John Lansing
@pipedreaming.bsky.social
Plumbing, building codes, engineering design guides, water and nutrient cycle, architecture, embodied carbon, development, cities, and the international variations of them all
Coal Harbor, the northern extension of the Vancouver’s West End, continues the pattern of dense residential blocks and is home to the Vancouver Christmas Market.
December 25, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Coal Harbor, the northern extension of the Vancouver’s West End, continues the pattern of dense residential blocks and is home to the Vancouver Christmas Market.
2 stacks can be used here for this entire 1240 sf dwelling unit, which is next level efficiency. Since this is in Switzerland, the single stack (Hauptentlüftung) will be used here as well - no vent piping except at the top floor!
December 24, 2025 at 8:19 AM
2 stacks can be used here for this entire 1240 sf dwelling unit, which is next level efficiency. Since this is in Switzerland, the single stack (Hauptentlüftung) will be used here as well - no vent piping except at the top floor!
You may laugh, but the ‘top 10k most blocked accounts’ list in Appendix B is very useful.
December 23, 2025 at 3:07 AM
You may laugh, but the ‘top 10k most blocked accounts’ list in Appendix B is very useful.
Cat with the tenant water meters in Shenzhen
December 22, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Cat with the tenant water meters in Shenzhen
Sewer NIMBYs persisted in the US, UK, France, Germany and other industrializing countries into the late 19th century because people were afraid that they spread disease. Cesspools were the alternative for water-based sanitation and they alone made the best case for doing literally anything else.
![Text from the Health of London Association, Report of the Committee to the Members of the Association, and the Public, on Sanitary Improvements (1847)
CESSPOOLS AND PRIVIES.
[15.] Are there any cesspools and privies in the poorer neighborhoods full, and suffered to overflow?
Ninety-two per cent. of the replies state that the cesspools and privies in the poorer neigbourhoods are generally full and suffered to overflow. Some of the respondents supply us with instances, and refer to Johnson's-place, Burying-Ground-passage, Gees-court, Gray's-buildings, Orchard-place, and other places too numerous to mention. They are to be seen in the Farringdon district, and out of Bishopsgate-street, in the south-eastern extremity of St. Marylebone, and adjacent part of St. Pancras and St. Giles's, and even on the Duke of Bedford's estate, where attempts have been made in vain to remove them. Very disgusting scenes are stated as being seen in small streets in Lisson-grove, the respondent refers to those districts known to the police as the haunts of the lowest char-acters. One reason why they are so generally full is, that all sorts of slops and decomposing matters are thrown into them.
Not many months since the landlady of some small houses in Armstrong's-buildings fell into an open privy and was suffocated. It has since had a top put to it; before that event it only had a rail.
In certain localities it is stated that after rains the contents are washed into
the houses, and the yards are constantly covered with soil.
In some cases the night soil has been seen running down / the walls of the rooms in which the family lived, and even in respectable houses the soil has been seen oozing through the walls. In fact the abomination of open privies is universal over all the poorer, and a very great part of the middle-class districts of London. Cesspools are attached to the great majority of the middle-class houses,](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:zrfppf44vjnvtplygmvbk5we/bafkreiggpfcvjrvo4jhhcko3d4bk4xhkqrh3bp2acgimp7kt26zrii6oy4@jpeg)
December 21, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Sewer NIMBYs persisted in the US, UK, France, Germany and other industrializing countries into the late 19th century because people were afraid that they spread disease. Cesspools were the alternative for water-based sanitation and they alone made the best case for doing literally anything else.
This was my childhood Wikipedia rabbit-hole.
December 21, 2025 at 7:40 PM
This was my childhood Wikipedia rabbit-hole.
Reposted by John Lansing
the open building concept takes this a step further - pushing the plumbing infrastructure also into the installation/insulation layer. this can be achieved through a variety of means to accommodate - including a floating floor. this means no plumbing drops into apartment/condo below
May 22, 2025 at 6:20 PM
the open building concept takes this a step further - pushing the plumbing infrastructure also into the installation/insulation layer. this can be achieved through a variety of means to accommodate - including a floating floor. this means no plumbing drops into apartment/condo below
Pipe penetrations through a mass timber slab.
December 21, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Pipe penetrations through a mass timber slab.
