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LCA & material health results & interpretation Aquia® Dual-Max® Toilet MS654114MF & CST412MF

Scope and summary

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

Functional unit

One toilet in a U.S. household that functions for 10 years. The period of 10 years is modeled as the period of application based on the average economical lifespan for residential applications. The technical lifespan is longer. The economical lifespan of commercial applications can be longer or lower 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

Default use phase scenario

10 years of service in a U.S. household with 1.133 gallon/use and 5.1 flushes/day and 2.6 people resulting in 54,852 gallons

What’s causing the greatest impacts

All life cycle stages

The use stage and the production stage are equally 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 operation of the product (26-62%). The production stage itself is very relevant as it shows major contributions throughout. It has the most significant contributions to ozone depletion (emissions due to the natural gas, hard coal and crude oil exploration and transportation), fossil fuel depletion (mostly defined by the natural gas used at the kiln, the use of fossil fuel based thermal power plants and the production of polypropylene) and ecotoxicity (mainly caused by stainless steel parts’ production, electricity production and the disposal of slags). The contributions covered under the construction/installation stage are mostly associated with the product delivery to the market and the disposal of packaging materials, mainly corrugated cardboard. 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 as well as the processes for dismantling the product and final waste treatment during the end of life stage are slightly relevant in the carcinogenics, non-carcinogenics and ecotoxicity impact categories.

Production stage

The ceramic parts dominate the material contribution except for carcinogenics. The stainless steel parts also have major contributions to the carcinogenics impact category. Additionally, the corrugated boards have a significant contribution to eutrophication. The remaining parts and processes contribute between 7% and 16% of the overall impacts in the rest of the categories.

Sensitivity analysis

Deviations are throughout, mainly because Aquia CST412MF contains more ceramic (10-20% deviation) and thus also requires more packaging material than Aquia MS654114MF (10-20% deviation). Another reason is the difference in transportation of the product to the market, as Aquia CST412MF is mainly produced outside the US while Aquia MS654114MF is produced in the US. Both products use the same amount of water and so there is no deviation in the use stage.

Multi-product weighted average

Results represent the weighted average using production volumes for the products covered. Variations of specific products for differences of 10-20% against the average are indicated in purple ; differences greater than 20% are indicated in red. A difference greater than 10% is considered significant.

TOTO PeoplePlanetWater™ programs improving environmental performance

  • Dual-Max®, E-Max®, Tornado Flush™, 1G®, and EcoPower® reduce water consumption in the use phase
  • Energy efficiency programs optimize the firing process
  • 50% electricity from renewable energy
  • 100% of post-industrial ceramic waste is recycled

See how we make it greener

LCA results

Life cycle stage Production Construction Use End of Life Recovery

Information modules: Included | Stages D2 and D3 are being 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.


Operational energy use is irrelevant to the life cycle of the modeled product.


Reuse and energy recovery are not modeled for toilets and/or urinals.

A1 Raw Materials A4 Transporation/ Delivery B1 Use C1 Deconstruction/ Demolition D1 Recycling
A2 Transportation A5 Construction/ Installation B2 Maintenance C2 Transportation D2 Recovery  
A3 Manufacturing   B3 Repair C3 Waste processing D3 Reuse
    B4 Replacement C4 Disposal  
    B5 Refurbishment    
    B6 Operational energy use    
    B7 Operational water use    
Impacts per 10 years of service 12.60 mPts 1.54 mPts 14.44 mPts 0.17 mPts -0.81 mPts
Materials or processes contributing >20% to total impacts in each life cycle stage Ceramic parts production as well as well zinc and brass parts together with zinc turning process. 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

  • A variation of 10 to 20%
  • |
  • A variation greater than 20%
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.
9.77E-01 1.95E-01 1.25E+00 9.16E-03 -3.43E-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.
1.49E+02 3.68E+01 1.16E+02 2.44E+00 -5.18E+00
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.
5.67E-02 1.46E-02 1.06E-01 8.28E-04 -7.62E-03
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.
1.65E+02 1.77E+01 1.87E+02 4.20E+00 3.57E+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.
1.74E-05 1.18E-08 7.87E-06 2.01E-07 -3.19E-07

References

LCA Background Report
TOTO Sanitary Ceramic Products LCA Background Report (public version), TOTO 2014

SM Transparency Report Framework
Part A: LCA Calculation Rules and Background Report Requirements (Draft V2) (based on ISO14040-44, ISO14025 and EN15804)
Part B: Product Group Definition – Residential Toilets

"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." EPDs from different programs (using different PCR) may not be comparable. TRs/EPDs cannot be compared if they do not have the same functional unit, reference service life, and building service life.

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 1/2 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

Collaborative for High Performance Schools National Criteria

MW 7.1 – Environmental Product Declarations

  • Third-party certified type III EPD 2 points

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

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

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