A Bridge to Water Savings Bridge House - Los Angeles, California

Dan Brunn, AIA, Principal of Dan Brunn Architecture, had to meet the mandatory water efficiency requirements of the California Green Code in his own minimalist-design home. He chose Geberit in-wall toilet systems for their water-saving flush volume and space-saving design.

The Challenge

Dan Brunn of Dan Brunn Architecture brought a new kind of ecological challenge to Hancock Park, a historic residential neighborhood in Los Angeles. His 4,500-square-foot home, “Bridge House”, stretches 200 feet across a 15,000-square-foot lot, straddling a stream that gives the home its name. The home’s design exemplifies Brunn’s signature minimalist aesthetic: a provocative spatial choreography that harmonizes light and volume.

“We chose building materials, finishes and systems that have, for example, advanced ecological properties, a technically advanced building system that creates thermal resistance, an integrated shell design that offers extreme energy efficiency, recyclable steel, low-E glass, photovoltaic cells, and a BONE Structure steel building system that is so precise there is no waste left on the site.

“When it came to choosing toilets, which account for one of the highest usages of water, we had to go with the most water-efficient system for our purposes and to meet CALGreen,” says Brunn. CALGreen®, the California Green Code, was California’s first green building code and the nation’s first state-mandated green building code for new residential projects as well as additions or alterations. The code specifies maximum flow rates for all plumbing fixtures, including 1.28 GPF water closets.

“Building construction technology is so far behind and we really haven’t progressed,” says Brunn, “so we are excited by maximum water savings and minimal construction waste that meet CALGreen codes.”