 WaterSense
2009 Partners of the Year
October 8, 2009, EPA released the 2008 WaterSense Partners of the
Year at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Expo in Las Vegas,
Nevada. Click each name to learn more about each winner’s
contributions to water efficiency in 2008.
2009 Manufacturer Partner of the Year: Kohler
Co.
 Winning
the WaterSense Partner of the Year Award two years running takes
a special level of commitment to WaterSense and water efficiency,
one demonstrated by plumbing manufacturer Kohler Co. From the tradeshow
circuit to reality television to the restrooms in New York City’s
Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, Kohler tapped into creative tactics
to promote WaterSense and its WaterSense labeled plumbing fixtures
across the country.
Kohler gave WaterSense a national spotlight through Save Water
America  ,
a Web site dedicated to educating homeowners about water efficiency
and supporting Habitat for Humanity with a $1 million product
donation. Kohler also showcased its WaterSense labeled products
at more than 30 screenings of the IMAX film Grand Canyon Adventure:
River at Risk as it toured the country.
Kohler has also collaborated with WaterSense partners on regional
campaigns of all shapes and sizes. In Denver, Kohler delivered “mobile
restrooms” to a consumer education event so that participants
could flush WaterSense labeled toilets first-hand. Kohler’s
mobile restrooms made another appearance in Atlanta to help promote
Georgia’s sales tax-free weekend. And moving on to Bozeman,
Montana, Kohler and distributor Ferguson helped to turn a local
citizen’s concept for a rebate program into reality: the Greater
Gallatin Toilet Tradeout.
By the end of 2008, more than 40 percent of all bathroom faucet
models and 175 combinations of toilets for sale under the KOHLER
brand had earned the WaterSense label. In addition, while showerheads,
urinals, and flushometer toilets are not currently part of the WaterSense
program, Kohler continues to invest in development of more water-efficient
versions of these products, several of which have won individual
awards for their design and eco-friendliness.
2009 Retailer/Distributor Partner of the Year:
Lowe's Companies, Inc.
 As
a Fortune 50 company and major retailer of residential plumbing
fixtures, Lowe’s serves approximately 14 million customers
each week at more than 1,650 home improvement stores in North America.
After becoming a WaterSense partner in 2008, Lowe’s shifted
its marketing strategy from focusing on energy efficiency to the
broader “efficient home,” emphasizing the nexus between
saving water and saving energy.
From the Lowe’s Efficient Home Web site to a bilingual Efficient
Home Guide, Lowe’s has highlighted WaterSense inside its stores
and in its stores’ communities. Likewise, Lowe’s has placed
continued emphasis on educating its 215,000 plus employees about the benefits
of WaterSense, capitalizing on training tools such as Lowe’s internal
video channel and companywide marketing meetings.
During sales tax-free events for WaterSense labeled products, in Georgia
and Virginia, Lowe’s joined forces with EPA and other key partners
and provided important promotional support. Sales staff learned how to help
customers identify WaterSense labeled products covered by the tax-free events
and explain their benefits. Shoppers at these events learned about water
and energy saving tips and products and received a special discount for various
WaterSense labeled products that Lowe’s helped negotiate with Kohler,
American Standard, and Jacuzzi.
Lowe’s continues to make increasing its inventory of WaterSense labeled
products and raising customer awareness a priority. John Kasberger, senior
vice president and general merchandising manager for kitchen and bath, firmly
communicated Lowe’s commitment to work with vendors to increase the
WaterSense presence in Lowe’s stores. During his keynote speech at
the Annual Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers meeting in April 2008,
he put it this way: “We want to be the leader when it comes to helping
customers save water.”
2009 Promotional Partner of the Year (Large
Utility): Cobb County Water System
 Cobb
County Water System has taken a leading role in promoting WaterSense
and water efficiency to its 650,000 customers in the Atlanta, Georgia
metro area.
Cobb County has been a champion of encouraging Atlanta area consumers to
give WaterSense labeled toilets a try, and their efforts have resulted in
an increased awareness and demand for WaterSense labeled toilets across the
state. To accomplish this goal, Cobb County masterminded a toilet rebate
program with the potential to save 13 million gallons of water annually.
That’s enough water to fill the Georgia Aquarium—the world’s
largest—1.5 times.
