Lifestyle Working continues to deliver water savings nearly 20 years on
Project: Lifestyle Working at 117 Old Pittwater Road, Brookvale
Developer/Manager: Stable Properties P/L
Product: 20 × uridan admiral waterless urinals
Completed: 2007
Challenging convention through sustainable design
Stable’s vision is to challenge convention and create vibrant, environmentally sustainable developments. Its approach is to deliver sustainable workplaces and residences adopting passive and active design – including the adoption of leading technologies that reduce water and energy consumption, while creating healthier environments for the people who use them.
Lifestyle Working at 117 Old Pittwater Road, Brookvale is a strong example of this philosophy in practice.
Completed in 2007, the commercial development incorporated 20 uridan waterless urinals from the outset. Almost 20 years later, those same urinals remain in service — even following recent upgrades and renovations to the building.
This is a simple but powerful example of sustainable design delivering benefits well beyond the initial construction of a building.
Saving water year after year
Unlike conventional flushing urinals, uridan waterless urinals require no water at all. By eliminating the water used for flushing, the 20 uridan Admirals have continued to deliver significant water savings throughout the life of the building. Coupled with on-site water harvesting, creating reduced-reliance toilet flushing, water savings are paramount across the building.
Based alone on an estimated saving of approximately 60,000 litres per urinal per year, the installation is saving approximately 1.2 megalitres of water every year. Water saved across the building further exceeds this forecast.
Over an almost 20-year period, this represents an estimated 24 megalitres of water saved. The financial benefit is also significant, with estimated combined water and wastewater savings of approximately $100,000 over the life of the installation.
These ongoing savings demonstrate that sustainable building decisions can continue to deliver measurable environmental and financial benefits long after a development has been completed.
Sustainability that stands the test of time
The building has achieved a 5.5 Star NABERS Energy rating and a 6 Star NABERS Water rating, reflecting the strong sustainability performance embedded within the development.
The continued use of the original uridan urinals complements these outcomes by avoiding the need to use valuable drinking-quality water simply to flush sanitary fixtures.
But there is another important sustainability story at Lifestyle Working Brookvale — Reuse.
When a commercial building undergoes refurbishment, there can be a tendency to replace existing fixtures simply because they are part of an older installation. At Lifestyle Working, the decision to retain the original uridan urinals demonstrates a different approach:
If a product is still performing effectively, why replace it?
Keeping products in use and out of landfill
Sustainability isn’t only about reducing what we consume. It is also about making better use of the resources and products we already have.
By retaining the original uridan urinals through the recent refurbishment, Lifestyle Working Brookvale has avoided the unnecessary disposal and replacement of 20 functioning sanitary fixtures. This supports the principles of the circular economy – extending product life, reducing waste and making the most of the resources already invested in a building.
Keeping the uridan urinals in service means they can continue to deliver water savings while also avoiding the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing, transporting and disposing of replacement products.
It is a practical example of how reuse can be just as important as new sustainable technology.
A partnership built on long-term sustainability
Uridan Australia is proud to support developments where sustainability is considered over the entire lifestyle of a building and its products.
The decision to retain the original uridan installation at Lifestyle Working Brookvale demonstrates that sustainable design does not have to mean constantly replacing products with something new.
Sometimes, the most sustainable decision is to keep a well-designed product in service and allow it to continue doing its job.
Nearly 20 years after installation, the 20 uridan Admirals at Lifestyle Working continue to save approximately 1.2 megalitres of water every year.
We are excited to be working with a team that has embedded a genuine culture of reuse, resource efficiency and long-term sustainability into its refurbishment approach.
By allowing the original uridan products to remain useful throughout their lifecycle, Lifestyle Working is not only continuing the building’s impressive water-saving outcomes — it is also helping to reduce waste, conserve natural resources and minimise the building’s overall environmental impact.
Sometimes the most sustainable product is the one you already have.