LCA results & interpretation Drake® II
Scope and summary
- Cradle to gate
- Cradle to gate with options
- Cradle to grave
Functional unit
One single flush toilet in an average residential environment without an electronic bidet seat. The expected service life (ESL) of a building is 75 years, and all use stage activity and impacts are accounted for in that full ESL period. The reference service life (RSL) of the toilet is 20 years, which is an industry-accepted average lifespan based on the economic lifespan of the product.
Maintenance
Regular cleaning is assumed to use 1.69 fl oz (50mL) of a 1% sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) solution twice per month for 75 years, which is the building estimated service life. The use of 50mL/clean over 24cleans/year for 75 years gives a total of 90L of solution. Using a density of 1.01kg/L for a 1% SLS solution, 90kg of solution will be needed over the course of 75 years. Therefore, 0.9kg of SLS plus 90kg of water were included in the model.
Repair and replacement
The trip lever handle, flapper seal, and fill valve seal are assumed to be replaced once during each 20-year RSL period as part of regular repairs. At the end of its RSL, the residential toilet is assumed to be replaced. Therefore, an additional 2.75 products are included as replacements, with all life cycle modules considered, over the building's ESL of 75 years.
Manufacturing data
Manufacturing data has been collected and compiled for TOTO Lakewood, Morrow, and Thailand. Data reporting period: 2023.
What’s causing the greatest impacts
All life cycle stages
The use stage [B1-B7] dominates the results for all impact categories. The operational water use and replacement modules are highly dominant in all categories because of the amount of water consumed during operation and the necessity to consider an additional 2.75 products as replacements. All life cycle modules are considered throughout the estimated service life (ESL) of the building, which is 75 years. The production stage [A1-A3] itself is slightly significant but does not dominate in any impact category. Additionally, the processes associated with dismantling the product and final waste treatment during the end-of-life stage do not have a significant impact.
Production stage [A1-A3]
The ceramic parts dominate all impact categories in the production stage except for non-carcinogenics and eutrophication. The zinc and stainless steel parts together with the corrugated board and turning brass process have major contributions to those impact categories. The injection molding process has a significant contribution to ozone depletion. The remaining parts and processes contribute between 2% and 11% of the overall impacts in the rest of the categories. The entire production stage itself accounts for less than 5% of the global warming potential impact category.
Construction stage [A4-A5]
Installation of the product dominates impacts in the construction stage. Transportation by truck for delivery to the installation site contributes the most, and this stage contributes less than 1% of the total global warming potential impacts throughout the product's life cycle.
Use stage [B1-B7]
Product replacements dominate impacts in the use stage. The use stage itself dominates all impact categories (>94%) due to the consideration of an additional 2.75 products as replacements.
End-of-life stage [C1-C4]
The transportation to landfill dominates impacts in the end-of-life stage. Transportation and the processes for dismantling the product contribute to a relatively low portion (<1%) of total results for all impact categories.
Operational water use
The amount of water used by the toilet depends on its flush rate. The 1G® toilet consumes 1 gallon per flush and is assumed to be used 13 times per day over 75 years, resulting in 355,875 gallons of water over its lifetime. An electricity factor of 0.000961 kWh per liter of water is used to represent energy for upstream municipal water collection, treatment, supply, and downstream management.
How we're making it greener
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
- Modular packing methods increase the fill rate of a trailer, cutting down on the number of trips needed
- 100% of post-industrial ceramic waste is recycled
LCA results
| Life cycle stage | Production | Construction | USE | End of Life |
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Information modules: |
(X) A1 Raw materials | (X) A4 Transportation/ Delivery | (X) B1 Use | (X) C1 Deconstruction/ Demolition |
| (X) A2 Transportation | (X) A5 Construction/ Installation | (X) B2 Maintenance | (X) C2 Transportation | |
| (X) A3 Manufacturing | (X) B3 Repair | (X) C3 Waste processing | ||
| (X) B4 Replacement | (X) C4 Disposal | |||
| (X) B5 Refurbishment | ||||
| (X) B6 Operational energy use | ||||
| (X) B7 Operational water use | ||||
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SM Single Score
Learn about SM Single Score results| Impacts per toilet | 8.92 mPts | 1.71 mPts | 380 mPts | 0.106 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 used during operation and the number of product replacements needed over the building's service life. | Transport to waste processing and disposal of material flows transported to a landfill. |
Drake® II 1G® - TRACI v2.1 results per functional unit
| Life cycle stage | Production | Construction | USE | End of Life |
Ecological damage
Human health damage
Additional environmental information
| Impact category | Unit | ||||
| Carcinogenics | CTUh Comparative Toxic Units of Human cancerous toxicity Carcinogens have the potential to form cancers in humans. |
1.67E-06 | 1.57E-07 | 1.02E-04 | 1.33E-08 |
| Non-carcinogenics | CTUh Comparative Toxic Units of Human non-cancerous toxicity Non-Carcinogens have the potential to causes non-cancerous adverse impacts to human health. |
2.02E-05 | 1.47E-06 | 5.22E-04 | 1.07E-07 |
| 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. |
7.42E+01 | 2.78E+01 | 2.07E+03 | 1.92E+00 |
| Fossil fuel depletion | MJ surplus Mega Joule, lower heating value Fossil fuel depletion is the surplus energy to extract minerals and fossil fuels. |
2.27E+02 | 2.04E+01 | 4.17E+03 | 2.29E+00 |
References
LCA Background Report
LCA background report of TOTO Faucets, Flush Valves, and Residential Toilets, 2024; SimaPro Analyst 9.5; ecoinvent and USLCI databases; TRACI 2.1.
ISO 14025, “Sustainability in buildings and civil engineering works -- Core rules for environmental product declarations of construction products and services”
ISO 21930:2017, "Sustainability in Building Construction — Environmental Declaration of Building Products" serves as the core PCR along with Sustainable Minds Part A.
SM Part A: LCA calculation rules and report requirements, version 2023
August, 2023. PCR review conducted by the Sustainable Minds TAB, [email protected].
SM Part B: Residential toilets, v3.0
March, 2024. PCR review conducted by Jack Geibig, Chair (Ecoform) [email protected]; Hugues Imbeault-Tétreault, ing., M.Sc.A. (Groupe AGÉCO); Rebe Feraldi, LCACP, CLAR (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory).
Download PDF SM Transparency Report/EPD
SM Transparency Reports (TR) are ISO 14025 Type III environmental declarations (EPD) that 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. Environmental declarations 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 as defined in ISO 14025 Section 6.7.2. ‘Requirements for Comparability’ are satisfied. In order to support comparative assertions, this EPD meets all comparability requirements stated in ISO 14025:2006. However, differences in certain assumptions, data quality, and variability between LCA data sets may still exist. Any EPD comparison must be carried out at the building level per ISO 21930 guidelines, use the same sub-category PCR where applicable, include all relevant information modules, be limited to EPDs applying a functional unit, and be based on equivalent scenarios with respect to the context of construction works. Some LCA impact categories and inventory items are still under development and can have high levels of uncertainty. To promote uniform guidance on the data collection, calculation, and reporting of results, the ACLCA methodology (ACLCA 2019) was used.
SM Transparency Report (EPD) 