In 2008, Cobb County rebated more than 1,650 WaterSense labeled toilets,
at $100 per toilet. The program’s success inspired many of the largest
utilities in the 16 county Metro North Georgia Water Planning District to
adopt Cobb County’s rebate model.
Cobb County also demonstrated that there is strength in numbers. Exemplified
in their role as an instrumental force in bringing together Lowe’s,
The Home Depot, Ferguson, Kohler, and other local partners to leverage a
statewide sales tax holiday weekend in October 2008. Coordinating closely
with these organizations, Cobb County ensured that rebates were widely promoted
and that labeled products were stocked on retailers’ shelves. The results
speak for themselves: Cobb County saw a 400 percent increase
in WaterSense labeled toilet purchases over any comparable timeframe!
Through these collaborations, as well as extensive media coverage
of WaterSense and hundreds of speaking engagements during the
drought, Cobb County helped persuade consumers to look for the
WaterSense label, and think twice about water-efficiency, both inside the
home and out. Cobb County
advised its customers to hire WaterSense irrigation partners, and worked
with Atlanta and Fulton County to bring all of the GreenPlumbers USA
classes to Georgia. As a result, more than 140 plumbers learned
about WaterSense and WaterSense labeled products.
2009 Promotional Partner of the Year (Small Utility): James City Service Authority
 James
City Service Authority (JCSA) showed that you don’t have to
be big to save big. Serving approximately 46,000 people, JCSA is
the only water utility in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia to
offer a water conservation rebate program. With rebates ranging
from WaterSense labeled toilets to rain sensors to rain barrels,
and “on demand” hot water recirculators, JCSA provides
one of the widest varieties of rebates in the Southeast. The utility
uses this program and accompanying educational materials to steer
consumers toward WaterSense.
Because peak usage for summer outdoor lawn irrigation is the
greatest challenge to its groundwater-based water system, JCSA
expanded its suite of rebates to include water-efficient landscapes,
starting in August 2008. Customers receive a $500 rebate for hiring
a WaterSense irrigation partner to design, install, or audit a
water-efficient irrigation system.
To further educate its customers about outdoor water efficiency,
JCSA has established its own “Let’s Be Water Smart” program.
The program is a joint effort by 35 builders, developers, contractors,
irrigation specialists, landscape designers, and landscapers working
together to reign in outdoor water use. To advance water efficiency
inside the home, JCSA partnered with James City County Citizens’ Coalition,
a local citizen group, to encourage plumbers and retailers to provide
discounts on the sale and installation of WaterSense labeled toilets.
2009 Irrigation Partner of the Year:Brian Vinchesi
 As
president of Irrigation Consulting, Inc., in Pepperell, Massachusetts,
Brian Vinchesi has made WaterSense a vital part of his company’s
staff development. In addition to requiring his employees to complete
at least one WaterSense labeled certification program, Mr. Vinchesi,
a WaterSense partner since 2007, leads by example, maintaining four
certifications through the Irrigation Association that have earned
the WaterSense label. Seven of his staff are also WaterSense partners,,
and his firm strives for designs that achieve a minimum of 80 percent
efficiency and follow national green building program principles.
Beyond his consulting business, Mr. Vinchesi has 25 years of experience
sharing his irrigation expertise through education and is currently chairman
of the Irrigation Association Education Foundation. In 2008, while lecturing
at six conferences and symposia and teaching nearly a dozen classes, Mr.
Vinchesi focused on water efficiency and sustainable irrigation systems,
helping to spread the word about WaterSense from coast to coast. Mr. Vinchesi
also contributed to articles and columns on water-efficient irrigation
systems and practices for Mountain West Turf and Irrigation & Green
Industry.
Working to coordinate efforts among a coalition of water purveyors, equipment
manufacturers, and irrigation professionals, Mr. Vinchesi has headed up
the Irrigation Association’s Smart Water Application Technologies
(SWAT) initiative since its inception in 2001. As part of the SWAT initiative,
in 2008 he met with Massachusetts legislators and the Massachusetts Department
of Environmental Protection to promote WaterSense. Under Mr. Vinchesi’s
leadership and in coordination with EPA, the SWAT committee has been developing
testing protocols to measure the performance of weather-based irrigation
controllers and soil moisture sensors, which continues to be a crucial
part of WaterSense specification for irrigation controllers.
This information is also available as a PDF document: 2009
WaterSense Partners of the Year (PDF) (4 pp, 872K, About
PDF)
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