Four Favorite Eco-Friendly Plumbing Innovations - 3 Mountains Plumbing

One of the benefits of being a blogger is hearing from insightful industry folks around the world.  Today's Bath Week Four Favorites guest post comes from 3 Mountains Plumbing, a fully-licensed and bonded plumbing contractor in Oregon.  I love their suggested products for greening your bathroom.  I know I'll be looking at these for my next home.


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When you talk about plumbing, words like “groundbreaking” and “cutting edge” probably don’t leap to mind. Yet modern plumbing is indeed innovative – manufacturers are constantly working to develop products that make home plumbing more efficient and earth friendly. 


Toilet/Sink Combos 


Your average toilet flushes pure water – i.e., drinking water – which 11 percent of the world’s population can’t access. Toilet/sink combos conserve by using the same water twice; first, the fresh water is sent through the faucet, and then it is stored to flush the toilet later. Unfortunately, the “ick factor,” as one Nashville manufacturer put it, has limited demand and hampered elegant design for this plumbing innovation. Caroma’s Profile Smart 305 Round Front Plus is the exception, saving both space and water in style. 

Perfect for a smaller powder room and smaller water bill
(Photo Courtesy:   Caroma )

Hybrid Hot Water Heaters 


Tankless water heaters are already a buzz item among green-minded designers, builders and consumers. But the next best thing – the hybrid water heater – is already here. Hybrid heaters are even more energy efficient, so they save the average family $320 per year, as opposed to $100 per year savings with a tankless water heater. Plus, you can get a $480 federal tax credit for a hybrid heater, such as GE’s new hybrid model. 

Another hybrid for your garage!
(Photo Courtesy:   GE )

Programmable Showers 


A 10-minute shower sends, on average, 25 gallons of water down the drain. One way for homeowners to reduce their water usage is to install a programmable shower faucet. These devices allow precise control over temperature as well as the amount of water used, offering a luxury spa-like experience without the wastefulness. If this sounds too good to be true, keep in mind that the StyleTherm from California Faucets has been found to comply with the California Green Building Standards Code, the nation’s first statewide green building code. 

Programmable shower delivers eco-luxury
(Photo Courtesy: California Faucets)

Flow-Optimized Faucet Aerators 


The key to an eco-friendly bathroom faucet is to decrease water waste without sacrificing pressure. The solution: a flow-optimized aerator, which injects air into the water stream. This helps maintain water pressure while cutting down the flow rate from 2.2 gallons per minute to 1.5. Moen bathroom faucets with flow-optimized aerators, for example, can cut the water that comes from your bathroom tap by 32 percent.

Save water stylishly with a flow-optimized faucet
(Photo Courtesy:   Moen )

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3 Mountains Plumbing  specializes in plumbing services and remodeling for both homes and businesses in Portland, Tigard, Lake Oswego, Wilsonville, Dundee and surrounding communities. 

Go-to Gold: Fixtures and Faucets - Part II

As I wrote in Go-to Gold's pilot post last month, all designers have their core brands - their go-to-first sources for consistently great products that fit their style and needs. That entry focused on faucets and fixtures from the large, well-known plumbing companies.

This one focuses on the smaller brands that you may not yet know, but that consistently produce good-looking, well-made and innovative products.


Affluence Seamless Sink

Inventor Dan Sullivan approached all the majors with his concept of a sink sans the ugly drain ring. Not a problem that needs solving, they replied. He disagreed, persisted and came up with a KBIS award winner. It's sleek, it's practical, it's as sexy as a sink can be. And it's got Sensible Style points out the window! (A Molten Gold pick last November.)

Can a sink be sexy? When it's this sleek and stylish, it can. This is Affluence Seamless Sink's SR3019-8

Disclaimer: Since I loved it so much, the company sent us one for our new IKDD working kitchen display.


