look for
2013 WaterSense'
Award Winners
Drive Savings
Since the program's inception in 2006, WaterSense labeled products have helped
Americans save 487 billion gallons of water and $8.9 billion in water and energy
bills. In 2012 alone, WaterSense labeled products saved 202 billion gallons of
water, nearly doubling the amount saved in all previous years! Working
collaboratively, WaterSense partners continue to drive innovation in
manufacturing and support sustainable jobs for American workers, all while
helping consumers save water, energy, and money.
EPA
AA/aterSense
SUSTAINED
EXCELLENCE
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) is
pleased to recognize seven
WaterSense Partners of the
Year and six Excellence
Award winners for helping
to advance and promote
WaterSense and water efficiency throughout 2012.
WaterSense is also acknowledging two partners who
have received repeated recognition for their exemplary
efforts with its first-ever Sustained Excellence awards.
To qualify for a Sustained Excellence Award, a partner
must have won three WaterSense Partner of the Year
awards within the past five years, and must have
applied each of those years.
2013 SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS
Kohler Co.
As a three-time WaterSense Manufacturer Partner of
the Year and two-time WaterSense Excellence Award
winner, Kohler Co.'s sustained water efficiency efforts
have evolved into a
multifaceted, one-stop-
shop website for those
interested in curbing their water waste.
SaveWaterAmerica.com features WaterSense labeled
products, consumer tips to save water, and a calculator
KOHLER
that allows consumers to easily estimate the savings
achieved by WaterSense labeled products.
Kohler's efforts to promote WaterSense weren't
limited to just one website. In 2012, the company's
social media team promoted the benefits of
WaterSense labeled products to nearly 500,000
Facebook fans and more than 40,000 Twitter
followers. On YouTube, Kohler brought water-saving
products to digital life in educational videos that drew
the attention of more than 1 million online viewers.
Keeping its WaterSense-related media activities
diverse and widespread, Kohler also garnered 127
print placements and 50 television hits.
In addition to online promotions, social media, and
traditional advertising, the company's presence at
conferences, trade shows, and industry events helped
keep the WaterSense brand in the spotlight across the
country. In 2012, Kohler featured WaterSense labeled
products in its booths at such events as the
International Builders Show in Orlando, Florida; the
Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in Chicago; and
Greenbuild in San Francisco. Kohler also participated
in The Home Depot's 2012 Earth Day Celebration in
New York City, where its team took big water savings
to the Big Apple by demonstrating the flushing
performance of a WaterSense labeled toilet in the
middle of Times Square to thousands of consumers.
PHONE (866) WTR-SENS (987-7367) WEBSITE www.epa.gov/watersense EMAIL watersense@epa.gov
EPA-832-F-13-020
October 2013
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2013 WaterSense® Award Winners Drive Savings
Lowe's Companies, Inc.
A three-time Retailer Partner of the Year and 2011
Excellence Award winner, Lowe's Companies, Inc.,
showed no signs of slowing down in 2012. Once again,
Lowe's efforts to promote WaterSense labeled
products, educate consumers, and participate in
marketing campaigns across the country contributed to
the success of the WaterSense program.
Last year, Lowe's significantly increased the number of
WaterSense labeled showerheads it carries and
ensured all lavatory faucets in Lowe's stores were
WaterSense labeled. As part of its continued efforts to
broaden its promotional outreach, Lowe's developed a
smartphone application that employees can use to find
rebates for customers interested in WaterSense
labeled products. It also increased accessibility to
WaterSense labeled models by leveraging bilingual
product information on Lowes.com.
In addition to its in-store and online product
promotions, Lowe's worked closely with the Wyland
Foundation, a fellow WaterSense partner, to
spearhead the National Mayor's Challenge for Water
Conservation; sponsored the Arizona Municipal Water
Users race during Fix a
Leak Week 2012; and
supported
WaterSense's Shower
Better campaign by
teaming up with WaterSense partners Moen
Incorporated and Delta Faucet Company. As part of its
Shower Better collaboration with Delta, Lowe's
provided a 10 percent discount to consumers who
purchased one of Delta's then newly released
WaterSense labeled showerhead models.
PROMOTIONAL PARTNER OF THE YEAR
Athens-Clarke County Public Utilities Department
The Athens-Clarke County Public Utilities Department
in Georgia might only have two employees serving in
its Water Conservation Office, but that didn't stop the
utility from ramping up its WaterSense promotional
efforts in a big way in 2012. Its website,
ThinkattheSink.com, engages home and business
owners on the importance of WaterSense labeled
products and shares information on local water-smart
landscaping workshops and more. In an effort to
advance the WaterSense message to an even broader
audience, Athens-Clarke County increased its social
LOUIES
Former Athens-Clarke County Mayor, Heidi Davison, and
the county's water efficiency mascot, Lily Anne Phibian,
show WaterSense's spokesgallon, Flo, around town.
media presence and outreach efforts. Leveraging the
utility's longtime friendship with WaterSense's
spokesgallon, Flo, the utility's very own water
conservation mascot Lily Anne Phibian provides daily
water-saving guidance to children and the young at
heart.