Holiday reading material: Two more volumes of Sanitary Reform in Victorian Britain and Katharina Borsi’s new book on the Berlin tenement boom of the late 19th/early 20th century.
December 21, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Holiday reading material: Two more volumes of Sanitary Reform in Victorian Britain and Katharina Borsi’s new book on the Berlin tenement boom of the late 19th/early 20th century.
This is such a problem in Europe that special valves are sometimes used for the sanitary drain where it connects to the sewer to prevent rats from entering.
December 20, 2025 at 5:35 AM
This is such a problem in Europe that special valves are sometimes used for the sanitary drain where it connects to the sewer to prevent rats from entering.
This is also an all-electric building. You can see the CO2 heat pump water heaters on the roof in this photo, which were prefabricated with the tanks and dropped into place. For every kW of electricity, 3 kW of heat is produced.
the tallest mass timber building in oregon is holst's julia west house, built by walsh.
it sits on a 5,000 sf parcel.
no, that's not missing a zero.
archello.com/project/juli...
it sits on a 5,000 sf parcel.
no, that's not missing a zero.
archello.com/project/juli...
Julia West House | Holst Architecture | Archello
Julia West House is a twelve-storey mass-timber residential building in Downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Developed by Community Development Partners...
archello.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:38 PM
This is also an all-electric building. You can see the CO2 heat pump water heaters on the roof in this photo, which were prefabricated with the tanks and dropped into place. For every kW of electricity, 3 kW of heat is produced.
I received approval to eliminate the vents for the floor drains connecting into the sanitary stacks (a requirement in the plumbing code) on this project and the cost estimates showed eliminating vents for that one fixture alone saved tens of thousands of dollars.
the tallest mass timber building in oregon is holst's julia west house, built by walsh.
it sits on a 5,000 sf parcel.
no, that's not missing a zero.
archello.com/project/juli...
it sits on a 5,000 sf parcel.
no, that's not missing a zero.
archello.com/project/juli...
Julia West House | Holst Architecture | Archello
Julia West House is a twelve-storey mass-timber residential building in Downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Developed by Community Development Partners...
archello.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:28 PM
I received approval to eliminate the vents for the floor drains connecting into the sanitary stacks (a requirement in the plumbing code) on this project and the cost estimates showed eliminating vents for that one fixture alone saved tens of thousands of dollars.
"any slight rearrangement of plumbing...will not come too late to help the sick man [POTUS] and his watchers. It is almost impossible, however, that the White House should ever become a fit place of habitation."
December 18, 2025 at 8:32 PM
"any slight rearrangement of plumbing...will not come too late to help the sick man [POTUS] and his watchers. It is almost impossible, however, that the White House should ever become a fit place of habitation."
Reposted by John Lansing
Excited to add @sightline.org to this coalition letter declaring it "unacceptable that it costs up to five times more in the United States than in Europe to build and maintain an elevator" & advancing specific solutions.
Your org should probably join too! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Your org should probably join too! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
December 18, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Excited to add @sightline.org to this coalition letter declaring it "unacceptable that it costs up to five times more in the United States than in Europe to build and maintain an elevator" & advancing specific solutions.
Your org should probably join too! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Your org should probably join too! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
The Portland row-houses are a good example of what major gains in zoning reform produce without building code reform. It’s simultaneously a win for affordable urban housing and an indictment of our ability to produce multifamily housing comparable in quality and features to more urban countries.
December 18, 2025 at 5:50 AM
The Portland row-houses are a good example of what major gains in zoning reform produce without building code reform. It’s simultaneously a win for affordable urban housing and an indictment of our ability to produce multifamily housing comparable in quality and features to more urban countries.
For context, one of the major plumbing code issues that needed to get resolved for the NYC modification was the local requirement for a massive 4 inch vent for the sanitary drainage piping through the roof. This requirement was introduced in 1881 to prevent snow from blocking the opening.
December 17, 2025 at 9:39 PM
For context, one of the major plumbing code issues that needed to get resolved for the NYC modification was the local requirement for a massive 4 inch vent for the sanitary drainage piping through the roof. This requirement was introduced in 1881 to prevent snow from blocking the opening.