California Faucets

This is the firm that brought high style to the lowly shower drain, first with its StyleDrain line, (Molten Gold pick), then with its CeraLine, (another Molten Gold pick). They also make some really nifty bathroom faucets.

Even without the wet woman, the StyleTherm by California Faucets looks great!

Danze

A bathroom project I designed employed Danze faucets and I really liked their quality and style. I continue to look to their brand when I'm seeking bathroom products with Sensible Style! In fact, Danze faucets showed up twice in Details #2 - The Faucet Edition.

Danze offers serious style with its new Sirius widespread lav faucet.

Graff

Their Luna wall-mount vessel faucet literally stopped me in my tracks at the 2008 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show. What incredible style! At the San Diego NKBA's recent Industry Showcase, they showed some of their newest products which were also really, really good-looking!

Sade Faucet by Graff practically sings with style!

Native Trails

Their copper sinks are traditional, transitional or contemporary, depending on the finish and style you choose. All are incredibly handsome and lend a luxurious, artisinal quality to your design. I also spotted them first at KBIS 2008.

Farmhouse Duet in Brushed Nickel by Native Trails brings quality and style to your kitchen projects

MOLTEN GOLD - Drainiacs II

One of the benefits of publishing your own blog is you get to write about whatever you want, even if you want to write about the same topic and company two months in a row. (Not too many print editors go for that approach, I've found.)

My last Molten Gold feature was on California Faucets' decorative StyleDrain series, which brought high style to the lowly shower drain.

This one is about California Faucets' brand new to the U.S. CeraLine drain. I love, love, love this sleek, sexy product! Apparently, others do, too, as it has won best product awards in Asia and Europe. Didn't know a shower drain could be integrated into the tile? Here's how it's done.




CeraLine comes in sizes that range from 32 to 52 inches, and in three trim styles, two metallic, one integrated with matching tile, as shown above. That's the one that knocked my socks off, stylistically-speaking.

The metallics offered are Stainless Steel finish, as well as five decorative PVD finishes that include Lifetime Satin Gold, Satin Brass, Mocha Bronze, Satin Rose Bronze, and the newly introduced Graphite. California Faucets claim that their PVD finishes are the hardest, most durable finish available and they include a lifetime guarantee against tarnishing to back up the claim.

Here's how the stainless style looks. Still sharp, but more visible.





California Faucets

California Faucets is best known for their customizable kitchen and bath taps. The company was founded in Huntington Beach, Ca. is 1988 and embodies California's everything goes spirit.


The Facts

Residential Warranty: 10 Year on parts. Lifetime warranty on PVD finishes.

Pricing: MSRPs start at $859.

Website: http://www.calfaucets.com/

MOLTEN GOLD - Drainiacs

Chances are, you never think about your shower drain until it gets clogged. It's just, well, there. Not anymore...

California Faucets has brought high style to the lowly drain, and I'm absolutely loving it! In fact, I can't wait to remodel my next bathroom so I can include one of these beauties below my feet.

The StyleDrain series offers six distinct styles, with the four newest 2010 releases shown below. They're all available in 30 popular faucet and accessory finishes, so you can make it work with the faucets you already own. Or you can select one of CF's many styles. What I like about the StyleDrain series is that you have your choice of contemporary or traditional styling, so you can make it work in any shower.

Deco Line StyleDrain

Wave StyleDrain

Mission StyleDrain

Deco Swirl StyleDrain

California Faucets

California Faucets is best known for its designer-friendly customizable bath taps. Choose a handle from this group, a spout from that one, a finish from a long list of available options. You're basically creating your own look, so that no one else in the neighborhood will have exactly the same one. The company was founded in Huntington Beach, Ca. is 1988 and embodies California's everything goes spirit. The StyleDrain concept takes it to the next level with a whole new category of designer upgrades.


The Facts

Residential Warranty: 10 Years on Drain Throat and Rough Drain; no warranty on finish

Pricing: MSRPs start at $349, up to $460

Website: http://www.calfaucets.com/