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GBE Compare Group N13 WCs
GBE Compare Group N13 WCs
About:
GBE COMPARE: GROUP COMPARISON CONCLUSIONS
- COMPARE establishes the Key Performance Indicators KPIs, Environmental Performance Indicators EPIs and Social Performance Indicators SPIs for each product group.
- COMPARE places Energy & CO2 as the EPI
- COMPARE collects data on as many products as we can find easily; applies any calculations necessary to determine comparable data.
- COMPARE then sorts the results in each EPI, KPI and SPI to determine average or normal performance and determines which are above and below the average performance.
- COMPARE then compares individual products to determine where and how they are better or worse than the average or normal.
- COMPARE encourages manufacturers to bring their latest product data to improve the collected data.
N13 SANITARYAWRE WCs
On this occasion GBE COMPARED:
- 130 WC Suites from 14 manufacturers all listed on the WTL Water Technology Products List and eligible for ECA Enhanced Capital Allowance
- COMPARE took manufacturer or reviewer declared data:
Average or Normal Performance:
On this occasion the averages determined were:
- Average full flush volume: 4.26 liters
- Average reduced flush volume: 3.5 liters
- Average combined full and reduced flush: 7.75 liters
PASS will assume the following minimum criteria
- Listed on WTL and eligible for ECA
- Better than average water consumption
Future Developments:
- Areas of interest:
- Low toxicity chromium plating
- Low energy vitreous china
- Recycled content vitreous china
- Anti-bacterial coatings
- Self-cleaning skid removing bacterial coatings
State of the market:
- Green manufacturers brought water saving sanitaryware to the market over a decade ago
- The market is driven by EcoHomes, Code for Sustainable Homes, BREEAM & Ska
- Fiscal incentives ECA and WTL help to drive Facilities Managers and Company Accountants to upgrade
- Existing established manufacturers have had to respond and now manufacture low water consumption sanitaryware
- Some manufacturers have inadequate flush buttons and are loath to specify them in any situation other than domestic
- Project specifications created by manufacturers for Architects continue to specify middle to higher flush WCs unless the specifier insists upon low flush.
- DIY & Builder’s merchants continue to stock what is purchased, but rarely promote very low flush toilets in any significant way.
- Builder’s merchants are coming round to stocking what is specified for government-funded projects.
Conclusions:
- The mainstream manufacturers have improved their product ranges
- The mainstream manufacturers have overtaken the Green manufacturers.
- The innovative manufacturers have developed exceptionally low flush toilets.
- COMPARE encourages manufacturers to bring new or better products to drive down water consumption and its associated carbon load.
Robust Specification:
- When one manufacturer produces many products or many variants of one product, whose performance varies enormously from variant to variant, it is essential that the exact model name, reference prefix and reference suffix is in the contract specification.
- NBS would argue that is enough, GBE argue that the performance characteristics, the reasons for choosing the product and the model, are also included, so there is a basis for checking deliveries on site and a basis for comparison in the event of substitution; all of this on site or at the point of substitution without reference to other documents.
Performance Standards:
“Unless workmanship and performance are defined as part of the Contract Documents
then any control over the end result becomes entirely speculative.”
Neil Pepperell MD© RIBA Indemnity Research Ltd.
Performance Certificates
“If … test certificates are claimed, make sure they are current and relate to the proposed product,
not another in the range”
Liability alert No. 17
© GBE NGS ASWS Brian Murphy aka BrianSpecMan
16th July 2013 – 11th May 2014
GBE Compare Group N13 WCs
Images:
Fig. 3 Example N13 WCs Group Comparison
Fig. 4 Example N13 WCs Group Comparison Conclusions
Fig. 5 WTL Water Technology List Products
© GBE NGS ASWS Brian Murphy aka BrianSpecMan
16th June 2013 – 11th May 2014
GBE Compare Group N13 WCs
See Also:
WTL Water Technology Product List
GBE COMPARE GROUP COMPARISONS
- N13 SANITARYWARE WCs
- Group Comparison (XLS)
- Group Comparison Table (PDF)
- Group Comparison Conclusions (DOC)
GBE JARGON BUSTER
- CO2
- EPI
- KPI
- MTP
- NBS
- SPI
- Environmental Performance Indicators (EPI)
- GBE COMPARE
- GreenWash
- Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
- Market Transformation Programme (MTP)
- National Building Specification (NBS)
- Or Equivalent
- Social Performance Indicators (SPI)
GBE CHECKLIST
- N13 Sanitaryware
GBE CPD
- Greening the Office
GBE GREEN BUILDING SPECIFICATION (GBS)
- N13
GBE ROBUST SPECIFICATION
- N13
© GBE NGS ASWS Brian Murphy aka BrianSpecMan
16th July 2013 – 11th May 2014