Comments on: New Mexico Green Builders Create Water Efficiency Rating System

By: Joel Feinberg

Joel Feinberg — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 19:06:17 +0000

In reply to Doug Thompson. I do not know about plants or
I do not know about plants or nurseries in your area, however in the north east most plants come with a label stating whether the plant like dry , damp or wet locations and whether it likes sun part sun or little sun. I am sorry that this not the exact wording but I am sure you get my drift. I also assume that you are talking about how much a plant uses per year. This would be nice but near impossible since the amount of water needed changes as the plant grows and changes again when it is fully mature and again as it start to near the end of its life

By: Allison Bailes

Allison Bailes — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 19:00:57 +0000

In reply to Joel Feinberg. That one drives me crazy, too
That one drives me crazy, too, Joel. Glad I'm not alone!

By: Joel Feinberg

Joel Feinberg — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 18:56:07 +0000

In reply to Mike Collignon. The one that drives me crazy
The one that drives me crazy nuts is HOT WATER HEATER used when it should be just WATER HEATER. HOT WATER HEATER is redundant. COLD WATER HEATER would at least make sense, since you do heat cold/colder water rarely if ever do you heat hot water.

By: Joel Feinberg

Joel Feinberg — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 15:06:17 +0000

I do not know about plants or
I do not know about plants or nurseries in your area, however in the north east most plants come with a label stating whether the plant like dry , damp or wet locations and whether it likes sun part sun or little sun. I am sorry that this not the exact wording but I am sure you get my drift. I also assume that you are talking about how much a plant uses per year. This would be nice but near impossible since the amount of water needed changes as the plant grows and changes again when it is fully mature and again as it start to near the end of its life

By: Allison Bailes

Allison Bailes — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 15:00:57 +0000

That one drives me crazy, too
That one drives me crazy, too, Joel. Glad I'm not alone!

By: Joel Feinberg

Joel Feinberg — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 14:56:07 +0000

The one that drives me crazy
The one that drives me crazy nuts is HOT WATER HEATER used when it should be just WATER HEATER. HOT WATER HEATER is redundant. COLD WATER HEATER would at least make sense, since you do heat cold/colder water rarely if ever do you heat hot water.

By: Steve McKenna

Steve McKenna — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 08:11:37 +0000

Doug brings up a great point.
Doug brings up a great point. Landscape watering is a major contributor. The Western states face critical water situations. Kudos to New Mexico for working to bring conservation front and center.

By: Steve McKenna

Steve McKenna — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 03:11:37 +0000

By: David Butler

David Butler — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 00:46:33 +0000

@Thomas, of course you're
@Thomas, of course you're correct regarding utility rate structures. The same thing is beginning to happen withe electricity... high fixed charges and lower kWh charges to protect recovery of sunk distribution costs as energy efficiency and PV is cutting into their revenues.

One simple solution (although not so simple politically) would be to impose conservation taxes to consumption that would fund efficiency incentives and R&D; (or gov't subsidies for large scale groundwater retention projects, desalination plants, etc).

By: Mike Collignon

Mike Collignon — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 20:59:15 +0000

Doug - You are absolutely
Doug - You are absolutely right; there are big gains in efficiency when looking at outdoor water use. It is the next step for us, and we've already been working our way through that as we develop the next version of the WERS program. It's not an easy task, though. I'm finding that politics often pose a greater challenge than the technical aspects of it all.

Thanks for the feedback! We appreciate it.