A New Nest with Resource Robin

Tag along on a journey to build a smarter home, locally

By Robin Pharo

I’ve had water on my mind all month, from picking new fixtures to wrestling with the options in treatment, filtration and conservation. Honestly, with water so plentiful in the Midwest, I don’t feel we think enough about water usage. But throughout the country water is becoming a scarce resource, and conserving it locally helps us share the wealth with immediate returns to our wallets. We pay to use water—to heat, treat, transport and dispose of it—and finding ways to conserve water saves money as well.

According to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, the per customer median volume of water usage in gallons has declined more than 12 percent over the past five years, even though the number of customers has increased by 4.5 percent. That is a statistic we hope to build on with the House of the Future.

One step is finding fixtures that are functional, fashionable and conserve our water. Unfortunately not all new technologies, or even all types of fixtures, can make a difference. Just because a product claims to be using “advanced technology” doesn’t always translate into saving water.

We have to evaluate the many new technologies in a different way. In energy efficiency, we evaluate how many kilowatt hours a product uses, whereas in water we are typically using however many gallons per minute (or per use) a product requires.

So how do you find the right ones? First and foremost, look for fixtures that have the EPA Water Sense Label because of its rigorous certification process that ensures a product’s efficiency, performance and quality. When there is a strong program like Water Sense, it makes product selection easy—at least for our fixtures. Stay tuned for more of our water conservation choices as the House of the Future continues to grow!