look for WaterSense Labeled Multi-Family Homes Whether you're building your career in a bustling metropolitan area or empty nesters downsizing in your favorite locale, living in a multi-family building is often a wise choice that can reduce up-front costs and your environmental footprint. Choosing an apartment or condo is not just an investment in your and your family's future. When you purchase or rent a water-efficient unit, you're investing in the future of your community and the planet as well. WaterSense is making it easy to identify homes in multi-family buildings that save both water and energy. WaterSense labeled homes and multi-family units are third-party certified to use less water than typical homes while still performing well. Residential water use accounts for more than half of the publicly supplied water in the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established WaterSense to protect the future of the nation's water supply and to promote water-efficient products and services with a simple, easy-to-identify label. Units in multi-family buildings can earn EPA's WaterSense label. EPA criteria include WaterSense labeled plumbing fixtures, efficient hot water delivery systems, individual metering systems, and other water-saving features inside the unit, aiong with outdoor criteria for common spaces on the property. Units that earn the WaterSense label are third-party certified to meet these criteria, giving San Diego, California (Courtesy H.G. Fenton Company) residents confidence that their home will really save water —inside and out. HOW CAN MULTI-FAMILY HOMES SAVE WATER? Apartments and condos that have earned the label will have WaterSense labeled toilets, faucets, and showerheads that have been third-party certified to be high-performing and water-efficient—saving 20 percent more water than standard models. In addition, these homes include ENERGY STAR® certified dishwashers and clothes washers, if those appliances are installed when the property is built. An efficient hot water distribution system decreases the amount of time it takes for hot water to reach the faucet or shower—so you won't waste time, energy, and thousands of gallons waiting for hot water to reach the tap or tub. WaterSense labeled units must also be able to give residents access to information they need to understand their own water use. Outdoors, buildings that include WaterSense labeled homes have water-smart landscapes. These include regionally appropriate plant choices and, if irrigation systems or pools are installed, efficient technologies that help keep water use low. MOVE INTO AN EFFICIENT HOME Builders interested in constructing WaterSense labeled homes in multi-family buildings can join the WaterSense program as partners and receive tools to support their efforts. Builders then work with an EPA-approved Licensed Certification Provider (LCP) or Home Certification Organization (HCO) and one of its trained WaterSense home verifiers to confirm that the home meets the WaterSense specification. To learn more about the WaterSense labeled homes program or to find a WaterSense builder partner near you, visitwww.epa.gov/watersense. phone (866) WTR-SENS (987-7367) website www.epa.gov/watersense email watersense@epa.gov A CQlA EPA-832-F-09-012 August 2012 ------- |