Sustainability Archives - Page 3 of 10

Our Hybrid Urinal Technology, High Performance Water Conservation

As water shortages have increased and strict usage regulations have been implemented, certification and adoption of LEED has become increasingly popular. With many parts of the country suffering from debilitating drought, this drive for water conservation and demand for high efficiency plumbing products has never been more important. Now, there’s a new solution that preserves this need for efficiency and enhances the functionality of inherently sustainable waterfree design.

Waterfree Urinal technologies represent the highest amount (100%) of water savings available. Since the introduction of waterfree technologies, these high-efficiency urinals have helped saved millions of gallons of fresh water every year, totalling over 50 billion gallons from Falcon’s waterfree units alone. When properly maintained, these fixtures provide efficient removal of liquid waste with no odor or clogs. The challenge is, however, that improper or infrequent maintenance can lead to the buildup of struvite in the drain lines, occasionally resulting in reduced flow and more-difficult maintenance procedures.

On the other end of the spectrum, wash down urinal treads have steadily decreased flush volume, now at 0.125 gpf. Although this has helped to save significant amounts of water, the marginal flush volume does not provide enough water to fully flush out the system- results can include excessive odor and calcite clogged trapways and drain lines. This calcite build up is extremely hard, almost rock like, and is very difficult to remove. With waterfree urinals, urine forms a soft, water-soluble substance known as ‘struvite’ that collects in pipes and can also cause blockages over time. Unlike calcite, though, struvite is easy to remove, only needing water and a brush to be removed.

By taking the best attributes of waterfree technology and combining them with the best of flushing technology, we have created the most hygienic, water-saving, high performance urinal available, the Hybrid Urinal. Our revolutionary, multi-patent pending technology functions as a waterfree technology in daily use and automatically performs a full gallon (4 liter) flush through the housing and pipe system every 72 hours, rather than trickling small volume of water with each use. This technology allows for maximum LEED points, water savings and performance functionality.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrHxkXSRPtk&w=560&h=315]

This timed power-washing provides a large supplemental flow of water, which helps clean out any sediment build up from your housing and pipes, ensuring continued optimal flow and eliminating the need for bucket dumps & bottle brush cleaning.

Our patent pending self-cleaning waterless urinal leverages all the benefits of our new, patent pending Velocity Cartridge in a unique and revolutionary flush system that cleans the housing and flushes out pipes on a regular timed basis. The Hybrid delivers the world’s best and most sustainable urinal technology, and it’s truly the best of both ends of the urinal spectrum!

*Available to the North American through our exclusive partner, Sloan Valve Company.

WHAT WE’RE READING: GREENTHINK

A culmination of decades of being at the forefront of national sustainability initiatives, Greenthink by Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and founding chair of USGBC, puts forth an argument that is as controversial as it is clear: leverage the motive of profit to save the world—and its humans—from environmental catastrophe.

For decades, he notes, environmentalists and the private sector have been at odds. Activists have decried the impact of industry on the environment. Business leaders, meanwhile, resent environmentalists for “job-killing regulations.” But in Greenthink, Fedrizzi turns conventional wisdom on its head by showing how profit can save the planet, and how sustainability is the biggest business opportunity of the 21st century.

To prove his point, Rick calls on his decades of experience as a marketing executive for United Technologies Carrier Corporation, then as head of USGBC, where he pioneered the green building sector, an industry that has had an immediate and measurable impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and driven vast innovation in architectural design, engineering practice and materials development in product manufacturing. The creation of USGBC’s LEED, the most widely used green building rating system in the world, helped create a market that didn’t exist 20 years ago and now anchors an industry expected to be valued at more than $3 billion by 2020. Rick has spent nearly his entire career working to bridge the polarized divide between environmentalists and business, because, as he rightly puts it, “they both will share the same fate.”

Original article published on the USGBC’s blog and you can read it here.

Technology Evolution Guide: Our Cartridges History

Since the invention of our waterfree urinal technology, we have taken pride in listening to our customer demands and innovating water conservation solutions that do not sacrifice product functionality. This is a guide to our continuous efforts to offer the highest performance technology-driven restroom water conservation products.

Our story began in 1999, when a German engineer fervently believed that flushing a urinal was a waste of water. Urine is already a generally sterile liquid, and gravity could drain it completely without a flush. A year later, the C1M1 made its debut in the restroom market.

