Consulting-Specifying Engineer - August 2008 - (Page 8) Letters Flushing out the details I take exception to a recent comment from Rob Zimmerman, senior staff engineer—water conservation, Kohler, who said “We also don’t know whether dual-flush flushometers really save water.” (“Not a drop to waste,” June 2008). Sloan Valve Co. has had great success helping customers reduce their water consumption with its manual and electronic dualflush Flushometers. For example, Purdue University’s senior mechanical engineer reported that Purdue’s water usage dropped between 30% and 50% in month-to-month comparisons based on water meter readings before and after installing dualflush handles in university restrooms (our website at www.sloanvalve.com has this and other case studies). Sloan welcomes discussion of water efficiency because it’s an important issue. But discounting a viable technology with no firsthand knowledge or usage is a disservice to the industry. JOHN WATSON DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL SERVICES SLOAN VALVE CO.,FRANKLIN PARK, ILL. Author response: First and foremost, I agree that Letters Send your letters to Michael Ivanovich, editor-in-chief, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 2000 Clearwater Drive, Oak Brook, IL 60523, or via e-mail to michael.ivanovich@ reedbusiness.com. Letters should be no longer than 200 words, and may be edited for space, style, spelling, and grammar. dual-flush toilets and flushometers should save water. However, to fully quantify the water-saving potential of this technology, more third-party, peer-reviewed studies of actual water savings need to be conducted. In addition, increased efforts on behalf of manufacturers to educate customers on how best to use dual-flush technology will help engineers make smarter decisions about specifying plumbing products. There are several high-efficiency flushing platforms available, and it’s imperative that the right kind of technology is used in the right application. Furthermore, we need to ensure these technologies provide the water savings consumers expect. While there’s no doubt that some consumers save water with dual-flush toilets, it’s not clear that everyone will. Consumers ultimately benefit by having the widest variety of water-efficient plumbing products from which to choose. ROB ZIMMERMAN SENIOR STAFF ENGINEER – WATER CONSERVATION KOHLER CO., KOHLER, WIS. the Tail.” The purpose of the book was to help HVAC engineers to “wag the dog” when it came to energy-efficient design. At the time, it seemed like conscientious energy engineers were tilting at windmills trying to get architects to care about sustainability. Since then, of course, green has become all the rage, and now we are the whipping boys being told to squeeze out as many U.S. Green Building Council LEED Energy and Atmosphere credits as possible. I have grown sick of sustainability discussions and the ubiquitous green washing that has inundated society, our industry in particular. In my early career I had the honor of working with Dave Sellers, PE, who is a member of Consulting-Specifying Engineer’s editorial advisory board. We were both mentored by Bill Coad, PE, a past president of ASHRAE, and taught an energy ethic that went beyond hype. Green design was not the goal—it was simply the result of good design. When the sun sets on the fad—and it can’t happen too quickly for me—I hope that all of us in the buildings industry will maintain the proper heading and continue to advocate for responsible designs. I just hope the “dogs” are still listening. KEVIN DICKENS, PE, LEED AP DEPUTY DIRECTOR, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING JACOBS, ST. LOUIS LEED and construction safety Regarding your June 2008 Viewpoint, “LEEDing construction safety a Natural Step,” I have been in the construction industry for almost 50 years, most of which have been with a heavy-highway contractor in the Buffalo, N.Y. area (and have to disagree that LEED should incorporate construction safety). We always stressed worker safety as a priority and achieved a high level of safety among our workforce. How will it be possible to require the green construction company to not only revisit its safety rules to include all aspects of construction, whatever the type (building, tunneling, etc.), but to get all contractors to willfully embody them and also to get enough knowledgeable inspectors to enforce them? It would be great for this to happen, but I don’t believe the willingness, other than verbal, exists to ever make it a reality. ROBERT C. TULETT CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANT MCMAHON & MANN CONSULTING ENGINEERS, BUFFALO, N.Y. When the green fad fades I want to thank you for expressing what many of us have been feeling. In 2002 I started writing a book tentatively titled “A Sustainable Guide for 8 Consulting-Specifying Engineer • AUGUST 2008 http://www.sloanvalve.com
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