composting toilet

Indy House: Sink in the toilet

ellen — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:01:00 -0400

No, that's not a photoshop wonder - it's real- a sink in toilet lid from Gaiam. What better way to save space in a small bathroom than to install a 2-in-one fixture?

This toilet, which functions as a toilet AND a sink does just that (you could call it a triple function if you count the built-in soap dish). Yes, a little strange that you have to straddle the toilet to wash your hands but it enables you to use the water from the sink (called greywater) that would have been wasted down the drain but is perfectly acceptable for filling the tank to flush.

So what about using this for the Indy House, a very small (some would call it intimate) green home that we're designing? This might be a good way to reduce the number of fixtures in the limited space and it's a bargain at $89 bucks.

We were going to try to avoid all plumbing in this project and us a Composting Toilet but it might be useful to have a bar sink or slop sink in the house. This is a question for the Owner. We'll let you know.

Let us know if you've had experience with this toilet - its a fairly new product, so we'd love to hear your experiences (and what guests coming to your home have thought!)

Check out previous Indy House posts.

www.ehapc.com

[brooklyn green] www.ehapc.wordpress.com

Sustainable Kitchen and Bathrooms More Popular

jchait — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:42:15 -0400

A fairly recent AIA Home Design Trends Survey shows that kitchens and bathrooms remain a popular key design area in the home, and that includes green additions and green remodels and features.

Bathrooms have gone slightly down in popularity, in that more people are making do with smaller and fewer baths - to me that's a good deal. However, they still remain higher in focus than other home areas.

The growing interest in green features includes items like renewable flooring, such as cork and bamboo; renewable counter top materials, like bamboo and concrete, and energy efficient appliances. Water filters for drinking water have also remained a semi-popular feature in kitchens.

If you're looking to build or remodel green and kitchens and baths are at the top of your list, the first step is to consider what you need vs. what you think you need. You may be able to manage just fine with a smaller kitchen or bathroom. Size is one big green issue, but next you'll want to look at materials.

Here's where to find some decent green features, fixtures, and materials.

Low flow toilets

Composting toilets

WaterSense labeled faucets and aerators

Smaller bathtubs

Low flow shower heads

Endurawood Butcher Block Counter tops

Safecoat 3 in 1 Adhesive

Bathroom counter tops

Non-Toxic & Natural Paints and Finishes

Recycled metal tiles

Recycled glass tiles

Efficient Hot Water Pumps

Eco friendly kitchen counters

Of course this is just a good start. There are plenty of green bath and kitchen materials available currently - once you start looking, you'll see all sorts of supplies to adore.

Four Easy Tactics You Can Use In A House To Conserve Water

jchait — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 02:47:35 -0400

If you’re building or renovating a your house, there are some things you can do to conserve water.

Install ultra low-flush toilets. This is more of a renovation tactic, since Federal law actually already requires that all currently manufactured residential toilets use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush. If you have an older toilet though, you could be wasting lots of water. Per flush, most toilets designed before 1994 waste about four to six gallons more water than the newer ultra low flush toilets.

Consider a composting toilet: Composting toilets can save even more water than a low-flow; cutting up to 50% of your water and cutting your water storage costs up to 60%. Also, a composting toilet is not the outhouse you might think – many are super nice, they aren’t too hard to manage, and it’s not as if you simply have a big hole in your bathroom floor. People are really misguided about composting toilets. We looked into them for the house we built two years ago, and our real estate person was dead set against it – based on “Poor resale value.” However, you can learn more and see for yourself that composting toilets are not something to freak out about.

Install some $5 faucet aerator: One little aerator can save an average family around 6,000 gallons of water per year – or more. A faucet aerator is a low-flow device that can be easily installed (or more attached) to the water faucets in your house. This tiny adjustment can reduce water flow up to 50%. This also helps to conserve energy. Depending on the model you need, an aerator can be super cheap; I’ve seen them for under $2 at Home Depot.

Collect your rainwater: Rain water can be used for a multitude of things – washing your car, watering your garden, and more. When you’re building your home, or making changes, look into how to build or buy a rain barrel, and how to get started with saving rain water.

[photo via stock.xchng]