LCA results & interpretation Undercounter Lavatory
Scope and summary
- Cradle to gate
- Cradle to gate with options
- Cradle to grave
Functional unit
One commercial lavatory in an average commercial environment over the estimated service life of the building. This sink basin features a spacious basin with simple, oval, rimless design. 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 lavatory is 20 years, which is an industry-accepted average lifespan based on the economic lifespan of the product. Faucets are provided separately and were not included in this study.
Installation
After the lavatory is distributed to the site of installation, it is installed manually. Cardboard and paper packaging waste is assumed to be disposed according to the pathways described in EPA's Sustainable Materials Management Fact sheet, where 25.6% is landfilled, 6.2% is incinerated, and 68.2% is recycled.
Maintenance
Regular cleaning is assumed to use 10mL of a 1% sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) solution daily in a commercial setting for 75 years, which is the building estimated service life. The use of 10mL/clean over 260days/year for 75 years gives a total of 195L of solution. Using a density of 1.01kg/L for a 1% SLS solution, 195kg of solution will be needed over the course of 75 years. Therefore, 2kg of SLS plus 195kg of water were included in the model.
Replacement
At the end of its RSL, the lavatory 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.
What’s causing the greatest impacts
All life cycle stages
The use stage [B1-B7] dominates the results for all impact categories. The replacement module is highly dominant in all categories because of the necessity to consider an additional 2.75 products as replacements. The next highest contributor is the cleaning agents used during the maintenance phase. 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]
Ceramic parts dominate the material contribution in the product stage, except for ecotoxicity, non-carcinogenics and eutrophication. Those categories are more impacted by stainless steel, the extrusion and turning manufacturing process of steel, or transportation by truck. Stainless steel and truck transportation also have a relevant impact on all other categories, except for ozone depletion. Corrugated board has a significant contribution to the eutrophication category, while stainless steel has the greatest impact on the carcinogenics category. The injection molding process has a significant contribution to the ozone depletion impact category.
Construction stage [A4-A5]
Transportation by truck for delivery to the installation site dominates impacts in the construction stage. Installation of the product is the next highest contributor. This stage contributes less than 2% 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 (>84%) due to the consideration of an additional 2.75 products as replacements. The cleaning agents used to maintain cleanliness are also contributors in this stage.
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.
Manufacturing data
Manufacturing data has been collected and compiled for TOTO Mexico. Data reporting period: 2023.
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 lavatory | 2.00 mPts | 0.21 mPts | 13.7 mPts | 0.02 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 for cleaning 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. |
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. |
6.22E-07 | 3.08E-08 | 3.73E-06 | 2.04E-09 |
| 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. |
1.78E-06 | 2.93E-07 | 1.59E-05 | 1.68E-08 |
| 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. |
1.64E+01 | 5.45E+00 | 1.16E+02 | 2.86E-01 |
| Fossil fuel depletion | MJ surplus Mega Joule, lower heating value Fossil fuel depletion is the surplus energy to extract minerals and fossil fuels. |
3.60E+01 | 3.88E+00 | 2.93E+02 | 3.79E-01 |
References
LCA Background Report
LCA background report of TOTO Commercial Lavatories, 2024; SimaPro Analyst 9.6; 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: Commercial lavatories, v1.0
October, 2024. PCR review conducted by Thomas P. Gloria, Ph. D., Chair (Industrial Ecology Consultants) [email protected]; Jack Geibig (Ecoform) [email protected]; Rifat Karim (Independent Consultant) [email protected].
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) 