50L Home Pilot Offers Roadmap for Policy, Funding, and Cultural Change
VX News highlights the U.S. Green Building Council California’s (USGBC-CA) published results from its 50 Liter Home pilot project in Los Angeles—a proof-of-concept and replicable model showing how households can achieve dramatic water savings while maintaining comfort and quality of life.
The pilot delivered striking results: participating homes averaged just 87 liters (23 gallons) of indoor water use per person per day—50% lower than the Los Angeles average [1]. Situated within the broader challenges facing the water industry, USGBC-CA’s newly released insight paper outlines a strategic roadmap for scaling efficiency, including innovative funding mechanisms, policy evolution, and a cultural shift in the perception of water.
VX News has followed this initiative since the Future of Water at Home panel at VerdeXchange Conference 2024, moderated by USGBC-CA Executive Director Ben Stapleton, with LADWP’s Terrence McCarthy, consultant Maureen Erbeznik, and Metropolitan Water District’s Adrian Hightower.
Introducing the panel, Stapleton explained how the pilot is testing a new model for water planning…
“The intent is to really create a platform to gather data from consumers, identify ways to adjust incentive schemes, integrate solutions from our coalition partners, and—most importantly—take a whole-home approach to addressing water use, which hasn’t really been done before. We’ve established baselines, deployed best-in-class retrofits, and now we’re moving into phase three to prove out what’s possible with bleeding-edge technologies. The goal is not just technical innovation, but changing consumer behavior—making water savings an amazing user experience.”
Hightower expanded on reframing the utility perspective, pointing to the paradox agencies face when promoting conservation…
“From a water agency’s perspective, conservation is two sides of the same coin. On one hand, it can mean less revenue, which is difficult from a business standpoint. On the other hand, it lowers infrastructure costs and improves the use of existing systems, which makes strong business sense and is central to our climate adaptation planning. The real opportunity now is applying the lessons we’ve learned—especially in underserved communities—through partnerships like this coalition, rather than trying to invent everything on our own.”
Taken together, these panel insights highlight both the household-level innovation and the institutional business case for water efficiency—underscoring why scaling efforts like the 50L Home pilot are essential to California’s long-term resilience. The VX24 panel is still accessible here!
What’s Next for Water? A Strategic Roadmap by USGBC-CA
Immediate (1+ years): Expand collaborations and public–private partnerships.
The report highlights that the fastest progress comes through cross-sector collaboration. Programs like the 50L Home Coalition show how utilities, manufacturers, and NGOs can deploy cutting-edge technologies—such as efficient washers with cold-water detergents or dish care systems paired with ultra-efficient appliances. Collaboration unlocks “stacked incentives,” combining utility, stormwater, and state funding to make retrofits affordable and scalable.
Short-Term (1–7 years): Develop creative financing and funding mechanisms.
Drawing on lessons from the energy sector, the report recommends debt financing and budget-based rate structures to stabilize utility revenues while rewarding conservation. With fixed charges covering infrastructure costs and tiered pricing sending strong efficiency signals, utilities can both recover expenses and empower customers to stay within personalized water budgets.
Intermediate (7+ years): Promote state and federal efficiency standards.
Build on the foundation of the 1992 Energy Policy Act, which established a national baseline plumbing efficiency, and expand state-level frameworks such as California’s “Making Conservation a Way of Life” [2], which establishes ambitious goals for residential and irrigation efficiency.
Long-Term (15 years): Shift public perception of water’s value.
Ultimately, the report stresses that cultural transformation is key. Water must be seen not as a cheap, abundant commodity, but as a finite, essential resource. Mechanisms like transparent pricing, contractor education, and community outreach can help households connect conservation with real financial and environmental benefits—the long-term objective: a cultural transformation where conservation is embedded in daily life and sustained over generations.
Insight Paper → The Paradox of Cheap Water: Strategies for Scaling Efficiency