Ask A House Designer: Building a Green Home

The designers and architects at The House Designers would like to encourage consumers and builders to submit their questions about building a green home since they are the leaders in designing authentic green house plans.

This week’s question:

Q: Will I be sacrificing performance and style using WaterSense® bath products?

A: Homeowners typically use over 70 gallons of water a day per person. Much of that usage stems from bathroom activities. High-design, high-efficiency plumbing products for toilets, faucets and showerheads are now available and can reduce water consumption by 20 percent. For example, water flows from a standard showerhead at 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm), so a 10-minute shower (with the water running continuously) nets 25 gallons. This is why using a WaterSense® approved showerhead is so important to water conservation in your home. WaterSense® products must have a flow rate of 2.0 gpm or less, while also meeting performance requirements for flow rate across a range of pressures, spray force, and spray coverage. When it comes to high efficiency toilets, these models must consumer no more than 1.28 gallons per flush. All faucets must have a GPM of 1.5 or lower. All products must obtain third-party verification in order to qualify for the WaterSense® label.

We encourage you to visit our collection of ENERGY STAR/Green House Plans as well as catch up on the latest green building products and trends in our Product Ideas section, including articles like “Stylish and Water Efficient Bath Products,” “Designing and Eco-Friendly Kitchen,” “What Makes a Home Green.”

Don’t miss a single new article, by subscribing to The House Designers free weekly e-newsletter called Home Ideas.

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Christine Cooney

Editor in Chief at The House Designers

Christine has over a decade of experience as a house plan and floor plan expert. Outside of providing her expertise to customers to help them find and build their dream homes, her passion and knowledge of the home building industry allows Christine to guide families and builders through all of the important steps from finding plans to building custom homes that meet the expectations of today’s new home owner. Christine’s years of knowledge of the diverse trends and needs of the modern homeowner has made her into an authoritative and trusted voice in the online house plan community.

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Christine Cooney

Christine has over a decade of experience as a house plan and floor plan expert. Outside of providing her expertise to customers to help them find and build their dream homes, her passion and knowledge of the home building industry allows Christine to guide families and builders through all of the important steps from finding plans to building custom homes that meet the expectations of today’s new home owner. Christine’s years of knowledge of the diverse trends and needs of the modern homeowner has made her into an authoritative and trusted voice in the online house plan community..