We regularly talk to people who have considered waterless urinals but decided against installing them because they believe them to be hard to maintain and clean, or likely to smell, or expensive to install or not cost effective. In this blog post I’m going to bust some of these most common myths about waterless urinals. […]
This year’s World FM Day has the theme of leading the sustainable future. Now more than ever facilities managers are expected to be leading the conversation about the environmental impact of the buildings that they manage, and organisations need to be able to demonstrate that they take that environmental impact seriously. Facilities managers need to […]
Water neutrality means ensuring that any new development does not add to the overall level of water demand in a particular area. A water neutral development will have a net zero impact on mains water supply. The ultimate objective of water neutrality is to minimise a development’s impact on the existing water resources, environment and […]
It’s Earth Day on 22 April 2022 and the theme this year is Invest in our Planet. One important way to invest in our planet is to use less water. Water is a finite resource and lack of water is a significant problem in many different parts of the world. The amount of water you […]
Aquality offers rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling and stormwater management using realtime control. Lutz Johnen is the MD of Aquality and in this interview talks about what the organisation does and how the push towards water neutrality is likely to affect developers. Ecoprod: Can you start by telling us something about your background and Aquality please? […]
According for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US, the average shower lasts 8 minutes. Assuming a typical flow rate of around 10 litres per minute that is an average water usage of more than 80 litres per shower. Currently the average person uses 140 litres of water per day. This needs […]
Research suggests that around 2.5 million tampons and 1.4 million sanitary pads are flushed down toilets in the UK every day. Such products are made of highly absorbent materials. When flushed, they become saturated and swollen and, as any plumber will tell you, are a significant cause of blockages in pipes, sewers and drains. If […]
Good visitor washroom experience is more important than ever these days. There’s pressure on all organisations to cut their water use, and washrooms are typically one of the most wasteful areas of water use in a building. Excessive water use in washrooms also has a knock on effect on an organisation’s carbon footprint. Additionally, the […]
There’s been a lot of emphasis on the need to improve hand hygiene during the course of the pandemic. The science is clear – frequent hand washing reduces the risk of a variety of different illnesses. However, research suggests that people are now washing their hands less frequently than they were at the start of […]
In last month’s blog I wrote about how people often mistakenly assume that waterless urinals smell. Often that’s because they’ve been in a washroom that includes waterless urinals and have noticed an odour. As I explained in my last post, if waterless urinals are maintained correctly then we guarantee that they won’t smell. Indeed, many […]
Lord Redesdale was the Energy Spokesman for the Liberal Democrats for the House of Lords 2000-2008 during which time he introduced many members’ bills in the area of energy and conservation.
Lord Redesdale is the CEO of the Energy Managers Association (EMA). The EMA aims to promote the development of energy management and the career structure of Energy Managers in the British economy.
In 2016, Lord Redesdale co-founded The Water Retail Company (TWRC) with Professor Jacob Tompkins. TWRC is a licensed retailer with a focus on water efficiency and reduction strategy for its customers.
Jacob is the the co-founder and CTO of The Water Retail Company. Jacob trained as a civil engineer with degrees from UCL and Imperial. He worked as an academic, was water lead for the National Farmers’ Union and freshwater advisor at Water UK. He set up and ran Waterwise the water efficiency NGO for over 10 years. He has developed EU water legislation and recently chaired a UK Govt task force on resilience in the water sector.
He is currently writing two books for Wiley on water efficiency and water and behaviour. He is a visiting Prof at Exeter University and has an OBE for services to water efficiency.
Harvey brings over ten years of experience designing, leading, and evaluating initiatives that engage individuals, households, and employees in sustainable living, and that motivate pro-environmental change. Harvey works with and advises public, private and civic sector organisations in the UK and U.S. and abroad, focusing in particular on his passion –sustainable water use and efficiency.
Harvey believes in the dual approach of “behaviour change” harnessed with innovative technology to achieve the goals of meeting water and carbon footprint reduction targets. The FlowlessTM by WINT solution, epitomises Harvey’s philosophy by allowing customers to monitor their water use in real time, empowering them to save water by introducing efficiencies and most importantly preventing and detecting escape of water and leaks thereby providing water security to the client’s facility/workplace
Marcel Näpflin is a long-standing member of the management team of URIMAT Schweiz AG, a leading manufacturer of environmentally friendly products in the sanitary industry. As Director for Marketing & Sales and Member of the Executive Board, Marcel has been responsible for the international marketing and sales strategy and the worldwide expansion of URIMAT. Under his leadership URIMAT developed numerous worldwide patented product innovations which save water, improve hygiene and reduce carbon footprint in restrooms.
