Friday Funny: Number One Goes Green

Replacing water with slipperiness in an unexpected place can save energy.

1 minute read

March 31, 2006, 2:00 PM PST

"The architect Robert Fox, a partner at Cook + Fox Architects in New York, was talking about his favorite new urinals.

'The porcelain sides are extremely slippery, so when you urinate, the urine goes down the sides and down the hole,' he said. 'It is not sitting on a pool of water like a typical urinal. When you are peeing, the pee is going away immediately.'

The urinals he enjoys so much are a new kind of urinal, favored by 'green' builders, that use no water.

'There is blue liquid in the chamber underneath, and the blue liquid is lighter than urine,' he said. 'So the urine sinks and the blue liquid stays on top and forms a seal which keeps the odor in.'"

"Waterless urinals date to 1891, when a Swiss entrepreneur used sunflower oil instead of light blue liquid to make odorless outhouses. But they have experienced a rebirth now that the green building movement has taken a hold of our internal plumbing."

FULL STORY: Itâ€™s Urinetown 2006: Green Architects Use Heads of the Future

Monday, April 3, 2006 in The New York Observer

Environment Urban Development New York

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