Learn about real-world solutions that conserve water, minimize green waste, protect natural habitats, and advocate other environmentally-friendly horticultural best practices. Join ValleyCrest and HydroPoint for green landscape tips you can use 365 days a year. Green industry experts Richard Restuccia and Charles Zaher show how you can design a sustainable landscape plan for your organization that is easy to implement and immediately increases asset value. Learn how properties like yours are making simple improvements in plant materials, outdoor water management and sustainability benchmarks today to create positive longer term impacts for staff, operations and the environment.
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Top Ten Ways to Green Your Grounds Earth Day Webinar April 2013
1. TOP 10 WAYS TO
GREEN YOUR GROUNDS
Presented by:
2. YOUR PRESENTERS
Charles Zaher
Regional Director
HydroPoint Data Systems, Inc.
Richard Restuccia
Director, Water Management Solutions
ValleyCrest Landscape Companies
#landscapechat
4. POLLING QUESTION
Why are you interested in sustainability?
a. Environmental concerns
b. My employer wants to be more sustainable
c. Public pressure
d. All of the above
e. Other
#landscapechat
5. 9. KNOW WHERE YOU GROW
WATER PLANT
AUDIT PALETTE
SMART
REBATES TECHNOLOGY
#landscapechat
9. 5. BE WATER AWARE
MORE THAN
SPRINKLERS
– Reduces operating costs
– Conserves resources
– Promotes plant health
– Enhances public image
– Minimizes liability
#landscapechat
10. 4. CONVERT YOUR TURF
100 SQUARE FEET • USES 4,800
GALLONS
TURF OF H2O
ANNUALLY
100 sf = X 2,000
#landscapechat
11. THINK ABOUT YOUR GRASS
Convert
BEFORE
medians,
parking lot
islands,
entrances
#landscapechat
12. THINK ABOUT YOUR GRASS
Convert AFTER
medians,
parking lot
islands,
entrances
#landscapechat
13. POLLING QUESTION
Are you using smart irrigation controllers?
If yes, what is the biggest benefit?
a. Cash Savings
b. Automation
c. Mobile Control
d. Flow Monitoring
e. Not Used On Site
#landscapechat
14. 3. DIVVY UP
• Create water zones for plants
with similar needs
• Inspect irrigation system for
preventive maintenance
• Reduce plant density
#landscapechat
21. THANK YOU
For water management resources, articles and ideas, visit
www.valleycresttakeson.com
www.hydropoint.com
Editor's Notes
Slide 1: Top 10 Ways to Green Your Grounds 10 minute announcement: Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for joining us. We will be starting our program shortly. (Hold on Slide 1) 5 minute announcement: Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for joining us. We will be starting our program very shortly. (Hold on Slide 1) Michelle at WebEx: Good Morning and Good Afternoon! We would like to welcome you to today’s broadcast, Top 10 Ways to Green Your Grounds. I am Michelle Owens with WebEX and I would like to review a few “how-to’s” with you before we get started. Today’s program will be recorded and your lines have been muted. We will host Q&A at the conclusion of today’s program, but we invite you to submit questions at any point during the presentation using the Q&A Chat feature located in the lower right hand corner of your screen. And for those of you who use Twitter, you can also tweet comments using the #landscapechat hashtag.
Michelle introduces speakers; reminds participants they can tweet comments And now, I would like to introduce you to today’s presenters. Charles Zaher brings 31 years of irrigation industry experience to his position as Regional Director at HydroPoint Data Systems. Charles speaks frequently on the topics of irrigation design, system components and water management strategies to both technical and business audiences. Richard Restuccia serves as Director of Water Management Solutions for ValleyCrest Landscape Companies. In this role, Richard assists commercial, industrial and large residential community customers to develop sustainability programs with a focus on landscape and resource management. He is on the Board of Directors for the Irrigation Association is editor of the water blog valleycresttakeson.com and a regular contributor to Lawn and Landscape magazine concerning sustainability and water managementRichard, let me hand our audience over to you… Transition to Slide 3 and Richard’s introduction to Value Sustainability.
Richard Especially for those of us in the green industry - the only business strategy worth following is a sustainability strategy. Sustainability has a lot of definitions. One I like is --- to meet the needs of the current generation without compromising the needs of future generations. But the question I always get is --- how can I apply this in a business environment? So to answer the question in a business context we need to ask ourselves ---- how can sustainability serve the core challenges of your business? And the answer is --- sustainability has four components ---It needs to protect the environment, care about cultures, it has to have social responsibility and it has to have economic sustainability. Breaking it down for landscaping the social aspect includes first impressions of the business based on the landscape. It also reflects how the occupants feel about the building and how they might spend time outside the building for breaks or lunch. The economic is considering the cost of maintaining the landscape while balancing many other costs like capital improvements and other scheduled maintenance costs. And finally the environmental focuses on proper selection of plants and trees to minimize the amounts of water, fertilizer and labor required to maintain the landscape. All four need to work together to form a sustainability initiative. A company who uses these four initiatives to drive their business strategy is on their way to becoming sustainable. Keep in mind this has no end point, we are looking at 9 billion people on the planet by 2040 so this really is an endless horse race. We know more people are coming and we are using more resources daily so the real question is how do you use sustainability to run your business more successfully. The companies I am working with who are doing this the best are implementing a consistent message. The message is to engage their employees in the process and to make the process transparent. Everyone needs to know what sustainability is and how it effects the core business.
