Be free, waterfree These new flushless urinals are making waves in water conservation. Urinals. You might not instantaneously think of them during a heated discussion on water conservation, but maybe you should. Los Angeles-based Falcon Waterfree Technologies offers an eco-friendly urinal that is easy to install (less than an hour per unit), maintain, and clean. In fact, it’s almost always clean. “Counterintuitively, this technology is more hygienic,” says Jay Troger, Falcon’s president of the U.S. division. “There’s less moisture over the bowl, which is how bacteria are spread. And it’s a touchless system—no handle.” A damp rag or sponge is all that is needed to clean the urinal. Most important, this kind of technology is a huge step toward water preservation. These urinals replace about 40,000 gallons a year, and several hundred dollars a year in water bills to the client. “On average, you can save $100 to $400 a year,” Troger says. Maintenance and vandalism are also curbed, because the flush valve—the most repaired and vandalized item on a traditional urinal—has been eliminated. And the small inlet openings in the drains will prevent clogging. But how does the urinal stay sanitary and odor free? Well, the urinal is fitted with a cartridge containing a special biodegradable sealant. The cartridge does two things that make this urinal special: It allows urine to pass through the sealant liquid, while containing odor, and it filters sediment, allowing all the urine to pass down the drain. Each cartridge lasts 7,000 uses, or two to four months, in most cases. Falcon began its operation in the early 1990s in Germany—“the greenest country in the world,” according to Troger—but moved its operations to the West Coast. Since inception, the company has installed these urinals in 22 countries and in the restrooms of major government and corporate entities, including England’s Heathrow airport, the Japanese bullet train, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Rose Bowl. Keith Hacke, facilities technician at the Long Beach Aquarium in Long Beach, Calif, decided switching to the waterfree urinal was a natural step, as the facility promotes conservation and preservation as part of its business. “We decided that if you talk the talk, you should walk the walk,” he says. “We do a lot of things to conserve energy and water. And this was a great opportunity to continue that.” The aquarium has just recently installed the urinals, so it’s too early to tell how much money and water have been saved, but Hacke projects that the attraction will save a million gallons of water each year. For more information on how to get your waterfree urinal, visit www.falconwaterfree.com. Let’s Get Alternative Parks are catching on to a clean and efficient way to generate and save electricty. Finding ways to conserve and generate clean energy is hard enough in our own lives, but think about parks, malls, sports areas—venues designed to accommodate tens of thousands of guests at a time. The amount of electricity that’s being consistently used is staggering. Terry Kenney, CEO and founder of Alternative Energy Sources Technologies, Inc., had the same revelation. It’s about time these businesses adopted an environmentally friendly way of generating energy, he thought. And he did something about it. Behold the Dragon Power Station. This piece of revolutionary technology gives its users the control over where and when to use energy. The station, otherwise known as a “road unit,” is placed in the ground at exits or entrances, where customers’ cars will be driving over it. The electricity the park or venue uses is generated by cars driving over the device, thereby turning traffic patterns into energy, which can be stored for future use or sent directly to the power grid. But that’s not all. The electricity is stored according to a venue’s specific needs. For example, energy that was stored from cars on a Monday can be used later in the week. This brand-new product (debuted last November) comes with an optional security element as well. In addition to saving the environment, you could also be guarding your guests and staff against would-be terrorists and other perpetrators. The vehicle surveillance system takes a picture of every car’s undercarriage. Once the area is scanned by the road unit, the image is archived and labeled and immediately disseminated to multiple viewers, including security guards, and other staff. To include this feature into the units, AEST partnerned with Cupertino, Calif.-based Broadware Technologies, whose proprietary software can work with any park’s existing security software. Of course, the technology is advantageous in other ways. It eliminates the need for a large, unsightly power plant or other structures, it’s quickly installed (within weeks), it’s cost-effective, and, of course, it generates tons of energy. Universal Studios has already installed the technology in at least one of its locations, and there has been overwhelming interest and positive feedback from other sources, according to Kenney. “We’re very pleased with the opportunity to work with Universal and demonstrate this new clean, renewable energy technology,” says Kenney in a recent press release. “This is a significant milestone in the future of clean energy.” For more information on pricing and installation, please contact AEST, Inc., at 408/467-3833.