EPA expands WaterSense Label to Apartments, Condos

New standards for the WaterSense label, released last week by the EPA, now allow individual apartments and condominiums to qualify for the designation. Several revisions were also made to the standards for new homes. All of the updates will come into effect for buildings labeled after Jan. 1, 2013.

Highlights of the agency’s revisions include:

While the WaterSense label can now be applied to individual apartments and condominium units, the EPA specified that the common areas of such buildings must also meet specific indoor and outdoor criteria.

Home builders must use the EPA’s online Water Budget Tool in their landscape design process.

Any weather-based irrigation controllers used for watering the lawn must be WaterSense-labeled models.

Showerheads must be WaterSense-labeled models that use 2 gpm or less

The revisions are based on several factors, including: wider availability of WaterSense labeled products; market trends in the multi-family building sector, and increased use of the Water Budget Tool. The EPA solicited input from builders, manufacturers, utilities, and other stakeholders on all of the changes.

For more information on the revised specifications, click here.