In support of Fix a Leak Week 2012, Athens-Clarke
County celebrated by hosting a dozen presentations
on finding and fixing leaks. The utility partnered with
the University of Georgia to hold "Train the Trainer"
workshops, which instructed volunteers on conducting
water use audits; suggesting water efficiency tips to
local residents and organizations; and distributing
WaterSense labeled faucet aerators, showerheads,
and toilets. The week culminated with the installation
of WaterSense labeled fixtures in a community
building, ultimately reducing the building's water use
by 50 percent.
Athens-Clarke County also tackled larger buildings'
water use with the launch of its pilot Commercial Water
Conservation Program in conjunction with the
Altamaha Riverkeeper Oconee Project. This program
leveraged WaterSense at Work: Best Management
Practices for Commercial and Institutional Facilities to
target high water-using restaurants in the area. After
conducting water use audits at three local restaurants,
WaterSense labeled products were recommended
based on the results. The official Commercial Water
Conservation Program will open to all of the
restaurants in the county in winter 2013.
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2013 WaterSense® Award Winners Drive Savings
MANUFACTURER PARTNERS OF THE YEAR
Delta Faucet Company (Large Manufacturer)
Now a two-time WaterSense Manufacturer Partner of
the Year, Delta Faucet Company's continued efforts to
support WaterSense labeled products and water
efficiency is illustrated by its product inventory—100
percent of its lavatory faucets and showerheads have
met EPA's efficiency and performance criteria. And in
2012, the company expanded its efforts by earning the
label for its water-efficient toilets.
In addition to promoting WaterSense labeled products
year-round, Delta launched a collaborative, coast-to-
coast water efficiency campaign in celebration of Fix a
Leak Week 2012. Teaming up with several utility
partners in cities ^^^
across the United £j\ I"} F I "A
States, the ^ft^ L^ t- L- ' **
FAUCET COMPANY
manufacturer donated
its WaterSense labeled showerheads and worked with
volunteers to install them and other water-saving
products in nearly 2,000 housing units in 10 different
cities. Delta's Fix a Leak Week efforts resulted in more
than 7 million gallons in estimated annual water
savings.
Delta also worked with WaterSense partners The
Home Depot and Lowe's to promote water efficiency at
various events. For the second year in a row, Delta
participated in The Home Depot's Earth Day
Celebration in Times Square by displaying WaterSense
labeled faucets in the event's model home. Delta also
teamed up with Lowe's during its 2012 Earth Day
Weekend, staffing more than 150 of its stores with
Delta employees and creating in-store displays that
promoted WaterSense labeled products to consumers.
What's more, Delta went above and beyond when it
sponsored HGTV's Dream Home, which featured
WaterSense labeled products throughout.
Niagara Conservation Corp. (Small Manufacturer)
Niagara Conservation Corp.'s company philosophy is to
provide innovative products that conserve water without
sacrificing performance. Ninety-six percent of its core
product line of toilets, showerheads, and lavatory
faucet accessories were WaterSense labeled in 2012—
a nearly 10 percent increase compared to 2011.
Through employee education, partner collaboration,
and social media promotion, Niagara continued to
demonstrate a strong commitment toward these
reputable water-efficient products in 2012. Niagara
also requires that its marketing staff become familiar
with the WaterSense program and adhere to the latest
WaterSense label use guidelines.
In 2012, with the help of utilities and trade partners
such as Green Plumbers USA, Niagara took its
corporate culture to new, water-efficient heights by
rolling out Niagara Green City, a program that offers
water- and energy- s--^
efficient products to (T|) NIAGARA-
consumers in an
effort to build more sustainable communities. Niagara
also created, and continues to develop, numerous
conservation kits with WaterSense labeled products
branded for utilities and plumbers to distribute
throughout their communities to help consumers save
water and energy.
In addition to its collaborative measures, the company
implemented online and social media strategies to
take Fix a Leak Week to the next level of creativity
with a "Finding Flo" scavenger hunt. This unique
children's activity raised awareness about wasting
water while encouraging visitors to find the
WaterSense spokesgallon.
