Permaculture Green Building meets its revolutionary cousin By Sam Ruark-Eastes By now you might have heard of Permaculture. The ecological design system has reached the mainstream consciousness with articles in the NY times and many other publications. It is estimated that over 50,000 people in the US have taken a...
Article Category: Water Use Reduction
Feature: Water paybacks
Feature: Water paybacks By Matt Siegel on 03/22/2010 Basic assumptions For ease of understanding, let's calculate that water costs 1 cent per gallon. We are also assuming a two-person household, averaging five toilet flushes per person per day, one 10-minute shower per person per day, four loads of laundry per week...
Feature: Water conservation during floods
Feature: Water conservation during floods By Matt Siegel on 03/22/2010 It is interesting the way the human mind stores memory. I am quite convinced that humans have a relatively inaccurate sense of the past, both short- and long-term. One week this summer, it rained for four straight days, then there was...
Feature: Large rainwater catchment systems explained
Feature: Large rainwater catchment systems explained By on 03/22/2010 Size: 6,000-gallon underground system capturing rain water and HVAC condensation off 9,000 sq. ft. office Use of water: Used for landscape irrigation Where: Asheville Eye, Hendersonville, N.C. System installed by: Water Solutions by Icenhowers Farm Inc. photo by Rick Icenhower, owner, Water Solutions by Icenhower's Farm...
Feature: Efficient hot-water heating
Feature: Efficient hot-water heating By Amy Musser and Matthew Vande on 03/22/2010 Domestic hot water — used by showers, faucets, clothes washers and dishwashers — is the second largest energy-using system in most homes, after the heating and air-conditioning system. Efficient hot-water systems are often one of the shortest payback upgrades...
Plumb green with graywater
Plumb green with graywater By Georg Efird on 03/16/2009 Graywater is not a new term to many of us. It is water that has been used in the kitchen sink, washing machine, bathroom lavatories, showers, tubs and condensation systems. The amount of graywater available varies from household to household depending on...
EPA WaterSense Program
EPA WaterSense Program By Candice Black on 03/16/2009 Americans now use an average of 100 gallons of water each day—enough to fill 1,600 drinking glasses! A recent government survey indicated that at least 36 states are anticipating local, regional or statewide water shortages by 2013. If all U.S. households installed water-efficient...
Rain harvesting
Rain harvesting By Shawn Hatley on 02/01/2008 What about rainwater harvesting? It’s true that in order to collect rainwater, it must rain. But when it does rain, as many as 60,000 gallons of rainwater per year may fall on a 2,000-square-foot roof in the Mid-Atlantic states. Harvesting this amount from just...
Use rainwater management as a ‘best management practice’
Use rainwater management as a ‘best management practice’ By Shawn Hatley on 03/16/2006 Wayne County Cooperative Extension irrigates Master Gardener flower beds with rainwater. Who says rainwater systems do not have pressure? A national campaign promotes rainwater management as a best management practice, or environmental protection practice, to achieve large-scale water...