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LCA & material health results & interpretation EcoPower® Toilet Flush Valve TET1UA

Scope and summary

  • Cradle to gate
  • Cradle to gate with options
  • Cradle to grave

Functional unit

One flush valve for toilets in an average U.S. commercial environment for 10 years. The period of 10 years is modeled as the period of application based on the average technical lifespan for commercial applications. The economical lifespan of commercial applications can be longer or shorter due to aesthetic replacements or more intense use. The implication is that the LCA model assumes that the application ends at year 10 and that the materials will be treated in an end-of-life scenario.


Reference service life: 10 years

Data reporting period: 2016

Default use phase scenario

10 years of service in an average U.S. commercial environment in combination with a toilet with 1.0 gallon/use, 51 uses/day, and 260 days/year resulting in 132,600 gallons of water.

What’s causing the greatest impacts

All life cycle stages

The use and production stages are both important and dominate the results for all impact categories. The impact of the use stage is mostly due to the embedded energy arising from acquisition, treatment and distribution of the water used during the use of the toilet for which the valves are installed. The production stage itself has a significant contribution to eutrophication (mostly from emissions from copper mining), non-carcinogens (emissions from the production of coal, copper and zinc) and ecotoxicity (mostly from the disposal of steel slags and bottom ashes, as well as from barium emissions to water due to the extraction processes of natural gas).


The recovery stage includes recycling processes and benefits by preventing the need to produce primary materials. Recycling is a relevant factor for some of the impact categories, offsetting a portion of the impacts caused by production. Additionally, the delivery of the product to the construction/installation site, the construction/installation processes, the processes for dismantling the product and final waste treatment during the end of life stage do not have a significant impact.

Production stage

Bronze and stainless steel parts, together with the printed wiring board, have significant contributions to the impact categories. The stainless steel material is relevant to the carcinogenics category. The electroplating process is a major contributor to the ozone depletion category while the die casting process is relevant to the ecotoxicity and non-carcinogenics categories. Additionally, polishing and potting have a somewhat significant processing contribution to the results. Transport via oceanic freighter appears as a relevant contributor to the fossil fuel depletion and smog categories. The remaining parts and processes contribute between 3% and 15% to the overall impacts in the rest of the categories.

Sensitivity analysis

There are no sensitivity results that lead to variations greater than 10% in the LCA results.

TOTO PeoplePlanetWater™ programs improving environmental performance

  • TOTO’s EcoPower® products are powered by the force of running water.
  • The electronic and mechanical components are programmed and designed to allow water flow and accurate flush volume only when needed.
  • Water consumption is reduced in the use phase due to superior flushing performance.

See how we make it greener

LCA results

Life cycle stage Production Construction Use End of Life Recovery

Information modules: Included | Excluded


*Installation and deconstruction/demolition are mostly manual. The toilets and/or urinals should not need repair, maintenance or replacement during the modeled life time.


Reuse and energy recovery are not modeled for sanitary fittings.

A1 Raw Materials A4 Transportation/ Delivery B1 Use C1 Deconstruction/ Demolition D Reuse, recovery and/or recycling
A2 Transportation A5 Construction/ Installation B2 Maintenance C2 Transportation  
A3 Manufacturing   B3 Repair C3 Waste processing  
    B4 Replacement C4 Disposal  
    B5 Refurbishment    
    B6 Operational energy use    
    B7 Operational water use    
Impacts per 10 years of service 31.81 mPts 0.14 mPts 32.38 mPts 0.02 mPts -1.50 mPts
Materials or processes contributing >20% to total impacts in each life cycle stage Bronze and zinc parts together with the printed wiring board in addition to manufacturing processes such as die casting and electroplating. Transportation of the product to installation site or consumer and disposal of packaging. Volume of water use during the operation of the product and the embedded energy use (such as electricity) in the water used. Transport to waste processing, waste processing and disposal of material flows transported to a landfill. Plastic and metal components' recycling processes.

