Page 54 - November 2015 Green Builder Magazine

The Homeowner’s Handbook SIXTH EDITION

widely accepted as a substitute for other standards of household

plumbing. Fittings have improved, problems are rare, and most Waterproof Tile Installation
Standard grout is not waterproof! It must be
plumbers have come to embrace the technology. coated every two years or so to keep water—and
mold growth—out of walls. Behind the walls and
From a green perspective, tubing made from high-grade plastic floors, a waterproofing system such as the one
shown below from Schluter (www.schluter.com)
52 is a welcome alternative to vinyl-based PVC pipe. And from a can add many years of leak-proof performance to
practical perspective, PEX is ideal for tricky retrofit jobs, because a shower and/or floor.

the flexible tubing can snake around obstacles, so you can avoid Avoid Toxic Cleaners
Keeping highly toxic
unnecessary demolition. cleaners such as bleach
and clog removers under
SUPER TOILETS your sink is a good way
Water Misers to pollute your bathroom
air. Purchase non-toxic
The toilet efficiency race has been a big win for the environment. cleaners instead, and
We’ve seen models with water usage of less than .8 gpf in dual- make your bathroom a
flush models, and a 1-gpf single-flush model. Flush technology is friendly place for kids and
probably approaching its bottom limit. pets—as well as adults.

But other approaches may squeeze water savings. For example, IMAGE: VISION HOUSE® TUSCON
graywater-fed toilet tanks are now on the market (ones that use (LATHAMARCHITECTURAL.COM)
lavatory water to fill the toilet tank), along with hand-washing
faucets built right into the top of the tank.

Manufacturers will continue to tweak toilet efficiency, no doubt,
but the biggest gains could probably be made by simply adjusting
our behavior: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow.” GB

The Benefits of Bidets

www.greenbuildermag.com 11.2015 Bidet toilets work by using water, rather than toilet paper, to clean the nether
regions. Bidets save more water indirectly by eliminating the need for toilet
paper, the manufacture of which is a water-intensive process. But is a bidet
really a better choice than, say, a water-efficient dual-flush toilet?

Annual toilet paper use in the U.S. tops out at 36.5 billion rolls. This equals
473,587,500,000 gallons of water and 15 million trees—and that doesn’t
account for the additional water required to treat and dispose of toilet
paper waste. As the chart shows, a bidet attachment in combination with
an efficient toilet saves about 200 gallons of water annually, compared to a
dual-flush toilet. Other advantages? Water cleans better and is less abrasive
than toilet paper, and bidets keep hands free—and clean.

If you’re ready for a hands-free toilet, you don’t have to purchase a new one;
instead, you can opt for a bidet seat attachment. Depending on the model
you choose, the money saved by crossing toilet paper off the grocery list will
potentially pay for the bidet seat in a matter of months.

Annual Water Use in Gallons (Per Person)

Water required to Water used by toilet
manufacture toilet paper

1.6-gpf Toilet
0.8-gpf Dual-

Flush Toilet
Bidet with 1.6-

gpf Toilet

0 600 1,200 1,800 2,400 3,000 3,600 4,200
Gallons of Water

Water Savings? For this analysis, we assumed bidet users would still
require 20 percent of the toilet paper used by “conventional” toilet users, and
would require 0.125 gallons of water per use, in addition to the water
required for flushing.