Join the discussion on some of the latest water innovations being made in the water management field and their contributions to sustainability and conservation. Here, we discuss best practices and the impact water innovations have on curbing water use and associated cost savings. Get new ideas, case studies and solutions being generated to best conserve and manage our water resources.
Water-related charities are dear to my heart (Read how you can help, one way I help, and why it’s important.) so I love seeing companies sharing their resources to help bring clean water to people in need. Earlier this year I was invited to Central America to help drill a well with WeatherMatic, as part of their Save Water | Give Life campaign. I wasn’t able to go this time, but I made them promise to tell me all about it when... MORE >
Building Innovations Imagine a light bulb with a smart chip that uses 60 percent less energy, cuts itself off when there’s no one in the room and goes into an alarm mode, blinking on and off if fire breaks out. Or glass that responds to temperature and light conditions to significantly reduce energy uses by the traditional building HVAC systems. What about a leading ad agency office with no desks, only benches, or a design-office for 30-somethings that features roll-up,... MORE >
Further Adventures in Drip Conversion: In my last post I wrote about converting from individual point source emitters to a drip emitter line in a portion of my yard . That project was relatively easy in that each of my two parkway areas were already partially irrigated by an emitter line system. All I had to do was modify the existing supply header and add new drip lines to extend to the underserved end of each parkway where I installed a terminal... MORE >
Each day I become more aware how important it is to educate customers about proper water management. When customers understand the premises of water management, they value the benefits of certifications, case studies, and training a professional contractor provides through a team of expert water managers. Trilogy at Glen Ivy is a development that understands the value of proper water management. It is located in the heart of Southern California’s Temescal Valley less than an hour from Los Angeles, Orange... MORE >
On March 22 I attended the Dry Lands Design Conference. The event was co-hosted by the California Architectural Foundation and the Arid Lands Institute, the brainchild of Co-Directors Hadley and Peter Arnold, faculty in the Architecture program at Woodbury University in Burbank,California. The Conference was held on the Woodbury campus where it brought together noted experts from academia, architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, infrastructure, and public policy to consider the topic of “Adaptive Design”. The goal of the gathering was to... MORE >
This post had crossed my mind to write but I dismissed it as a bit “preachy” until I read Alan Harris’ recent piece about re-tweeting the Laura Huffman lectures at Rice University. I am not yet tweet-savvy so my interest was in Ms. Huffman’s topic and not on the efficacy of tweetups as a viable means of amplifying the dissemination of relevant and topical information (there is probably a master’s thesis in there somewhere). I wanted to illustrate the concept... MORE >
BACKGROUND The scenic canyon location of this Santa Ynez community is a major draw for residents who enjoy views from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. But the hillside slopes surrounding the community proved problematic for the homeowners’ association. Faced with an aging irrigation system prone to breaking, the board decided to take action to prevent costly water loss from ruptures and to address serious soil erosion problems threatening homes. Project Scope Santa Ynez Homeowners’ Association was experiencing... MORE >
I have posted on this site some basic information about green roofs (Green Roofs and Water Management and Green Roofs and Urban Enhancement). Fellow Blogger Alan Harris has posted informative pieces about water capture for irrigation using various cisterns and water butts (Does this Make My Water Butt Look Big, When a Water Butt is Just Not Big Enough). With this post I hope to connect some currently disparate dots to suggest that these elements, when combined, constitute the NEW... MORE >