RETAILER PARTNER OF THE YEAR
The Home Depot
For the second consecutive year, The Home Depot
was recognized as the WaterSense Retailer Partner
of the Year for demonstrating its devotion to
promoting WaterSense throughout all of its U.S.
stores to both shoppers and staff. Behind the scenes,
Home Depot uses its Green
Team Training Guide to educate
store associates on the water-
efficient products they sell. In the
public eye, the retailer's "Eco
Options" website helps
consumers to find WaterSense
labeled products, highlights the benefits of labeled
products, and features water savings calculators. With
more than 2.5 million hits in 2012 and counting,
there's no question that the website has been
successful in reaching consumers with the water
efficiency message.
To increase public awareness of the WaterSense
brand, The Home Depot promoted the We're for
Water campaign and Fix a Leak Week 2012 through
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2013 WaterSense® Award Winners Drive Savings
blogs, online banner ads, and several broadcast radio
spots. The company supplemented its efforts by
targeting professional contractors with educational
resources on WaterSense labeled products. In turn, the
contractors were able to effectively communicate the
value of water-efficient products to homeowners and
industry professionals through a variety of internal and
external channels.
The Home Depot also partnered with other
stakeholders, including manufacturers and utilities, to
establish and support local rebates on WaterSense
labeled products. As a result, customers benefitted
from more than $33 million in product markdowns. The
increased number of product incentives helped make
possible a 7 percent sales increase in WaterSense
labeled products in 2012—double the company
average compared to previous years!
BUILDER PARTNER OF THE YEAR
KB Home
KB Home earned its third consecutive Builder Partner
of Year award by continuing to break new ground in
2012 with the construction of WaterSense labeled new
homes. The company's commitment to sustainable
building is exemplified by its ZeroHouse 2.0 model
home constructed in the Washington, D.C., area in
2012. KB Home's ZeroHouse 2.0 model homes are
designed to achieve net-zero energy use and the
highest levels of resource efficiency with the help of
WaterSense labeled products. The company has also
earned the WaterSense label for ZeroHouse 2.0 homes
in Texas, Florida, and California.
Along with constructing new homes, KB Home
consistently promoted WaterSense and water
efficiency through external promotional outlets and
internal programs in 2012. To equip _
consumers with the information
necessary to prioritize water
efficiency in the process of building
their dream home, KB Home
employees received training
materials and sales tools designed
to educate homebuyers about the benefits of a home
with WaterSense labeled products inside and out.
Employees are also trained on KB Home's Built to
Order™ program, in which homebuyers can select
from a variety of WaterSense labeled products and
additional water-efficient features at the KB Home
Studio. To encourage water efficiency outside the
home, KB Home worked with WaterSense
manufacturer partner, Hunter Industries, to advance
the production of irrigation controllers that are tested
and certified to meet the WaterSense criteria.
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFYING ORGANIZATION
PARTNER OF THE YEAR
rrigation
**Accnnjmniu
Smart practices.
Sustainable solutions.
Waldorf, Maryland, is home to this ZeroHouse 2.0 model, a
WaterSense labeled home built by KB Home that also
achieves net-zero energy use.
Irrigation Association
WaterSense is pleased
to announce its first-ever
Partner of Year in the
professional certifying
organization category—the Irrigation Association.
Through its extensive efforts in partner recruitment
and promotion of WaterSense, the Irrigation
Association has worked to make its water-efficient
certifications more accessible across the country. By
collaborating with states across the nation to promote
labeled program certifications as a prerequisite fora
state irrigation contractor license, the organization
also catalyzed a steady increase in the demand for
certified professionals, labeled products and water-
smart landscapes.
In addition to its collaborative efforts, the Irrigation
Association worked to promote WaterSense labeled
products and program partnership perks to a multitude
of industry stakeholders. Part of these efforts included
building momentum for WaterSense labeled irrigation
controllers and the WaterSense new homes program
at the 2012 WaterSmart Innovations Conference in
Las Vegas, Nevada. In St. Augustine, Florida, the
Irrigation Association hosted the Point of Connection
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2013 WaterSense® Award Winners Drive Savings
Conference, delivering a keynote presentation outlining
the benefits gained by partnering with WaterSense.
Not only did the Irrigation Association educate others
on the advantages of WaterSense labeled products,
the organization also played a behind-the-scenes role
by providing information about testing protocols that
helped the development of EPA's Notice of Intent to
label soil moisture-based control technologies.
