2009 WaterSense
Partners of the Year
WaterSense, a partnership program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
now works with more than 1,500 promotional, manufacturer, retailer/distributor, and irrigation
partners to promote water efficiency across the country. Each year, EPA recognizes organizations
and individuals in these WaterSense partner categories who have made
extraordinary efforts to:
• Advance the WaterSense mission;
• Increase awareness about WaterSense in a measurable way; and
• Demonstrate overall excellence in the water-efficiency arena. ZIUWZZOFTHEYEAR
EPA
WaterSense
Promotional Partners of the Year
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James City Service Authority
James City Service Authority (Small Utility)
James City Service Author-
ity (JCSA) showed that you
don't have to be big to save
big. Serving approximately
46,000 people, JCSA is the
only water utility in the
Hampton Roads region of Virginia to offer a water
conservation rebate program. With rebates ranging
from WaterSense labeled toilets and rain sensors to
rain barrels and "on demand" hot water recircula-
tors, JCSA provides one of the widest varieties of re-
bates in the Southeast. The utility uses this program
and accompanying educational materials to steer
consumers toward WaterSense.
Because peak usage for summer outdoor lawn
irrigation is the greatest challenge to its ground-
water-based water system, JCSA expanded its suite
of rebates to include water-efficient landscapes,
starting in August 2008. Customers receive a $500
rebate for hiring a WaterSense irrigation partner to
design, install, or audit a water-efficient irrigation
system.
To further educate its customers about outdoor
water efficiency, JCSA has established its own "Let's
Be Water Smart" program. The program is a joint
effort by 35 builders, developers, contractors, irriga-
tion specialists, landscape designers, and landscap-
ers working together to rein in outdoor water use.
To advance water efficiency inside the home, JCSA
partnered with James City County Citizens'Coali-
tion, a local citizens group, to encourage plumbers
and retailers to provide discounts on the sale and
installation of WaterSense labeled toilets.
JCSA
Water Conservation
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James City Service
Authority offers a
wide array of rebates
aimed at conserving
water.
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Cobb County Water System (Large Utility)
Cobb County Water
System has taken a lead-
ing role in promoting
WaterSense and water
efficiency to its 650,000
customers in the Atlanta,
Georgia, metro area.
Participants in a Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor train-
ing class, hosted by Cobb County Water System.
Cobb County has been a champion of encourag-
ing Atlanta area consumers to give WaterSense
labeled toilets a try, and its efforts have resulted in
an increased awareness and demand for Water-
Sense labeled toilets across the state. To accom-
plish this goal, Cobb County masterminded a
toilet rebate program with the potential to save
13 million gallons of water annually. That's
enough water to fill the Georgia Aquarium—the
world's largest—1.5 times.
In 2008, Cobb County rebated more than 1,650
WaterSense labeled toilets, at $100 per toilet. The
program's success inspired many of the largest utili-
ties in the 16-county Metro North Georgia Water
Planning District to adopt Cobb County's rebate
model.
Cobb County also demonstrated that there is
strength in numbers, exemplified in its role as an
instrumental force in bringing together Lowe's,
The Home Depot, Ferguson, Kohler, and other
local partners to leverage a statewide sales tax
holiday weekend on WaterSense labeled products
in October 2008. Coordinating closely with these
organizations, Cobb County ensured that rebates
were widely promoted and that labeled products
were stocked on retailers'shelves. The results speak
for themselves: Cobb County saw a 400 percent in-
crease in WaterSense labeled toilet purchases over
any comparable timeframe!
Through these collaborations, as well as extensive
media coverage of WaterSense and hundreds of
speaking engagements, Cobb County helped per-
suade consumers to look for the WaterSense label
and think twice about water-efficiency, both inside
the home and out. Cobb County advised its cus-
tomers to hire WaterSense irrigation partners and
worked with Atlanta and Fulton County to bring
all of the GreenPlumbers USA classes to Georgia.
As a result, more than 140 plumbers learned about
WaterSense and WaterSense labeled products.
Manufacturer Partner of the Year
Kohler Co.
KOHLER
Winning the WaterSense BOLD LOO<
Partner of the Year Award
two years running takes
a special level of com-
mitment to WaterSense and water efficiency, one
demonstrated by plumbing manufacturer Kohler
Co. From the tradeshow circuit to reality television
to the restrooms in New York City's Rock'n Roll
Hall of Fame, Kohler tapped into creative tactics to
promote WaterSense and its WaterSense labeled
plumbing fixtures across the country.
Kohler gave WaterSense a national spotlight
through Save Water America (www.savewatera-
merica.com), a Web site dedicated to educating
homeowners about water efficiency and support-
ing Habitat for Humanity with a $1 million product
donation. Kohler also showcased its WaterSense
Kohler Co. hits the tradeshow circuit with its Water-
Sense labeled toilets.
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labeled products at more than 30 screenings of the
IMAX film Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk as it
toured the country.
