Great Idea! A Dental Union ....
- From: Joel344 <joeleichen@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2006 12:12:20 GMT
We could pass a rule that no tooth can be
extracted without installing under the gum
a special titanium implant just in case someone
needs to place a crown later on .......
Joel
Posted on Wed, Apr. 05, 2006
Phila. no-flush standoff unclogged, with a catchA deal aids Comcast
Center's bid to be the tallest green building. But plumbers will
install unnecessary pipes.
By Inga Saffron
Inquirer Architecture Critic
A waterless-urinals agreement is in the can, and that means that the
Comcast Center will be able to install the environmentally friendly
basins in its new headquarters, a spokesman for Mayor Street announced
last night.
Street brokered the complex deal between the developer, Liberty
Property Trust, and Plumbers Union Local 690, with support from State
Sen. Vincent J. Fumo after the potty standoff was made public in The
Inquirer and became a cause celebre for the city's environmental
groups.
The agreement clears the way for Liberty to install 116 no-flush
urinals in the men's rooms at the 58-story Comcast Center, and
increases the chances that the 975-foot skyscraper will earn the title
of America's tallest green building.
Liberty, however, was forced to accept a long list of conditions to
open the way for the green devices. Most significantly, it agreed to
install standard water lines with the urinals, although they are
unnecessary and will not be connected. The plumbers contend this is a
backup measure, in case the urinals don't work.
While Liberty and the union have worked out the deal, it must still be
approved in a meeting today by the Plumbing Advisory Board, an obscure
but powerful body that reviews all plumbing-related changes to the
city's building code. Liberty would receive a one-time-only variance.
Made up entirely of plumbers and plumbing contractors, the advisory
board had blocked the introduction of the increasingly popular,
no-flush basins, which require less work to install. But after Street
and Fumo intervened, the board agreed to permit Liberty to use the
urinals on a trial basis, said Robert D. Solvibile Sr., who runs the
Department of Licenses and Inspections. He said he expected unanimous
approval when the board considers the variance today.
Despite the restrictions imposed by the plumbers, Liberty vice
president John Gattuso hailed the agreement as an advance for the green
building movement. "We believe this ensures that Comcast Center will
take its place as one of the preeminent high-rise buildings in the
world," he said in a statement issued by Liberty.
But this hardly guarantees that new urinals will be flushless in
Philadelphia. Solvibile said the plumbers union was allowing only an
exemption for Liberty, and only because it was installing the backup
water lines. The developer also agreed to a strict maintenance program
that involves scrubbing the urinals daily, changing their chemical
cartridges regularly, and submitting to twice-yearly inspections.
A permanent code change is a long way off. "This is going to take years
to evaluate," said Solvibile.
That means that other developers might also have to raise a stink if
they wanted to install water-saving urinals.
During discussions between Liberty and the union, Solvibile said, he
became a convert to the technology. At the same time, he said, "there
are lot of places I would never allow it: bars, restaurants, schools."
The Comcast tower, designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, includes a
variety of energy- and water-saving technologies that could help it win
a coveted certificate from the U.S. Green Building Council. No tower
its size has achieved that distinction, although the 945-foot Bank of
America Tower in New York is also going for the green.
Liberty estimates that the urinals will conserve about a million
gallons of water a year and save the company about $10,000 in
construction costs. Liberty would have saved even more if not for the
backup lines.
But saving money isn't the issue, Gattuso said.
Not getting stuck behind New York on the toilets is.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact architecture critic Inga Saffron at isaffron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx or
215-854-2213.
M O R E N E W S F R O M
â?¢ Liberty Property Trust
â?¢ Real Estate
â?¢ Discuss Real Estate
--
Joel344
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