TOTO Announces The Plumbing Industry's First Products To Earn The International Living Future Institute's "Red List Free" Declare Labels

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Company Dramatically Raises the Bar for Health Material Evaluation and Product Transparency with 19 New Declare Labels and Eight New Sustainable Minds Material Health Overviews, Helping Building Industry Professionals Achieve the Highest Standards for Healthy, Environmentally-Responsible Designs

MORROW, Ga., Nov. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- TOTO, the largest plumbing manufacturer in the world with $5.1 billion in annual sales, announced today that its high-efficiency commercial wall-hung toilet, two ultra high-efficiency urinals, and wall-hung commercial lavatory have no Red List ingredients and are listed in the International Living Future Institute's (IFLI) Declare Products Database [2] as "Red List Free."

Declare Program Status
The IFLI's Declare Program, often compared to nutritional labeling on packaged food, has three Declaration Status options—"Declared," "Living Building Challenge Compliant," and "Red List Free." If the ILFI finds a product contains an ingredient from the Living Building Challenge's (LBC) Red List, that ingredient is listed in red on the label, and the product is listed in the Declare database as "Declared." If it ascertains that a the product contains a Red List ingredient with a LBC exception, the exception is noted on the Declare label, and the product is listed as "LBC Compliant." If a product has no Red List ingredients—like TOTO's high-efficiency wall-hung commercial toilet, ultra high-efficiency urinals, and wall-hung commercial lavatory—it is listed as "Red List Free."

"Transparency is the 'secret ingredient' in all TOTO products. It's the TOTO Way," said Bill Strang, President of Operations for the Americas. "The IFLI's Declare program offers an important opportunity for us to share our company's industry leadership in products that contribute to healthy, environmentally-responsible design."

With its new Declare labels' data as the foundation, TOTO has added eight new SM Material Health Overviews (MHO)-both stand alone and integrated in an existing award-winning TOTO Transparency Report. TOTO's new MHOs may be viewed on the Sustainable Minds' website in the TOTO Showroom [3].

In addition to its "Red List Free" products, TOTO also announces three new PVC-free high-efficiency toilets (HETs) are "LBC Compliant," five new HETs are "Declared," and a new commercial undercounter lavatory is "Declared."

In new categories to earn Declare labels, TOTO announces four high-efficiency and ultra high-efficiency EcoPower sensor flush valves for both toilets and urinals are "LBC Compliant." Its EcoPower high-efficiency sensor faucet is "Declared."

"TOTO is committed to making transparency reporting simpler, easy to understand, and useful to the build-design community," said Strang. "Together with our partner, Sustainable Minds, we have furthered our commitment to moving 'beyond compliance' by incorporating the material health information from our new Declare labels into the existing environmental impact data for our products."

Sustainable Minds Material Health Overviews
With its new Declare labels' data as the foundation, TOTO has added eight new SM Material Health Overviews (MHO)—both stand alone and integrated in an existing award-winning TOTO Transparency Report. Additional MHOs will be added on a rolling basis.

TOTO's MHOs are a strategic marketing and lead generation tool that informs safer and healthier product purchase decisions. By distilling the essential technical information from TOTO's disclosure documents, they make material health information understandable and meaningful, providing plain language interpretation and descriptions of how TOTO is improving the material health of its products.

TOTO's new MHOs may be viewed on the Sustainable Minds' website in the TOTO Showroom [3].

Healthy, ecologically sound products are highly prized by both design and construction professionals and consumers. However, identifying them is an often onerous burden. TOTO is dedicated to facilitating this process by providing deeper and deeper levels of transparency about its products' material heath and environmental impacts.

About TOTO:
TOTO USA is headquarters for the Americas Division of the TOTO Global Group, which was established in 1917 with the founding of TOTO, Ltd., in Kitakyushu, Japan. TOTO is the world's largest manufacturer of bathroom fixtures and fittings with $5.1 billion dollars in annual sales. For nearly 100 years, TOTO has been the recognized leader in performance innovation and design with products that enhance the luxury bathroom experience. Today, the company maintains 25,700 employees in 69 offices around the world and owns manufacturing facilities in Japan, Mexico, the USA, China and Europe with an affiliated network of more than 80 production facilities worldwide. With over 1,500 engineers on staff and three centers devoted to research and development, TOTO is dedicated to engineering products that respect the environment while meeting people's needs for comfort, beauty and performance. TOTO's corporate philosophy – People-First Innovation – is the guiding principle for all the company's processes, from engineering and design to manufacturing and sales. Consumers enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing they purchased a brand that innovates to improve people's quality of life. Winner of numerous domestic and international awards and recognitions, TOTO is the only plumbing manufacturer honored as Facebook [4] Water Efficiency Leader by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The company continues to raise industry standards and consumer expectations as to what is possible in the bathroom, as TOTO believes a high-quality bathroom is an experience and an everyday luxury people value and appreciate.

For more information, consumers may visit www.totousa.com [5] or call 1.888.295.8134, Option 5. Follow TOTO on Twitter (@TOTOUSA [6]) and become a TOTO fan on Facebook [4].

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