Kohler has also collaborated with WaterSense
partners on regional campaigns of all shapes
and sizes. In Denver, Kohler delivered "mobile
restrooms"to a consumer education event so
that participants could flush WaterSense labeled
toilets first-hand. Kohler's mobile restrooms made
another appearance in Atlanta to help promote
Georgia's sales tax-free weekend. And moving on
to Bozeman, Montana, Kohler and distributor Fer-
guson helped to turn a local citizen's concept for
a rebate program into reality: the Greater Gallatin
Toilet Tradeout.
By the end of 2008, more than 40 percent of all
bathroom faucet models and 175 combinations of
toilets for sale under the KOHLER brand had earned
the WaterSense label. In addition, while shower-
heads, urinals, and flushometer toilets are not
currently part of the WaterSense program, Kohler
continues to invest in development of more water-
efficient versions of these products, several of
which have won individual awards for their design
and eco-friendliness.
Retail/Distributor Partner of the Year
Lowe's Companies, Inc.
As a Fortune 50 company and major retailer of
residential plumbing
fixtures, Lowe's serves
approximately 14 mil-
lion customers each
week at more than
1,650 home improve-
ment stores in North America. After becoming a
WaterSense partner in 2008, Lowe's shifted its mar-
keting strategy from focusing on energy efficiency
to the broader "efficient home," emphasizing the
nexus between saving water and saving energy.
From the Lowe's Efficient Home Web site to a bilin-
gual Efficient Home Guide, Lowe's has highlighted
WaterSense inside its stores and in its stores'com-
munities. Likewise, Lowe's has placed continued
emphasis on educating its 215,000-plus employees
about the benefits of WaterSense, capitalizing on
training tools such as Lowe's internal video channel
and companywide marketing meetings.
LOUIE'S
Let's Build Something Together"
TAXFREE
Lowe's capitalized on a tax free holiday weekend in
Georgia with advertisements for labeled products.
During sales tax-free events for WaterSense labeled
products in Georgia and Virginia, Lowe's joined
forces with EPA and other key partners and pro-
vided important promotional support. Sales staff
learned how to help customers identify WaterSense
labeled products covered by the tax-free events
and explain their benefits. Shoppers at these events
learned about water and energy saving tips and
enjoyed a promotion on WaterSense labeled prod-
ucts from manufactures including Kohler, American
Standard, and Jacuzzi.
Lowe's continues to make increasing its inventory
of WaterSense labeled products and raising cus-
tomer awareness a priority. John Kasberger, senior
vice president and general merchandising manager
for kitchen and bath, firmly communicated Lowe's
commitment to work with vendors to increase the
WaterSense presence in Lowe's stores. During his
keynote speech at the Annual Association of Home
Appliance Manufacturers meeting in April 2008, he
put it this way: "We want to be the leader when it
comes to helping customers save water."
Irrigation Partner of the Year
Brian Vinchesi
As president of Irrigation Consulting, Inc., in Pep-
perell, Massachusetts, Brian Vinchesi has made
WaterSense a vital part of his company's staff devel-
opment. In addition to requiring his employees to
complete at least one WaterSense labeled certifica-
tion program, Mr. Vinchesi, a WaterSense partner
since 2007, leads by example, maintaining four cer-
tifications through the Irrigation Association that
have earned the WaterSense label. Seven of his staff
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are also WaterSense part-
ners, and his firm strives
for designs that achieve
a minimum of 80 percent
efficiency and follow
national green building
program principles.
Beyond his consulting
business, Mr. Vinchesi has
25 years of experience Mr Vjnchesj j$ a Water_
sharing his irrigation ex- Sense partner> LEED
pertise through education Accredited Professional,
and is currently chairman and an agricultural
of the Irrigation Associa- engineer.
tion Education Founda-
tion. In 2008, while lecturing at six conferences and
symposia and teaching nearly a dozen classes, Mr.
Vinchesi focused on water efficiency and sustain-
able irrigation systems, helping to spread the word
about WaterSense from coast to coast. Mr. Vinchesi
also contributed to articles and columns on water-
efficient irrigation systems and practices for
Mountain West Turf and Irrigation & Green Industry.
Working to coordinate efforts among a coalition of
water purveyors, equipment manufacturers, and
irrigation professionals, Mr. Vinchesi has headed up
the Irrigation Association's Smart Water Application
Technologies (SWAT) initiative since its inception
in 2001. As part of the SWAT initiative, in 2008 he
met with Massachusetts legislators and the Mas-
sachusetts Department of Environmental Protec-
tion to promote WaterSense. Under Mr. Vinchesi's
leadership and in coordination with EPA, the SWAT
committee has been developing testing protocols
to measure the performance of weather-based irri-
gation controllers and soil moisture sensors, which
continue to be a crucial part of WaterSense specifi-
cation for irrigation controllers.
For More Information
To learn more about WaterSense and the Partner
of the Year awards program, visit www.epa.gov/
watersense.
October 2009
(866) WTR-SENS (987-7367) • www.epa.gov/watersense • watersense@epa.gov
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