Why Does Water Efficiency Matter in Homes?

Increasingly, home owners are realizing that water is not a limitless resource. With persistent droughts and slowly depleting ground water supplies occurring across the West, consumers are starting to rethink how they use water at home. And they should: at least 36 states are anticipating water shortages in the next five years, and several local municipalities (on the West Plains in particular) are already slowing development due to concerns over water supply.

As some of the biggest innovators in the home building industry, remodelers are uniquely qualified to help solve our country's growing water dilemma. There are more than 120 million homes in the United States. Considering that a family of four uses about 400 gallons of water every day, if you help your customers make a dent in their water use at home, both their pocketbooks and the environment will benefit.

Best of all, water-saving solutions can be easily incorporated into your remodeling business and help attract new clients. Claiming a piece of the green building marketplace — expected to be worth nearly $60 billion by 2010 — could be just a flush away.

The WaterSense ® Label - a New Tool

WaterSense, a partnership program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), aims to make saving water just that simple. The program seeks to protect the future of our nation's water supply by promoting water efficiency and making it easy to identify high quality, water-saving products.

What this means for you as a remodeler is an easier way to find water-efficient plumbing fixtures that meet your clients' water savings and performance expectations: just look for the WaterSense label.

In general, WaterSense labeled products are at least 20 percent more efficient than conventional models but perform as well as or better than their conventional counterparts. You can be confident that these products won't result in call-backs because, in order to earn the label, they must be independently tested and certified to confirm they meet EPA's rigorous criteria. And with more than 125 models of high-efficiency toilets and 30 models of bathroom sink faucets or faucet accessories that have earned the WaterSense label so far, odds are good you'll be able to find an option to suit every job.

By incorporating WaterSense labeled products into your offerings, you'll fill a much-needed niche as a water-conscious remodeler and differentiate yourself to home owners. What's more, by offering a high-efficiency bathroom remodel with WaterSense labeled fixtures, you can help a home owner save more than 11,000 gallons and about $70 in water bills annually based upon national averages.

This article is based upon one written by Stephanie Thornton, of the EPA’s WaterSense Program. The NAHB Remodelers, also contributed information used in this article.