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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