THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 9, 1995 TAG: 9509070360
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JEANNE MOONEY, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
Most people probably would use words like ``upscale'' or ``stylish'' to describe what they see at Homearama. This year, builder Albie Viola will offer them another adjective for their lexicons: water-smart.
Viola built for Homearama '95 a spacious Prairie-style home that he hopes will impart a civic lesson as well as an aesthetic charm.
The message is key for Virginia Beach, where water is short and where Homearama '95 will be held Oct. 7-22. It goes something like this: Learn to conserve. The days of unfettered water use in Virginia Beach are long gone.
Viola equips this home, The Water-Wise Garden Home, with low-flow toilets and faucets, as city law requires. He landscapes it with drought-tolerant grass and ground cover. Even the driveway, patio and sidewalk are put to work; made of pervious concrete, they capture rainwater and help recharge the subsoil with moisture.
``When people come in here, there's going to be an educational process,'' says Viola, president of the Chesapeake-based Viola Building Corp. and president-elect of the Tidewater Builders Association, which sponsors Homearama annually.
Convincing the masses who tour Viola's Water-Wise Garden Home to switch to water-saving habits and technology is a whopping task. After all, who goes to an open house at a home selling for $365,000 and gushes later to friends about the ultra-low-flush toilets or low-flow shower heads?
No, visitors here likely will remember the 10- and 11-foot ceilings framed with crown moldings, or the terra-cotta floors laid in a maple wood, or the openness of the dining room, kitchen and family room.
To be sure, this four-bedroom home is not without its indulgences. It is big, for openers, with 3,400 square feet of space. It has three full baths and two half-baths. The master bath offers a Jacuzzi.
For all those who might miss the conservation lesson because they were distracted by the fineries of the home's design and decor, here's a primer on those water-saving workhorses of modern life.
Most can be adopted in existing homes for a reasonable cost, Viola says.
The toilets. Let's get this out of the way. Viola installed 1.6-gallon water closets throughout. City law requires ultra-low-flush toilets in all new homes.
Why? Because toilets of yesteryear used between 3.5 and 7 gallons of water per flush. The amount of water saved is substantial when one considers that a family of three can cut its water use by more than 8,000 gallons a year if it switches from a 3.5-gallon toilet to a 1.6-gallon model.
The catch to these water misers is buying one that will get the job done with one flush, says Wanda L. Frink, water conservation coordinator for the city of Virginia Beach. The toilets sell for about $65 on up, though the February issue of Consumer Reports magazine recommends a model from Gerber that fetches about $210.
The good news is, the city of Virginia Beach will pay its residents $75 each time they switch from an older model to the ultra-low-flush toilet. And, says Frink, the city also will give these resident a free low-flow shower head.
Faucets and shower heads. Here, too, law requires Viola to go low-flow. Depending on the water pressure, these fixtures are designed to use about 2.2 to 2.5 gallons per minute at full throttle, says Carl Christian, plumbing inspector supervisor for Virginia Beach.
Older models use 3 or more gallons a minute, he says. Their cost? Faucets start at about $11 and top out at about $400, while shower head prices begin at $5 and climb to about $45.
The water-saving measures of Viola's home go beyond what law requires. For instance, he plumbed the home so that hot water is available immediately in the kitchen and within seconds in the bathrooms. That means no waiting and less wasting. How is it done?
A circulation system keeps heated water moving through a loop of pipes connecting the hot-water heater and all bathroom spigots.
This system, which Viola says cost about $550, can be installed easily in a new home. Putting one in an existing home can be a bit more tricky, though. Plumbers might be able to install this system in a ranch home that sits on a crawl space, Christian says. But in a multi-story home, he says, ``You'd most likely have to bust out walls.''
Installing an instant hot-water system in the kitchen is a simpler task. It requires putting a miniature water-heater and pump under the sink. They cost about $150 to buy and have installed, Christian says.
The landscaping. Drought-tolerant Zoysia or Bermuda grass, hawthorn, holly and juniper shrubs and crape myrtle and river birch trees will grace the yard. Rock gardens will rest at the foot of the home to prevent mulch from washing out and to disperse water to nearby plants, says Gail Dickerson, landscape designer with Wedgwood Garden Center, Inc.
``It's not so much the plant as it is smart planting,'' Dickerson says.
The Water-Wise Garden Home is one of 14 homes featured in Homearama '95, located this year in the Lago Mar neighborhood of Virginia Beach. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by L. Todd Spencer
Ralph Hutchins installs a water-saving shower...
Staff photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Developer Albert Viola and Wanda Frink, Virginia Beach water
conservation coordinator, stand at the entryway to the Water-Wise
house, which will be open for Homerama.
by CNB