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The average household spends as much as $500 per year on its water and sewer bill, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Atlantic Marine Corps Communities is reducing Camp Lejeune’s water usage from the ground up with the production of 537 new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified homes in Midway Park.
In each home AMCC is installing low flow faucets and shower heads, Energy Star compliant dishwashers and water heaters, and dual flush toilets, said Jeff Williams, development manager for AMCC.
“If all U.S. households installed water-efficient appliances, the country would save more than three trillion gallons of water and more than $18 billion per year,” according to a recent study by the EPA. “If one out of every 100 American homes retrofitted with water-efficient fixtures, we could save about 100 million (kilowatt-hour) of electricity per year - avoiding 80,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. That is equivalent to removing nearly 15,000 automobiles from the road for one year.”
Putting a twist on an American standard, the toilet, AMCC’s installation of dual flush toilets will be the most obvious of the changes to the residents.
These toilets have two different settings, a half flush for liquid removal, and one for full flush solid removal, said Willaims.
“As part of the LEED certification process we show the residents how the new toilets and Energy Star appliances work,” he said.
Simply using Energy Star Appliances can result in a 20 to 30 percent energy savings, said Dixie Lanier, strategic marketing manager for AMCC.
These water saving devices save energy due to the considerable amount of energy needed to deliver and treat water everyday.
American public water supply and treatment facilities consume about 56 billion kwh per year, and this is enough electricity to power more than five million homes for an entire year, according to the EPA. For example, letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 14 hours.
In addition to interior water conservation projects, AMCC plans to improve the grounds ability to conserve water, said Williams.
“The plants are designed not to need watering, and the swells (the dips put between roadways to collect water) will have wetland vegetation planted to improve water absorption,” he said. “Actus Lend Lease is committed to sustainability in their projects, and this LEED certified project is just another example of that commitment.”
The LEED certification for homes is a rating system used to promote design and construction of high performing sustainable homes, said Lanier.
The rating system measures the overall performance of a home in eight different categories: Innovation and design process, location and linkages, sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and awareness and education.
Once complete, the Midway Park Neighborhood will be the first LEED certified housing on a Marine Corps Base, and will be the largest neighborhood in the state of North Carolina to be comprised of all LEED certified homes, she said.
The demolition process at Camp Lejeune’s Midway Park neighborhood began in late 2008 and new home construction will take place in four phases over the course of the next three to four years. The first group of 132 new homes is scheduled to be occupied by 2010.
Atlantic Marine Corps Communities is a 50-year partnership created between the Navy and Actus Lend Lease through the Military Privatization Act to develop, build, renovate, finance, and manage more than 8,000 homes.