IRRIGATION PARTNER OF THE YEAR
John Taylor
True to Texan form, John Taylor went above and
beyond to promote WaterSense labeled products and
water-efficient practices in 2012. As president of Taylor
Irrigation Service, Inc., Taylor worked with customers
and landscaping company owners in the greater
Houston area to educate
II them on the selection of
j native plants,
I appropriate watering
1^^ | schedules, and efficient
^tf^l •».-- irrigation systems. This
certified Texas
Landscape Irrigation
Auditor also installed
WaterSense labeled
irrigation controllers and
used the guidelines from
the WaterSense new home specification to design
water-efficient irrigation systems. By overhauling his
company's business model to focus on water-smart,
efficient landscape and irrigation practices, Taylor
contributed to the proliferation of healthy, sustainable
landscapes throughout his community.
In support of his new business model, he maintained
an extensive website with information on WaterSense
labeled weather-based irrigation controllers and an
active social media presence on Facebook, Twitter,
and Linkedln. Taylor also hosted an online blog and e-
magazine promoting water- saving tips and ideas, as
well as links to WaterSense materials to encourage
water conservation among a general audience.
EXCELLENCE IN PROMOTING WATERSENSE LABELED
PRODUCTS
City of Boulder Public Works/Utilities
Rethinking the structure of traditional incentive
programs, the City of Boulder, Colorado, Public
Works/Utilities' innovative
"Freebate" program made
its debut in 2012. The new
program provided free
WaterSense labeled toilets
to customers who agreed
to pay for the toilet's proper
installation. The utility also
worked with the city's
energy staff to ensure WaterSense labeled
showerheads were distributed when conducting
energy retrofits. This change resulted in the
installation of nearly 300 WaterSense labeled
showerheads. The city also held several Fix a Leak
Week events with local hardware stores to promote
WaterSense labeled products and sent meter leak
detection postcards to customers whose meters were
flagged for 24 hours of continuous use.
EXCELLENCE IN STRATEGIC COLLABORATION
Colorado Springs Utilities
In the wake of a destructive wildfire in the Waldo
Canyon community, Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU)
saw an opportunity to help the community rebuild with
efficiency, conservation, and performance in mind. As
part of the rebuilding process, the utility worked with
the nonprofit organization Colorado Springs Together.
The two
organizations
promoted the
_ , - r , i i.-i'I- adoption of
Colorado Springs Utilities WaterSense
It's how we're a/1 connected labeled
products to
builders, homeowners, and the community by
developing a $750-per-home rebate to builders
constructing WaterSense labeled new homes; offering
rebates for WaterSense labeled toilets and weather-
based irrigation controllers in reconstructed homes;
and consulting consumers on water-wise landscapes.
The utility offered expertise and financial relief to
affected homeowners while also promoting the
installation of WaterSense labeled products in newly
reconstructed homes. In 2012, CSU also collaborated
with developer Balfour Beatty Communities to design
more efficient military homes at the Fort Carson U.S.
Army post and worked with students at the University
of Colorado seeking to have WaterSense labeled
showerheads installed in campus dorms.
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2013 WaterSense® Award Winners Drive Savings
EXCELLENCE IN OUTREACH AND EDUCATION
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
As an organization that partners
with many of Wisconsin's large
and small public utilities, the
Public Service Commission of
Wisconsin (PSCW) is in a
unique position to spread the
word about water efficiency and the WaterSense
program across the state. In 2012, PSCW gave
presentations at trade shows, conferences, and
throughout communities, extolling the benefits of
WaterSense partnership to its members. In order to
increase public awareness of the WaterSense brand,
PSCW promoted the program via press releases,
newsletters, radio advertisements, and online. In all,
these outreach efforts resulted in 15 new WaterSense
utility partnerships in 2012.
Town of Sharon
Through concentrated education
and outreach tactics, water
efficiency is catching on in the
Town of Sharon, Massachusetts.
Supported by the Neponset River
Watershed Association, the Town
of Sharon educated local citizens
on the benefits of water efficiency.
Starting with its youngest citizens, an in-school initiative
taught students about water conservation and provided
take-home materials to educate parents about water
efficiency in the home. The Town of Sharon also held a
competition that challenged high school students to
develop an effective and informative public service
announcement on the topics of water efficiency and
conservation, videos for which were broadcast on the
town's local cable station. In addition, the town
celebrated Fix a Leak Week 2012 in style by stringing a
banner across the town's Main Street and encouraging
all residents to install WaterSense labeled products and
embrace water-efficient practices at home.
EXCELLENCE IN PROMOTION
Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership
Representing 10 water utilities in Sonoma and Marin
Counties in California, the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water
Partnership (SMSWP) effectively implements water
efficiency projects across the region. Throughout 2012,
SMSWP promoted efficient outdoor water use and
irrigation practices by working with utilities and other
organizations both locally and nationally to adopt the
WaterSense labeled Qualified Water Efficient
Landscaper program for certifying irrigation
professionals. SMSWP
also conducted outreach Q^AA - /[^
to irrigation professionals
/
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