The 2021 WaterSense Sustained Excellence, Partner of the Year and Excellence Award winners were announced during the recent WaterSmart Innovations Conference. WaterSense and its more than 2,000 partners make it possible for consumers and businesses to save water, energy and money by producing and promoting water-efficient products, homes and programs. Since 2006, WaterSense partners have helped save 5.3 trillion gallons of water and $108 billion on consumer utility bills. To see a full list of winners, visit https://www.epa.gov/watersense/watersense-awards. Plumbing product manufacturers being recognized this year include:
2021 WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award
Kohler Co. won its seventh WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award this year. In 2020, Kohler launched a collection of new WaterSense-labeled fixtures, including 14 new toilets, 36 faucets, 25 showerheads and 20 new urinal/flushometer bowls and valves.
Throughout the year, the company consistently promoted WaterSense on its website, products, digital communication and in the Kohler Design Center – which, despite being shut down for three months during the pandemic, had 28,000 visitors in 2020.
The company demonstrated its commitment to water efficiency by participating in product specification reviews, and by funding research conducted by the Alliance for Water Efficiency that assessed the water savings potential of affordability programs focused on conservation in Detroit, Michigan. During the pandemic, the KOHLER Relief Showering Trailer, which features WaterSense-labeled fixtures, was deployed to several temporary field hospitals to refresh and recharge frontline healthcare workers. The company continued its philanthropic efforts by donating plumbing fixtures to Habitat for Humanity homes built in Wisconsin, as well as to a Michigan pilot program preparing to upgrade water efficiency in older homes outside Detroit.
2021 WaterSense Excellence Award
Earning its fifth WaterSense award for Excellence in Promoting WaterSense-labeled products, Niagara continued to prove its dedication to water savings in 2020. Niagara offers credited continuing education for architects and engineers that highlights the importance of water conservation and installing WaterSense-labeled products in new construction.
Although Niagara couldn’t promote their labeled products in person during most of 2020, they included information about WaterSense in every virtual event where representatives presented, as well as on their website, social media and product packaging.
In addition, Green Builder’s Home of the Year and the Sustainability Awards program recognized Niagara’s WaterSense-labeled Nano toilet as an Innovation of the Year, and the company began designing a number of new products specifically for professional plumbers in four different categories to meet WaterSense specifications.