TRACI v2.1 results per one flush valve

Life cycle stage Production Construction Use End of Life Recovery

Ecological damage

Impact category Unit
Acidification kg SO2 eq Kilograms of Sulfur Dioxide equivalent
Acidification processes increase the acidity of water and soil systems and causes damage to lakes, streams, rivers and various plants and animals as well as building materials, paints and other human-built structures.
1.65E+00 146.E-02 2.34E+00 2.17E-03 -8.72E-02
Ecotoxicity CTUe Comparative Toxic Units of Ecotoxicity
Ecotoxicity causes negative impacts to ecological receptors, and indirectly, to human receptors through the impacts to the ecosystem.
4.73E+02 3.23E+00 1.55E+02 2.18E-01 -1.83E+01
Eutrophication kg N eqKilograms of Nitrogen equivalent
Eutrophication is the enrichment of an aquatic ecosystem with nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) that accelerate biological productivity (growth of algae and weeds) and an undesirable accumulation of algal biomass which impacts industry, agriculture, drinking, fishing and recreation and causes death of fish and shellfish, toxicity to humans, marine mammals and livestock, and reduces biodiversity.
1.10E+00 1.45E-03 2.57E-01 2.28E-04 -2.09E-02
Global warming (Embodied carbon) kg CO2 eqKilograms of Carbon Dioxide equivalent
Global warming is an average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the Earth’s surface and in the troposphere, which can contribute to change in global climate patterns and is caused by the increase of the sources of greenhouse gases and decrease of the sinks due to deforestation and land use. GW leads to problems in human health, agriculture, forest, water source and damage to species and biodiversity as well as coastal areas.
8.72E+01 1.63E+00 4.49E+02 2.70E-01 -5.50E+00
Ozone depletion kg CFC-11 eq Kilograms of Trichlorofluoromethane equivalent
Ozone depletion is the reduction of ozone in the stratosphere caused by the release of ozone depleting chemicals. Ozone depletion can increases ultraviolet B radiation to the earth which can adversely affect human health (skin cancer and cataracts and immune-system suppression) and other system (marine life, agricultural crops, and other vegetation) and causes damage to human-built materials.
6.34E-06 3.59E-09 2.03E-05 3.22E-08 -3.89E-07

References

LCA Background Report
TOTO Sanitary Fittings Products LCA Background Report (public version), September 2017

SM Transparency Report Framework
Part A: LCA Calculation Rules and Background Report Requirements v2017 (compliant with ISO14040-44 and ISO14025)
Part B: Product Group Definition – Commercial Flushometer Valves

Transparency Reports™ / environmental product declarations enable purchasers and users to compare the potential environmental performance of products on a life cycle basis. They are designed to present information transparently to make the limitations of comparability more understandable. TRs/EPDs of products that conform to the same PCR and include the same life cycle stages, but are made by different manufacturers, may not sufficiently align to support direct comparisons. They therefore, cannot be used as comparative assertions unless the conditions defined in ISO 14025 Section 6.7.2. ‘Requirements for Comparability’ are satisfied.

Rating systems

The intent is to reward project teams for selecting products from manufacturers who have verified improved life-cycle environmental performance.

LEED BD+C: New Construction | v4 - LEED v4 Building product disclosure and optimization 

Environmental product declarations

  • Industry-wide (generic) EPD ½ product

  • Product-specific Type III EPD 1 product

LEED BD+C: New Construction | v4.1 - LEED v4.1

Building product disclosure and optimization 

Environmental product declarations

  • Industry-wide (generic) EPD ½ product

  • Product-specific Type III EPD 1 product

Green Globes for New Construction and Sustainable Interiors

Materials and resources

  • NC 3.5.1.2 Path B: Prescriptive Path for Building Core and Shell

  • C 3.5.2.2 and SI 4.1.2 Path B: Prescriptive Path for Interior Fit-outs

Collaborative for High Performance Schools National Criteria

MW 7.1 – Environmental Product Declarations

  • Third-party certified type III EPD

BREEAM New Construction 2018

Mat 02 - Environmental impacts from construction products

Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)

  • Industry average EPD .5 points

  • Multi-product specific EPD .75 points

  • Product specific EPD 1 point