The water-free urinal not only saved water. It also reduced the carbon footprint, since a fifth of California’s electrical output is consumed by processing and pumping water. The original design was well received by the public. However, the implementation of this new technology brought to our attention troubling gaps between our R&D and the inherent value of our technology, overcoming these challenges became our primary focus.

With additional research and development, Falcon released the C1M2 in 2005. It included a diverter shield to help retain sealant, a diverter to reduce splash and it was easier to remove. The military tested the urinals at Fort Huachucha, a base in southern Arizona. Our “flushless” urinals shorten water consumption by millions of gallons. As a result, the US Army Corp of Engineers mandated in 2006 to install only waterless urinals from 2010 onward.

After carefully reviewing the C1M2 latest design features, Falcon decided to include an additional splash-reducing shape, better odor reducing technology and internal mechanisms to improve the cartridge’s sealant retention. Six years later, the C1M2+ was introduced in the market. This time around, large-scale facilities across the country such as Rose Bowl Stadium and Las Vegas Motor Speedway switched to water free urinals.

Last and certainly not least, the Velocity cartridge debuted on the market in 2014. It includes 6 new patent pending features that help: keep facilities pipes and housing cleaner, retain sealant better, visually cue a cartridge change and reduce environmental footprint. After installing 300+ Falcon urinals over the past few years, Staples Center has not only reduced maintenance costs, but has also saved huge quantities of water- 57 million gallons in fact. An incredible fact given Staple’s Center location in drought-stricken Los Angeles.

Our urinal cartridge technology is a result of our ongoing efforts to provide the highest quality products for our customers, directly derived from advanced market research and technology development. The revolutionary technology of our new cartridge design ensures top quality performance that is both easy to maintain and helps keep your restroom odor-free.

Six Reasons Why Once You Try Our Velocity Cartridge, You’ll Never Go Back

We, at Falcon Waterfree Technologies, are dedicated to developing technology-driven restroom products that offer the highest performance while conserving water. Over the last fifteen years, we have revolutionized the water conservation industry by investing in continual innovation. The Velocity Cartridge is our latest liquid cartridge to evolve from our ongoing efforts to provide the highest quality products for our customers.

The Velocity cartridge uses multiple unique design patents to provide safe, long lasting, odor suppression and save you an average of up to or more than 40,000 gallons of water every year. They simplify plumbing needs and help save the environment.

6 ALL NEW-PATENT PENDING FEATURES

1. Greener Footprint

At Falcon we believe that sustainability is a journey not a destination. We are continually looking for ways to minimize our product footprint and this is no exception with our Velocity Cartridge which now boasts a 20% material reduction compared to our previous models.

2. Keeps Pipes and Housing Cleaner

We designed the Velocity cartridge with the purpose to make maintenance easier and more hygienic for our customers. Our patent-pending anti splash pour spout utilizes speed and directional flow to streamline urine through our housing and your buildings’ pipes; helping to effectively eliminate the mess and build up associated with our older technology and any of our competitor’s cartridges. Still curious? Take a peek at our how it Works video below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmukgX6AnWw&w=560&h=315]

3. Reduces Restroom Odor

End user experience is important, odor is the last thing anybody wants to experience when using a restroom. We invented our patented Velocity cartridge to help keep your restroom virtually odor-free by eliminating the area where bacteria can grow. Take a peek at our how it works video below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgjWaNboo8s&w=560&h=315]

4. Retains Sealant Better

Worried about washing our your sealant barrier? Worry no more! Our interior baffle allows the cartridge to retain its sealant barrier even under the most challenging maintenance practices, such as bucket dumping. In fact, we recommend that you bucket dump at least once a week to help wash out your pipes.

5. Reduces Splash Back

The last thing you want when using the restroom is splash back. In order to minimize splash back we have integrated a diverter shield into the Velocity cartridge, reducing splashing while simultaneously helping to prevent debris from entering the cartridge.

6. Cues you when to replace

Not sure when to change our cartridge? Now you have a way to check! Our blue indicator ring at the entrance of the cartridge provides you with a visual cue that helps you know when it is ready to be changed. As the cartridge reaches the end of its lifespan, liquid levels will rise making it more difficult to see the blue indicator marker, ultimately making maintenance easier.

