Case Study: Water-Efficient Fixtures Reduce
Water Consumption
The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board headquarters in Chicago
reduced potable water use nearly 18 percent in one year by
replacing 31 of the 91 toilets in the building with water-efficient
units.
Until recently, RRB's building had toilets that used three gallons of
water per flush. The agency needed to upgrade its fixtures to fulfill
Executive Order 13514 for Federal Leadership in Environmental,
Energy, and Economic Performance, which mandates that federal
agencies reduce potable water use two percent annually through
2020. Using this mandate as a goal, as well as the results of a
comprehensive water and energy analysis completed in 2010,
RRB's facilities and acquisitions teams worked together on a
focused plan that detailed the requirement for specific makes and
models of toilets.
A challenge for RRB was
finding funds to replace
the toilets. It did so by
diverting discretionary
funds that might have
otherwise been used for
maintenance activities
such as repainting or
replacing carpeting.
The agency initially
purchased 31 auto-flush
toilets. The fixtures,
which use 1.28 gallons
per flush, were installed
one floor at a time and
typically after hours to
minimize the
disturbance to building
operations.
The Railroad Retirement Board is in the Lipinski Fed-
eral Building in Chicago.
Key Topics
• Water conservation.
• Plumbing fixture retrofits.
• Communicating with
employees.
Results
• 18 percent reduction in
water used.
Facility at a Glance
• Housed in a 12-story building
located on a city block in
downtown Chicago.
• Primary federal tenant in a GSA
owned building maintained by
RRB, with businesses leasing
space on the first floor.
• Small, independent agency,
headquartered in Chicago with
a staff of 940.
• Participant since 2011 in the
FGC water and electronics
categories.
• Recipient of two 2012 EPA
Region 5 FGC Awards: Water
and Electronics.
Sustainable Materials Management
Federal Green Challenge
CHANGING HOW WE THINK ABOUT OUR RESOURCES FOR A BETTER TOMORROW
United States
EnvlronmBntsI Protection
Agency
www.epa.gov/smm
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Water Use Reduced
RRB plans to continue replacing the remaining
toilets as funding becomes available, and take the
extra step of replacing the existing 1.5-gallon-per-
flush urinals with the more efficient 0.5-gallon-per-
flush equipment. RRB is able to track water use by
reviewing water bills, which document water meter
readings on each of the building's 12 floors.
Another challenge was calibrating the new auto-
flush devices. The agency found that it took some
time to properly calibrate them and for employees
to get accustomed to them, but the facilities staff
was active in communicating with employees until
the new devices were fully integrated into the
building. Calibrating the auto-flush devices was
important to ensure no unnecessary flushes which
would negate the value of the reduced gallon per
flush equipment.
Railroad Retirement Board recently installed
water-efficient toilets in its headquarters office
building.
About the Federal Green Challenge
The Federal Green Challenge, part of EPA's Sustainable Materials
Management Program, is designed to challenge federal agencies
throughout the country to lead by example in reducing the federal
government's environmental impact. It helps agencies meet obligations
under Executive Orders 13514 and 13423.
In 2012, nearly 300 federal agencies, representing more than 500,000
employees participated in the Federal Green Challenge. Their combined
efforts resulted in an estimated cost savings of more than $31 million to
U.S. taxpayers.
For More
Information
RRB contact:
Sally Mui
312-751-4711
sally.mui@rrb.gov
Federal Green Challenge:
http://epa.gov/fgc
Region 5, Land and Chemicals Division, Materials Management Branch
EPA-905-F-14-005
February 2014
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