By John Kurowski, Kurowski Development Co.

Once we talk about “building green,” it’s often assumed that we are speaking about power effectiveness or energy efficiency. Even though power effectiveness is definitely an essential component of building green it is truly about the thoughtful use of all organic and natural resources, especially water. Clean water is one of our most important natural resources.

You will find a number of ways that homeowners can conserve water within their new homes, regardless of what style is preferred. Our trade partners and suppliers join us in making sure that comfort and ease of use are not sacrificed for efficiency.

For our first strategy for water conservation, we take a close look at how, what, and exactly where water will be used inside a home. We might think our first consideration is the kitchen area, bathrooms, and laundry rooms, but we also need to examine the use of water for irrigation along with other outdoor requirements.

Within each of these locations, we think about the appliances and fixtures. Using the kitchen as an example, today’s dishwashers are far more water-efficient and energy-efficient than those of just a decade ago. By providing a wider range of cycles and cleansing modes, these appliances decrease the amount of water to the minimum required for your task. Energy-saver cycles operate to get a shorter quantity of time, using less heat and thus save energy and time.

Each and every kitchen area also contains at least one sink and faucet pair, occasionally more can be found in connoisseur or custom kitchens. New home owners can select low-flow and much more sturdy faucets and also self-contained hot water dispensers. Low-flow faucets dispense a decreased quantity of water without diminishing the water pressure. Self-contained hot water heaters save energy by delivering steaming hot water right to the tap without the waste of waiting for the water to heat up.

The Bathroom also provides several opportunities to reduce water use. The engineering of low-flow faucets, shower heads, and toilets has reduced water usage and saved home owners money. These products pay for themselves over time.

Tankless water heaters, is an innovation that provides almost instant hot water to some or all of the faucets, rooms, or water-using appliances in the whole house Inside your home and especially in a large house, a lot of water goes down the drain before heated water reaches the user Tankless or “on-demand” water heaters save water (and heating power) because they don’t need to wait for the water held in a conventional water heater. As much as seventy five gallons can be wasted waiting for your shower to warm up to the desired temperature as it flows via the pipes and out the spout.

Of all the water-using appliances, washing machines have seen the most technological advances. Like dishwashers, they are engineered for a variety of cycles. Various settings can be selected, based on the type and volume of clothes being washed. Front-loading models, for example, allow homeowners to clean more clothes per load, therefore decreasing the number of loads (and water utilized) to get them clean. All machines have enhanced their per-load effectiveness, as drum and agitation technology have advanced to complete a much better task with much less water.

Let’s move on to more creative and fun subjects relating to home ownership, designing your own landscaping. We would like to inspire homeowners to consider native and drought-tolerant landscaping for their new homes, which reduce the quantity of irrigation water needed to maintain them. Healthy and flourishing landscaping does not mean buckets of water running down the street. Even with more traditional plant selections, using drip and in-ground irrigation systems is much more water-efficient than using a hose and sprinkler and will accomplish a much better result and save you money.

As with most features that affect the comfort ,ease and on-going costs of the home, greater performance requirements are accomplished via a partnership between us as being a home builder, within our style and also the goods and building procedures we employ, and our homeowners, as the users of those methods. Ultimately, the efficient conservation of water depends upon way of life options that optimize the goods and methods we install.

By John Kurowski, Kurowski Development Co. has been devoted to building power efficient, environmentally aware custom houses within the Denver area since 1976.