One label for one industry: "Water is top of the list"
Benjamin Franklin once said that there are only two certain things in life, “death and taxes”.
Contrary to this there is a third and it is that our earth’s resources are finite.
Amongst the biggest challenges in our troubled world will be how we plan to manage those dwindling resources, and recycle, repair and renew what we already have, including buildings and their contents.
For the sake of our future generations we have to take care of what we have got. The old saying “waste not, want not” is now more important than it’s ever been and we as leaders in the design and construction industries, have a responsibility to heed its premise and act sustainably.
Water is top of the list
At the top of the sustainability list is water, a resource which is so crucial to life.
Water supply is under increasing stress and although Mother Earth seems to have an endless supply, the world is using too much. It means for us mere humans, it’s often the wrong sort of water and in the wrong place!
The sustainability and continuity of our natural resources is one of the most important issues facing future generations. With that in mind, the independent and entirely voluntary European Water Labelling Scheme was developed by manufacturers in the UK bathroom industry. It is now firmly established across Europe and beyond.
The scheme’s online database www.europeanwaterlabel.eu and accompanying product label shows the water-consumption characteristics of bathroom and kitchen products by using a quick-to-discover approach. This enables industry professionals to select products to suit their client’s brief and budgets in an informed and educated way. The associated Water Calculator www.thewatercalculator.org.uk/ helps the architect and specifier to conform with the relevant regulations.
The label helps in the drive to reduce waste.
The European Water Label is now proving to be a major design influencer in the bathroom and kitchen industry, and an unintended, but very welcome consequence of its development is that it is becoming a catalyst for good bathroom layout and design.
The award winning scheme is now, undeniably, the most important labelling scheme of its type. It is a force for good in the construction industry.
Bathroom and kitchen manufacturers are working conscientiously to develop products which are both water and energy efficient, whilst maintaining excellent performance and consumer satisfaction. Manufacturers are now pitched against each other in the race for the most efficient products in their particular category.
