A flush for the future, ZHomes moves beyond energy with new EPA award

National attention for the ZHome community’s energy efficiency shifted with a flush of a toilet Wednesday.

“It’s .8 gallons,” said Brad Liljequist, project manager for the city, while the commode began to fill with runoff from the roof.

Various representatives from the city and Environmental Protection Agency stood round the concrete-floor bathroom looking impressed.

Issaquah’s zero-energy homes have been pushing the envelope of sustainability since the project was first envisioned several years ago. As a result, the developer, Ichijo, has piled up national plaques and international recognition.

The EPA added another framed award to the stack from its water conservation program, similar to EnergyStar, called WaterSense.

It’s been awarding shower head manufacturers the title since 2010, but ZHome was the first community to receive the award.

The new label requires developments to cut water use by 20 percent, but Issaquah’s project cut it by 70 percent.

The townhomes’ specialized shower heads and water meters, which give homeowners a real-time projection of water use, are among the more gadgety conservation tools. However, most of the credit goes to water cisterns buried off the back patios, which store up to 1,700 gallons of water runoff from the roof.

Before water conservation efforts like these, the Cascade Water Alliance expected to start running short of demand in a few decades. Now it doesn’t expect to have problems for another century, said Lloyd Warren, chair of CWA.

There isn’t a future without conservation, said Paula vanHaagen, a local EPA manager, adding, “This development goes a lot further than just water conservation.”

On the right, Paula vanHaagen, a manager for the EPA, gives a representative from Ichijo Homes a water conservation award, called WaterSense.

The WaterSense award program was piloted after a successful EnergySaver campaign.

Contact Issaquah Reporter Staff Writer Celeste Gracey at cgracey@issaquahreporter.com or 425-391-0363.

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