We invite you to try our new cartridge and experience our revolutionary technology! We can assure you, once you switch to the Velocity you’ll never look back.

For additional information visit our Velocity Cartridge product page.

Our Sustainability Journey

Here at Falcon, we believe that in the journey to create a better future, businesses should become a force for good. We are founded on the principle of ecological conservation, and sustainability is embedded across our business’s operations and daily practices. We are working to help the planet and help everyone on it thrive.

A successful sustainable strategy clearly connects the organization’s mission, vision, ethics and long-term financial goals, then key ingredients for long-term growth and profitability such as growth of the company’s reputation, employee engagement, the retainment of top talent and market differentiation will continue to grow across the organization. Sustainable thinking is more about creating opportunity and less about mitigating risk.

Our employees have dedicated more than 170 hours volunteering with the local communities to contribute to diverse social and environmental initiatives. Such practices resulted in new and stronger partnerships with charitable organizations. As a way to give back to our hard-working staff, Falcon Waterfree Technologies provides skills based training to advance core job responsibilities, training for personal development, and offers 12 weeks of fully paid maternity leave to salaried workers.

On top of all this, we encourage our staff to behave differently. The kitchen is stocked with consciously-chosen, local and sustainably-sourced items. We implemented a “Rideshare Incentive” to help minimize our carbon dioxide emissions. Everyone onsite uses a mug, cutting back on paper cups, and our staff refill their water with their metal Falcon Waterfree Technologies canteens, the office is also a plastic bottle free zone.

Sustainability is a corporate journey with no final destination, as there is always room for improvement. Falcon is continually identifying further innovations to reduce our environmental footprint with the vision of creating technology-driven products that conserve our Earth’s precious fresh water supply.

TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility

In the face of a severe drought between the late ’80s and early ‘90s, West Basin Water District in Southern California transformed their business model from imported water wholesaler to a leader in conservation and water recycling. After receiving state and federal funding to design and build a world-class water recycling treatment facility in 1992, the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility opened its doors in the City of El Segundo.

Since then, The West Basin Municipal Water District has become an important provider of safe and high-quality water to the communities it serves. The facility operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, producing approximately 40 million gallons of usable water every day. It conserves enough drinking water to meet the needs of 80,000 households a year. West Basin works alongside with the Water Replenishment District to supply 75% of the water injected into the West Coast Groundwater Barrier, conserving 5,000 acre-feet of water each year. They are expecting to increase that amount to 100% in the future.

The Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility (ECLWRF) is not only the largest water recycling facility of its kind in the United States, but it is also the only treatment facility in the country that produces five different qualities of “designer” or custom-made recycled water that meet the unique needs to the communities it serves.

The water treatment plant also contains a 60,000 square foot solar power generating system that reduces their carbon dioxide emissions by over 356 tons in one year’s time. This is the equivalent to planting nearly 100 acres of trees or not driving 890,007 miles. The solar power generated at this facility also supplies 10% of their peak energy needs.

In addition to their continuing sustainability efforts, their visitor education center created a recycling program to teach its visitors the importance of conserving energy and water. Grade-school children can also visit the West Basin Water Recycling Phase IV Expansion site to show them how valuable and rare water is.

In a future, where water demands might urge the world to create new sources of water, it seems that recycled water- in combination with building a more drought resistance infrastructure- has the potential to help us be more climate-independent. The Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility is establishing the technology framework that can potentially help to alleviate California’s continuous water scarcity issues.

The Pacific Council Awards Mary Robinson

We were so pleased to be able to come together Tuesday evening for An Evening with Mary Robinson, hosted by the Pacific Council on International Policy, to honor Mrs. Mary Robinson with the Warren Christopher Public Service Award for her commitment to ethical international and national affairs and government service as a noble pursuit.

Mary Robinson has been instrumental in environmental thought leadership and has created the Mary Robinson Foundation- Climate Justice to help spur education and advocacy on the struggle to secure global justice for those people vulnerable to the impacts of climate change who are usually forgotten – the poor, the disempowered and the marginalised. Climate injustice is an often overlooked impact of climate change, making the work of the foundation all the more important. We couldn’t be more proud to congratulate Mary Robinson on her incredible journey so far and her perseverance to push forward and tackle worldwide socio-environmental issues.

