United Nations General Assembly declared 17th June as the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. The UN acknowledged that problems associated with desertification and drought affect all regions of the world and the problem needs to be fully discussed world-wide.

This is why, today is such an important day for us. Today we are able to promote awareness through an international community that has been doing so for 18 years. Even though these issues go beyond our daily efforts in an urban environment, we embrace it full heatedly. And what better organization to partner with than DIGDEEP to celebrate this day?

Every human being has a right to clean water and they are doing something about it. DIGDEEP promotes a human’s access to water, transforming their lives by building clean water infrastructure therefore helping to safeguard human dignity. Each of their water projects is designed using a human rights-centric approach, a practical model that integrates efficacy and dignity into the plans and processes of development through community involvement and training. Read more about their organization and projects here.

If you want to be a part of this discussion, join us today at 11 am PST on twitter using #DroughtDay. Let’s get the conversation going. We are in this together and as a community we are able to push any change forward!

To see all other events taking place around the world head over to the United Nation’s website.