VISTA, CALIF.—Waterless Co. Inc., the oldest and one of the largest manufacturers of no-water urinal systems and other restroom products in the United States, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. The company was founded by Klaus Reichardt, a leading advocate for water conservation and sustainability. His goal was to develop a firm that would help facilities use water more responsibly. “We have grown from just a few distributors in the United States to having distributors throughout the country,” he says. “And because of America’s growing interest in sustainability, the last few years have actually been some of our biggest...

MONTEREY, CALIF.—Setting the bar for environmentally-conscious hotels in Central California, Portola Hotel & Spa, located in the heart of Monterey, was recently granted its Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Portola Hotel & Spa becomes one of only three hotels in all of California and one of only six hotels in the United States to earn this level of accreditation in the Existing Building (EB) category. As an independent hotel brand, and an existing building, Portola Hotel & Spa achieved this certification as a result of a longstanding commitment by...

BOSTON—In the early stages of an $18 million renovation project, one that will see a complete guestroom and corridor redesign, the 38-story, 803-room Westin Copley Place in Boston is preparing to add to its long list of environmental achievements. In 2010 the property earned Green Key and Green Seal certification, an Energy Star rating, and significantly reduced its energy consumption, water consumption and waste sent to landfill. The hotel’s green team, which deserves much of the credit for the accomplishments, is led by Jeff Hanulec, director of engineering, an industry veteran constantly on the lookout for ways to improve operational...

WAYLAND, MASS.—A breakthrough drought-resistant grass seed is saving commercial property owners on watering, mowing and fertilizer, while preserving drinking water supplies and protecting consumers from the health risks of lawn irrigation waste. Customers have attractive, low maintenance, low cost, “green” results. Pearl’s Premium Ultra Low Maintenance Lawn Seed is the result of eight years of research and development by scientist and environmental expert Jackson Madnick, who said it grows at one quarter the rate of blue grass, requiring mowing only once a month rather than every week. With 12-inch roots, Pearl’s Premium needs no fertilizer, rarely needs water once established,...

NEW CASTLE, DELA.—Speakman Company has introduced its latest plumbing innovation, the SentinelPro T/P Shower Valve. The SentinelPro T/P is a dual element thermostatic and pressure balanced valve that is certified to meet ASSE 1016 at 1.5 gallons per minute. The SentinelPro T/P Shower Valve offers a variety of unique benefits when compared to other valves in the marketplace: • Dual element design allows the valve to protect against both scalding and thermal shock at flow rates as low as 1.5 gallons per minute.• SentinelPro T/P Valves offer T/P Valve protection at pressure balanced valve prices, creating the industry’s highest value ratio.• Ability to...

MORROW, GA.—TOTO, a maker of sustainable plumbing products, announced that it is the first plumbing manufacturer to partner with ecoScorecard and incorporate this service into its product catalog. TOTO believes that this partnership will help its customers—such as building owners, architects, designers, and product specifiers—streamline the time needed to deliver the environmental documentation required to qualify for green building rating systems such as LEED, GGHC Labs 21, CHPS, and the NAHB Green Home Building Guidelines as well as other third-party product certification systems. These green building rating systems provide third-party verification that a building is designed and built using strategies...

PISCATAWAY, N.J.—American Standard announced that its high efficiency urinals and flush-valve options meet or exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WaterSense program requirements for high performance and water efficiency, making it the first major plumbing manufacturer to meet these rigorous requirements. The EPA’s WaterSense program requires commercial urinals to use no more than 0.5 gallons per flush (gpf)—50 percent lower than the current federal standard of 1.0 gpf—while also meeting such performance standards as flush effectiveness and post-flush seal restoration. The American Standard line of high efficiency urinals, which features FloWise water-saving technology, exceeds these requirements, operating between 0.5 gpf...

SHEFFIELD, MASS.—Monarch Bath, Bed & Spa, a leading global provider of luxury bathrobes and linens to the hospitality industry, released the full results of an independent research project that was conducted in order to test and evaluate the properties of their MONARCH ECO towels, a recently introduced line of eco-friendly bath linens that are designed to conserve water and reduce energy costs in the laundry operation. The extensive tests were performed in conjunction with Destination Hotels & Resorts (DH&R) at The Inverness Hotel and Conference Center in Englewood, Colo., a 302-room, 4-Diamond resort with an in-house laundry that processes more...

MADISON, WIS.—The Ozone Company, located in Madison, Wis., recently unveiled its new Ecowash Premier Ozone Laundry System. Like other ozone laundry systems, Ecowash allows one to reduce energy, water, chemical and labor costs at any laundry facility. It features a proprietary logic control board developed by The Ozone Company that allows it to independently supply ozone to four separate washing machines at the same time. Other ozone laundry systems can at most control only two washers, resulting in lower capital expenses for Ozone Company customers utilizing the Ecowash system. In addition, the Ozone Company’s Ecowash system only produces ozone when...

MILWAUKEE, WIS.—A practical, real-world guide designed to expand water conservation efforts inside and outside of today’s facilities was released. The IFMA Foundation and the Alliance for Sustainable Built Environments (ASBE) produced the white paper titled, “A Comprehensive Guide to Water Conservation: The Bottom Line Impacts, Challenges and Rewards.” The guide is available free of charge and provides an overview of  key areas in water conservation, covering: domestic water use including restrooms, hot water consumption and water reclamation; process water use including cooling towers and laundry facilities; rainwater harvesting with a description of harvesting techniques and applications for water reuse;...