In his role as Business Development Manager Marcel was responsible for the development and launch of URIMAT-CONNECT, a cloud-based digital advertising system built into multi-media waterless urinals which dynamically deliver real time advertising messages via the internet. Marcel is a graduate business economist and has commercial diploma in banking. After he started his professional career in banking he worked in various management positions in the Sporting Goods Industry.
Marcus Rose is Managing Director at Ecoprod and URIMAT UK. He is a fully qualified mechanical engineer by training & background, with many years’ experience in the construction industry especially related to mechanical, sanitary and washroom applications.
For the last 8 years Robert Summer – Head of International Sales and Marketing – has developed structured distribution network worldwide for CONTI+ brand. The products offer great benefit for washrooms and shower rooms for public, semi-public and health sector. Today, sustainability, hygiene and smartness are key to CONTI+ solutions. Robert lives the brand and its USPs and loves to support and motivate his team on a daily basis.
David Houslander is Business Development Manager at Liquidline, the UK’s leading coffee, water and juice hydration provider for offices, car showrooms, gyms and more. He believes that business today is not just about being a profitable silo in itself, but also about how we contribute to society – and this is one of his passions, to work with industry, find new solutions that support productivity and employee happiness and welfare within the workplace. Business is a tough environment today and David believes in working together to bring better support and meaningful solutions to Liquidline’s customers.
Liquidline today believes fundamentally that coffee and hydration play a really important role today within all workplaces, also in schools, further education and other organisations. It does not embark on selling a metal box, but through meaningful dialogue it understands its customer ‘needs’ and then offer up appropriate solutions to meet those identified needs and this naturally involves specialist and innovative equipment. This approach is in tandem with today’s high profile requirement for services to compliment the green credentials such as its ECO roast bean that assists business today aspire at great effort to attain green credentials, be it control of plastics, recycling, water usage and carbon footprint count.
Martin Roche is Managing Director of Orel e3, a subsidiary of the global Orel Corporation. In the UK, Orel is a multi award winning provider of energy saving solutions with more than £9 million and substantial carbon savings to date for our customers.
Martin has developed two brand offerings for the UK: Lights4Sport and Go2Green. Lights4Sport provides class leading LED indoor and external sports lighting solutions from grass roots up to Football league standards with modern controls. Go2Green integrates heat pumps, solar PV, battery storage, insulation, infrared heating, LED lighting and Ecoprod water saving products and technologies to provide turnkey solutions to Save Cash & Carbon.
Anthony is Head of Marketing and Communications at Grundon Waste Management, the largest family-owned supplier of integrated waste management and environmental services in the UK.
As part of Grundon’s leadership team, Anthony develops marketing and communication strategies to promote the Grundon brand, as well as engaging with customers and their employees to help them meet their sustainability goals, encourage recycling and drive waste management best practice.
A particularly enjoyable part of his job is engaging with the wider community. These include community interest groups and wildlife trusts supported by Grundon through the Government’s Landfill Communities Fund grants.
Dane Vince is the General Manager at the world’s greenest football club, Forest Green Rovers, where he manages and coordinates a variety of key functions, including operations, commercial, grounds and stadium management.
He has worked in a range of industries, including small specialist manufacturing, events sales and management, and most recently, the sporting industry, building up a diverse set of skills and experience along the way.
The management of a football stadium is by its very nature complex and requires a wide range of skills; with the complexities of league and cup games, working alongside key departments like the 1st team, keeping within budget and meeting the needs of key stakeholders.
The Planet Mark is a sustainability certification which recognises continuous improvement in organisations, encourages practical action, and builds an empowered community of like-minded individuals.
Jonathan joined The Planet Mark because he believes in the importance of effective measurement, engagement and communication in sustainability. He helps organisations build positive brands and make progress on their sustainability journeys as society transitions to a more sustainable way of living.
Jonathan has an academic grounding in sustainable business practices having completed a Masters in Sustainability: Business, Environment & Corporate Responsibility. Since graduating, Jonathan has lead a project for the UN Environment Program in the Philippines as well as driving sustainability initiatives in a range of SMEs and larger organisations.
