Seeks Improvments to Assure Water Savings

2008-09-08

The Alliance for Water Efficiency welcomes the publication of the draft specification for WaterSense New Homes and has submitted comments and recommendations to the EPA suggesting changes and improvements that should be made. Across the Alliance's diverse membership of water utilities, environmental organizations, manufacturers, and installers,  members maintain a strong level of support for the WaterSense Program and a desire to see it expand in a timely and orderly way. The April 23 draft of the WaterSense New Homes specification marks a solid beginning for WaterSense participation in the labeling of whole buildings based upon published criteria of sustainability – a field seeing explosive new growth in the level of public interest.  The Alliance looks forward to working with EPA to ensure the WaterSense New Homes program is a success.

Key points made by the Alliance comments include:

• A simplified approach to the efficiency criteria for hot water delivery systems, using a performance standard to reduce the volume of water drawn and the waiting time elapsed before hot water reaches faucets and showers;
• Strong support for flexible landscape design criteria, allowing either landscapes designed to meet a stringent overall water budget or alternatively, landscapes installed with specific limits on high water use plants;
• The addition of stormwater management criteria to help conserve groundwater supplies and protect surface water quality.

On September 8, 2008 the Alliance submitted suplementary comments to the EPA on the Water Sense new home specification.  Those supplemendary comments can be downloaded below.