Environmentally friendly PVC alternative?

[JakeLeg]

designing an office building right now that will have many environmentally friendly aspects to it. boss asked me today if i knew of environmentally friendly alternative to PVC drain pipe.

did a project several years back where the client didn't want any PVC and agreed on the (major) upcharge for black iron. but iron isn't feasible here.

told him i'd ask around before spending a lot of time researching. any one got any ideas?

[rassd71]

I'm confused, what's not evironmentally friendly about PVC?


Oh, and I should also ask for what application? Here PVC is only used for irrigation and HVAC drains. Otherwise, the water supply is usually copper or pex and the waste is all ABS or cast iron. Black pipe is only used for gas, and even then it's become a LOT more common to use PE yellow plastic for gas.

[JakeLeg]

while i'm not a LEED certified engineer, i get the gist that pvc is a less desirable substance because it's very toxic to produce (solvents and gasses), it offgasses after manufacture, it doesn't offer the service life that other products like iron do, it is susceptible to UV light more than other substances affecting stability, and it's difficult to recycle.

after looking around a bit, it looks like iron is one of the only real alternatives. we've got many pro-eco-friendly things going on in the project at the moment, so while we don't NEED to get pvc out of the job, it'd be nice if possible.

[billy_goat_gruff]

JakeLeg, sometimes I wonder about this old world... Thanks for mentioning LEED certification. *I'll regret saying this, however... I needed a chuckle. *(any greens out there that want an explanation, just ask...)

Pipe - drain pipe specifically... Check the ASTM index book for drain pipe and you will have the various types, and the standards they should be built to.

From personal experience and various reading, you should come up with plastic, metal, and other types of pipe. PVC, fiberglass, HDPE should fit in the plastic arena. Ductile iron, brass, bronze, steel should fit into the metal area. One that would fit in the other is wooden pipe. Yeah, they used to build with it, think the Netherlands may still have a few feet of it in some of their historical sites. Cement or concrete pipe is another type.

Considering drains are for floaters, mop buckets with various chemicals, and anything else one wants to put down the sink then being green might mean not being so green. Ain't nothing green about letting crap run through a building due to a leak from bad material choices.

There are UV inhibitors built into certain PVC pipes. No you still don't want them exposed for a long period but... PVC is good stuff for waste lines assuming the support is there. Ductile can usually support itself if anchored.

Ras, black iron is gas pipe. Don't deal with it much, think it has a special coating tho. Ductile is what is usually used in the sanitary field when pressures get too high (water) or the ground has been saturated with a spill of something that will attack the plastic pipes (gasoline for instance.) If not mistaken, one can get ductile with a coating inside and/or outside to protect from "hot" soils, and from attack by the wastes going through. Sometimes even then the high dollar stainless has to be specified. Application dependent...

Hope that helps, JakeLeg, and sorry for coming across as a know-it-all arse. I don't, and would need lots more info to answer more specifically. Figure out what is going down it and what it will take to get that stuff to the place where it can be neutralized and you are being very green, again JMO.

Good luck with it. Go hit the books... *;)