Cool Change

August 23, 2008

It is a special mindset that causes change. A blend of vision, of seeing things differently, pushing boundaries, but at the same time, in the details, skeptical, tight-fisted, conservative.

The guy that pays the utility bills at SMU has the Blend. Michael Paul is SMU's Director of Energy Management & Engineering, and he is moving SMU to more sustainable, and cost effective, ways of doing business. In 2004, there was one waterless urinal serving as a test platform in the building where Mr. Paul offices. Today SMU is halfway through a campus-wide retrofit to waterless urinals, saving 10 million gallons and $50,000 a year (after a three year payback).

The benefit of the waterless urinal was always clear. But there were obstacles. Maintenance guys had trouble changing the cartridges that trap the urine odor. The cartridges, designed to last three months, expired religiously at the end of the third month, making an indelible impression on users. Funding. Building managers not warming to the risks that might come with this new-fangled plumbing fixture. The smell.

Normally, an experiment like this is written off and the organization moves on. But if you have the mindset, these are the expected hurdles on the way to the end vision. The urinal test went into a patient hold until new options surfaced: new manufacturers, sealing liquid put directly into the trap instead of in a cartridge, sealing liquid change-outs at $2 a pop instead of $25, an ongoing search for better cleaning techniques to address urine buildup in the trap. And then, this stunner: waterless urinals don't smell*.

Michael Paul can do the math, he can do the science, and he has the mindset to do them in the service of change. Look for big changes in the way SMU uses energy and smaller utility bills for SMU in the coming years.

Photo: Helene Desplechin on flickr

*SMU Plumbing and Preventative Maintenance Manager Matt Melsheimer thinks some of the odor associated with conventional urinals comes from the dark, moist cavity at the top of the urinal that sheets the flushing water down the urinal walls. That cavity doesn't exist in a waterless urinal. The enveloping shape of the Kohler waterless also does much to prevent stray splashing, and thus the urine funk you encounter in most men's rooms.

Comments

[Chris]

From a follow on conversation with Mike: "If I was going to point to the number one trait to making any waterless urinal project work, it would be having an attitude of "yes" (making things happen) verses "no" (looking for reasons not to do it)."

I'd say that's the number one trait to making any significant change happen.