Category: Uncategorized

Wednesday, August 5, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon

TEXAS A&M TRACK
Room 404

T53 11:00 – 12:00 noon
Performance-Based Water Conservation With WERS

• Mike Collignon, Green Builder Coalition
• Laureen Blissard, Green Builder Coalition
• Bill Roth, SFWCC

This presentation provides a general overview of the WERS program, a whole-house, performance-based approach to water efficiency. This program is applicable for both new and existing homes and can incorporate EPA’s WaterSense program and other water budgeting tools into the final results. Through the use of audience interaction and visual aids, attendees will gain an understanding of the elements of field data capture needed to derive a WERS and how a home would compare to other homes in the area. Finally, they will have a level of understanding sufficient enough to communicate the benefit of a WERS to their state and local communities, and/or elected officials in adopting water conservation measures.

The City of Santa Fe’s Sustainable Santa Fe Commission recently announced that the Water Efficiency Rating Score’s Development Team won a Sustainable Santa Fe Award. The Commission bestowed the honor in the “Water Adaptation” category for “developing an accurate and flexible tool to drive water conservation in measurable ways”.

“We are truly humbled that the City of Santa Fe has recognized the WERS development team,” said Mike Collignon, Executive Director of the Green Builder® Coalition. “It’s a testament to the work they have conducted over the past 14 months to bring a practical water efficiency program to areas looking for assistance.”

The WERS program uses a scoring scale of zero to 100, with zero being the most desirable. It analyzes indoor water usage, as well as rainwater and graywater usage. The City of Santa Fe has passed a resolution calling for its addition to their green building code. The New Mexico legislature would like to add it to the sustainable building tax credit requirements. Numerous communities and green building programs are looking to utilize this innovative program. For more information, please visit www.wers.us.

The Sustainable Santa Fe Awards Gala, sponsored by the City of Santa Fe Sustainable Santa Fe Commission, the Green Chamber of Commerce, Earth Care, the Green Fire Times, and hosted by Green Drinks, La Fonda Hotel and Horizons Sustainable Financial Services, will take place on Wednesday, April 8th from 5:30pm to 7:00pm at La Fonda Hotel’s New Mexico Room, 100 E. San Francisco Street. All members of the public are invited to join in the recognition and celebration of the local sustainability heroes. The award winners will be on hand to share their projects and answer questions.