To learn more about the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, visit their website here. We encourage you to join her to help bring justice, equality and empowerment to our responses to climate change.

ABOUT THE PACIFIC COUNCIL The Pacific Council was founded in 1995 to expand foreign affair and global issue conversations beyond Washington D.C. to the West Coast. Since inception, the Pacific Council has built a network of globally-minded members, that includes: current and former diplomats, industry leaders, media representatives, politicians, scholars, and Falcon’s own Chairman of the Board, Marc Nathanson (Co-Chair of the Pacific Council) and longtime Board Member, Dr. Jerrold Green.

ABOUT MARY ROBINSON Mary Robinson is the first woman President of Ireland (1990-1997), former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002), and founder and President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative (2002-2010). She has spent much of her life as a human rights advocate and sought to use law as an instrument for social change. In August 2014 she was appointed the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change.

WHAT WE’RE READING: LET THERE BE WATER

After Seth Siegel interviewed our CEO, Simon A. Davis for his podcast Let There Be Water, we included his book on our to-read list. Siegel stubbled upon our waterfree urinals while attending the Aspen Ideas Festival and made a mental note of finding more about the technology later on (more on that story here) Later on, he was introduced to Simon Davis and the conversation about water savings expanded to the podcast.

In The book Let There Be Water, however, Siegel approaches the hugely important topic of efficient water management through the lens of Israeli policy. You see news media in the United States publicizing the recent major droughts in Texas and California, but the problem regarding the lack of water is global. Around the world, the overwhelming majority of people do not have a dependable supply of clean and safe drinking water – and Siegel does a great job at globalizing the issue.

The author tells the tale of Israel’s approach to water conservation and supply from all angles: geopolitical, scientific – and environmental. It is a must read if you are interested in expanding your knowledge on water management. Or if you’re a water loving and always fascinated by the inner works of the world’s water supplies, like us.

GRINCH-LIKE DROUGHT

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… but not without the perfect Christmas Tree. The feeling of heading out to a Christmas tree lot, walking through the freshly cut pines and claiming your favorite is definitely a memory most people have of the holiday season. It may vary depending on where you grew up – maybe you cut down your own tree, or you had a row of artificial ones to pick from – but the feeling is mutual when it comes to claiming your favorite and taking it home to decorate with your family.

California’s prolonged drought has wreaked devastation to agriculture across the state. So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that its Grinch-like ways have also struck at the fort of holiday tradition — our beloved Christmas tree. Christmas tree growers across the state are struggling with growing issues as a shortage of rainfall has caused some varieties of trees to dry up or grow at a much slower pace. This has been forcing many tree farmers to import Christmas trees from out of state, mostly from Washington and Oregon. Since they need a lot of water, it has become nearly impossible to grow them in California.

Maybe the drought won’t make a difference for consumers, but if they seem a little off this year, you can blame the drought. The lack of rain is making the centerpiece of the holiday shorter than normal, and they may not stand as tall and poised as you would want them to.

There are still plenty of things we can do to help save water: give back this holiday season, save water in your house and place of business, shop local and sustainable.

THE BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK IN DWP REBATES

On November 20th, the city of Los Angeles controller released an audit which laid out all rebate options available from the Department of Water and Power conservation programs and which ones are the best bang for your buck.

Even though, we have all seen plenty of turf programs in the media, it so happens that they saved less water per dollar spent than any other rebates offered. The research done by the city controller comes to show, that the money spent for rebates on items such as high-efficiency appliances yielded much higher water savings.

What this means is, the city should be focusing more on water infrastructure and technology investments, such as waterfree urinals and high efficiency toilets. These programs will achieve longer sustained and more cost-effective water savings for Los Angeles. It may be something that doesn’t really cross your mind on a daily basis, but your water usage in the bathroom is very significant and can be decreased with a simple product upgrade.

The city’s water conservation efforts goes beyond reacting to the current crisis, but rather changing the way we think and use water forever more. Changing the way we do our landscape is now proven as a minuscule piece of the puzzle, and even though it has initiated a healthy educational conversation on water usage, it shouldn’t be considered the last step we should take. With substantial rebates still available for fixtures and the Mayor’s Audit Report now public, we encourage everyone to take advantage of our high-performance water conservation products, available through Sloan Valve Company, that provide long lasting water and monetary savings.