Page 44 - Green Builder Magazine Sept-Oct 2017

Shrinking Usage,

Expanding Possibilities

Graywater reuse and smart irrigation can help projects earn

permits and stretch tight water budgets further.

or captured rainwater are not subject to the full ordinance, but
instead must comply with a simple irrigation checklist.
The Nexus eWater team has been cultivating a network of
California architects, builders and developers over the years, in
preparation for their first full production run this summer. One of
these partners is Gary McDonald Homes, which is installing either
a full system or the Recycle Ready Assembly in every new home in
Copper Hills Estates, a development in Fresno.
Features such as graywater systems can help builders distinguish
their homes, especially in areas where sustainable housing is in
demand. Still, despite its benefits, the Nexus eWater graywater
system still costs around $10,000, and builders must show the value
of this added cost. During the last code cycle, NSF 350 was expanded
CREDIT: BLUEHILL75 to include commercial and multi-family projects, opening up new
opportunities for graywater reuse. Nexus eWater is starting to explore
those opportunities.
“In this new world of MWELO, we are seeing that even for
NE OF THE BIGGEST BENEFITS of graywater reuse, regular home buyers the price tag is worth it if it allows them to
according to Josh Fuller, Sales and Marketing, Nexus have larger pools or greener landscaping,” says Fuller. “But there’s a
eWater, is that it enables more possibilities when it real opportunity to split use and costs between two or three units in
comes to outdoor water use, especially in places with multi-family developments, which is really exciting for us.”
O tough water ordinances.
“Using the system allows most people to expand their proposed
landscaping, or add a pool or spa,” says Fuller. “It helps ease the
project through permitting, because you can prove that you’re not
using any extra potable water.”
This is certainly true in California. As per Governor Jerry Brown’s
2015 Executive Order, part of emergency measures targeting the
drought, California updated its Model Water Efficient Landscaping
Ordinance, or MWELO. This ordinance applies to all new construction
and sets standards for plantings, irrigation equipment and allowable CREDIT: RACHIO
percentage of turf, among other things. Cities may adopt their own
ordinances, so long as they are at least as strict as the state-wide
MWELO. The updated MWELO incentivizes graywater reuse, along Data Collector. The Rachio Wi-Fi Smart Sprinkler Controller
with rainwater collection and stormwater management. Landscapes can be controlled by a smartphone or PC, and it will track water
under 2,500 square feet that are irrigated exclusively with graywater use over time.

42 GREEN BUILDER September/October 2017 www.greenbuildermedia.com

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