How KB Home Is Addressing Sustainability Through Water Conservation

As the California new-home market moves closer to the 2020 deadline for the state’s zero net energy standard, prominent builder KB Home has implemented steps to increase sustainability and water conservation in their current and future building projects.

The zero net energy standard requires all new homes built in California to produce as much energy as they consume. As part of the run-up to this new construction standard, KB Home is applying new technologies to address sustainability, energy conservation and water savings.

As part of its sustainability initiative, KB Home has produced a model home called the Double ZeroHouse, a demonstration building that highlights energy and water conservation technologies that the company plans to make available to their residential construction clients. KB Home intends to have the home’s systems available on a larger and more economical scale for the average home buyer by the end of 2014, according the Builder website.

Among the technologies showcased in the Double ZeroHouse are:

• A graywater recycling system that recovers water from showers, sinks and washing machines. This graywater is treated and stored indefinitely in an underground tank, then used for lawn irrigation. This system, produced by Australian company Nexus, allows substantial water recovery of up to 40,000 gallons of graywater annually, or 200 gallons per day.
• A water-recycling dishwasher, manufactured by Whirlpool, that recovers water from the final rinse cycle of one load of dishes for use in the first pre-rinse cycle of the next load. This allows the reuse of relatively clean water for more efficient dishwashing.
• A Power-Pipe heat exchanger that can recover more than 45 percent of the energy in waste hot water. This energy can be used to reduce water heating costs and improve the efficiency of tankless water heating equipment.

Construction Monitor, founded in 1989, provides in-depth construction industry information through building permit data and related sources of insight into trends and practices. Contact us today for more information on sustainability and water conservation and how these issues will affect California-based construction projects in the next few years.

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