TFW you’re granted a 50% discount on a €480 ($570 USD) pdf. Austrian Standards is the Gucci of building codes.
December 17, 2025 at 6:13 PM
TFW you’re granted a 50% discount on a €480 ($570 USD) pdf. Austrian Standards is the Gucci of building codes.
Wastewater treatment plants are incredible technological marvels but they really aren’t built for what we expect them to do. Natural unscented laundry and personal care products can address the issue at the source, but they’re often at a cost premium and less available, so actual usage is low.
![Fragrances in the Environment cially from rinse-off personal care products, laundry detergents, and fabric softeners, but also from leave-on toiletries like hair care products, make-up, creams, and lotions 187, 110J. These typically comprise the least volatile fragrance ingredients, or those combined with fixative solvents or carrier structures, and therefore, more prone to persist in the envi-ronment. It is estimated that about 60% of fragrance compounds entering sewage infrastructures end up in natural water bodies or attached to sewage sludge, as most wastewater treatment plants are not capable to remove or degrade them |110, 113].
The disposal strategy for sewage sludge may further move these contaminants in the environment, eventually entering the soil compartment if agricultural valoriza-tion is considered [110]. In recent years, a special focus has been placed on synthetic musk compounds (namely nitro- and poly-
96](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:zrfppf44vjnvtplygmvbk5we/bafkreifdpkdn6a47lqh7xvpoauoywtcrwygepjnz5pqxvb67wrynq4obji@jpeg)
December 14, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Wastewater treatment plants are incredible technological marvels but they really aren’t built for what we expect them to do. Natural unscented laundry and personal care products can address the issue at the source, but they’re often at a cost premium and less available, so actual usage is low.
19th century drainage pipe sealing technology and methods were lacking and sometimes allowed sewer gases to escape between the pipe joints. Miasma theory suggested incidents like the one depicted here were a primary source of disease spread.
December 13, 2025 at 8:37 PM
19th century drainage pipe sealing technology and methods were lacking and sometimes allowed sewer gases to escape between the pipe joints. Miasma theory suggested incidents like the one depicted here were a primary source of disease spread.
Reposted by John Lansing
A significant move Vancouver made this week was moving forward with enabling novel Single Egress & Space Efficient Stairs. Led by the great team in Development, Buildings & Licensing, supported closely by Vancouver Fire Rescue Service; and Planning this will be transformative for low-rise apartments
December 12, 2025 at 12:37 AM
A significant move Vancouver made this week was moving forward with enabling novel Single Egress & Space Efficient Stairs. Led by the great team in Development, Buildings & Licensing, supported closely by Vancouver Fire Rescue Service; and Planning this will be transformative for low-rise apartments
“When we consider the immense value of night soil as a manure, it is quite astounding that so little attention is paid to preserve it. The quantity is immense which is carried down by the drain in London to the River Thames, serving no other purpose than to pollute is waters.” Justus von Liebig 1842
December 10, 2025 at 1:22 AM
“When we consider the immense value of night soil as a manure, it is quite astounding that so little attention is paid to preserve it. The quantity is immense which is carried down by the drain in London to the River Thames, serving no other purpose than to pollute is waters.” Justus von Liebig 1842
Willamette River:
December 9, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Willamette River:
“no one was really sure what caused cholera until Robert Koch identified the cholera bacillus in 1883…even around the germ theory of disease which has often been posited as transformative for medical science, there was uneven acceptance: new ideas were usually accommodated within existing paradigms”
December 7, 2025 at 11:44 PM
“no one was really sure what caused cholera until Robert Koch identified the cholera bacillus in 1883…even around the germ theory of disease which has often been posited as transformative for medical science, there was uneven acceptance: new ideas were usually accommodated within existing paradigms”
Grassytrams are an effective urban stormwater management strategy, converting impervious areas into a green zone that eliminates 50%-70% of runoff.
December 7, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Grassytrams are an effective urban stormwater management strategy, converting impervious areas into a green zone that eliminates 50%-70% of runoff.
Plumbing in multifamily buildings encompasses a set of complex systems, with stunning qualities of materials and labor associated with the design and installation.
December 6, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Plumbing in multifamily buildings encompasses a set of complex systems, with stunning qualities of materials and labor associated with the design and installation.