MaP Testing Expands To List ‘PREMIUM’ Water-Efficient Products
Included are tank-type toilets, home water softeners, showerheads, urinals, home humidifiers, and on-demand hot water distribution systems. The PREMIUM label will distinguish those products that set themselves apart from other ‘green’ products by their level of efficiency and their exceptional performance.
The MaP PREMIUM label has already been assigned to 73 different residential toilet fixture models offered by 22 different brands, with more to be added in 2013. Each of these PREMIUM toilet fixtures qualified by flushing at 1.06 gallons (4.0 litres) or less, achieving a MaP score of at least 600 grams (21 ounces) of waste, and, very importantly, being independently certified to meet the U.S. EPA WaterSense® Program specification for tank-type toilets. MaP PREMIUM toilet fixtures are intended for residential use only.
In addition to toilet fixtures, the PREMIUM label designation will soon be applied to showerheads, home humidifiers, urinals, residential hot water demand systems and home water softeners. Specifications are under development for all of these categories.
MaP Testing was developed in 2003 with funding from 22 members of the U.S. and Canadian water utility industry as a response to many of the problems with older ‘low flow’ (1.6 gallon) toilets of the 1990s. That test, the Maximum Performance or MaP test, is a flush performance rating now used by manufacturers, retailers, designers, architects, government, and others to identify the highest-performing fixtures. Elements of MaP are incorporated into the U.S. EPA WaterSense® specification for tank-type toilets. Over 3,000 toilet models of both tank-type and flushometer valve/bowl combinations have been MaP tested since 2003. Test results are available for free download from the MaP website: www.map-testing.com.
MaP Testing and MaP PREMIUM are joint initiatives by Gauley Associates, Ltd., of Acton, Ontario, Canada, and Koeller and Company of Yorba Linda, California, USA. MaP Testing is dedicated to identifying the most efficient indoor water-using products that also meet highperformance thresholds. Product testing for MaP is performed by seven (7) qualified, independent laboratories situated in Asia and North America.