EPA announces award winners

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized its first two-time WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award winner, along with nine Partners of the Year and five Excellence Award winners, at the WaterSmart Innovations (WSI) Conference in Las Vegas, Nev. These partners stood out as making significant strides to strengthen communities' water efficiency efforts last year. The combined efforts of the award winners and nearly 1,500 WaterSense partners resulted in saving 757 billion gallons of water and $14.2 billion in water and energy bills since 2006.

• Kohler Co. received its second consecutive Sustained Excellence Award, the highest level of WaterSense recognition, for its efforts to promote WaterSense in 2013, including a cross-country "Trust the Flush" bus tour showcasing WaterSense labeled toilets' performance at more than 185 events.

• Cobb County Water System in Georgia was named a Promotional Partner of the Year for a third time in part for its WaterSense labeled toilet rebate program, which helped reduce the county's annual average daily water use by 10 million gallons per day in 2013 compared to 2010.

• Colorado Springs Utilities in Colorado received its second Promotional Partner of the Year award for educating more than 20,000 visitors about water efficiency and WaterSense labeled product performance at its Conservation and Environmental Center, among other efforts.

• Delta Faucet Company earned its third Large Manufacturer Partner of the Year award for creating an online faucet video gallery and website that featured WaterSense labeled products in more than 20 videos.

• HydroPoint Data Systems was named Small Manufacturer Partner of the Year for introducing a Water Budget Manager tool that allows users to see, track and report a landscape's water consumption after installing WaterSense labeled irrigation controllers.

• The Home Depot, a three-time Retailer Partner of the Year, was recognized for its efforts to support utility WaterSense labeled product rebate programs nationwide and helping consumers achieve more than $36 million in product markdowns.

• KB Home won its fourth consecutive Builder Partner of the Year award by breaking new ground in 2013 with the introduction of its Double ZeroHouse 2.0 concept to demonstrate water efficiency, energy efficiency and other resource savings.

• Energy Inspectors Corporation, a two-time Licensed Certification Provider Partner of the Year, inspected 51 WaterSense labeled new homes in 2013 and collaborated with KB Home to educate homeowners about the labeled homes’ water- and energy-saving benefits.

• The Irrigation Association received its second Professional Certifying Organization Partner of the Year award for educating irrigation professionals and contractors about WaterSense and professional certification, as well as cross-promoting WaterSense's Sprinkler Spruce-Up campaign with its Smart Irrigation Month campaign.

• The Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership earned a Professional Certifying Organization Partner of the Year award for increasing the promotion of its WaterSense labeled Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper program that has certified hundreds of irrigation professionals to date.

EPA also gave five WaterSense Excellence Awards at the WSI conference to partners for their efforts in specific program areas:
• Athens-Clarke County (Georgia) Public Utilities Department, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Dallas for Excellence in Outreach and Education

• Denver Water for Excellence in Strategic Collaboration

• Puget Sound Energy (Washington) for Excellence in Promoting WaterSense Labeled Products

To learn more about the WaterSense Partner of the Year Awards program, visit www.epa.gov/watersense/partners/watersense_awards.html.