Richard – introduces polling question, reads question and answers; fills about 30 second space gap here. Review results, then hand off to Charles
Charles DESIGN YOUR LANDSCAPE WITH LOCAL CONDITIONS IN MIND. This may take more dollars out of pocket to start with, but will pay back quickly over time. Start with conducting a landscape water audit – the cost of this is minimal. And you will learn about your system and easy changes you can make to improve efficiencies and decrease water waste. Next-proceed to create a landscape water budget, and more importantly measure how you are doing against the budget. Inspect what you expect! If you take the time to set the budget, you need to make sure to measure against it and more importantly evaluate why you might be over or under. This creates beneficial discussions about water management. Upgrade to smart controllers – smart controllers give you the ability to automate schedules based on plant needs and eliminate water waste. Some systems also provide you the ability to view data from your office or by smartphone for more efficient decision making and reporting. You can also monitor alerts and problems with the system like valves not coming on or staying on or breaks in a line You know, I love turf. It looks great. It feels great but we all know there are just areas we should not use turf. Think about the shopping malls where we have all seen the islands with the trees and turf and usually a shopping cart or two. These are tough to mow and tough to water. I call them stupid strips. Take the turf out, save the water, lower the maintenance and save on repaving the parking lot because of irrigation overflow. As I travel around I see many shrub beds with spray heads and planting several feet apart. These are great candidates for drip irrigation. There are convenient kits to convert spray heads to drip and the water saving will be considerable with little out of pocket expense. And all of these ideas can be funded by local water agency dollars – There are a wealth of rebate programs and resources designed for commercial properties, school or corporate campuses and multifamily customers. Additionally, there may be special rebate programs for non profit organizations.
Richard to main points; Charles may want to add comment Many people view sustainability as a cost cutting project and I think its best to get away from this state of mind as soon as possible. Cost cutting tends to be very restrictive in our creative process. Instead I like to convey the idea this is a completely new process and we are going to start over with a cost counting program and look to invest our dollars wisely. I know this this sounds like I’m splitting hairs on definitions here, but there is a difference. Cost counting is a process where you start over completely looking at how you do work, what processes you use, what materials and products you use to get work done and start to look at ways to invest your dollars more wisely. You start by asking the questions, what is essential to succeed and what is essential to just maintain? It helps create a positive culture by empowering people to create a budget instead of just asking people to cut cost. By re-examining all parts of the budget and process this causes managers to look more closely at their budgets and helps them to make good long term decisions instead of managing to a near term goal. I have found if you view this as a cost counting method you build from the ground up you are much more likely to invest in long term solutions.
Charles As much as I would like to say I can predict the future, prediction is not really possible. But one thing I can tell you for sure is people rise to the possibility of promise. Helping your teams see a vision of a sustainable future at your organization and encouraging them to participate and help guide the process will ensure a higher probability of success. I truly believe that there is a global citizen’s movement happening today. It may sound utopic, however It is happening right now with this webcast and you are a part of it. There is a new wave of action and engagement and we need to capture some of this for our organizations so we can move forward in a more profitable and positive manner. We need to continue to demonstrate that development and sustainability can and do co-exist. Awareness of drought conditions across the country is now a reality as it is being experienced in areas and geographies that have abundant water supplies in theory- Just take a look at the US Drought Monitor website. People and organizations are monitoring water use, putting more efficient solutions in place and recognizing the important role water holds for both operations and sustainability success.
Richard So specifically in terms of landscape maintenance - Our goal is to reduce inputs - like water fertilizers Energy consumption – Reduce Outputs – like Green waste water pollution Less air pollution Keeping these goals in mind will help you establish priorities on your property, and help you establish a direction for improving sustainability while saving money. That covers our first portion of the webcast on why sustainable landscapes now and hopefully you agree with me in believing we have momentum now for sustainability and now is a good time to be initiating conversations within our organizations. Decrease energy use Reduce carbon footprint Reduce air and water pollution Send less green waste to landfills
(Charles) Water management is more than just hanging a smart controller on the wall, or more than just installing nozzles. Water management encompasses lots of different segments. This is true because proper water management helps reduce operating cost, and improves net operating income, conserves natural resources-both energy and water, and promotes plant health. It also enhances the public image – more and more companies are realizing this every day. Commercial and retail properties, school campuses and residential communities across the country are realizing the impact sustainable landscapes create across an organization. Whether a single site or larger property portfolio, COPT, Walmart, Old Dominion University and City of Hope Medical Center are just a few of our clients who save time, water and money with smarter irrigation practices. TBC:< Mention Oracle approach and results> Examples like these reinforce what we are doing by focusing on water management.
Richard I like to look at these water facts because on one hand they seem outrageous and then someone always makes the comment to me – how much water is that really? Well using 12 oz bottle of water that would be 48,000 bottles, or 2000 cases of water to irrigate 100 sq feet of turf in an area like San Diego, a place that is not very hot and dry. Places like Phx and Las Vegas would be much higher. So for me the main point in these water facts is we can save a whole lot of water without having to look very far to make changes. Most of the causes of the issues on this slide can be easy fixed. Regularly schedule preventative maintenance can catch most of the issues identified. Monthly wet checks should be the norm for properties you manage. In addition, new technologies in irrigation can capture information to eliminate some of the problems. Smart controllers and flow sensing needs to become a common practice. These two items will automate water schedules and will catch early broken pipe, leaks and in some cases broken nozzle issues. And finally, as I mentioned before, sustainability has a lot to do with Return on Investment. Many times the water saving we can achieve from the beginning doesn’t cost too much and as a result, the Return on the investment can happen quickly. Its like when you first start golfing, breaking 110 is relatively easy and doesn’t take much of a time investment. As your scores get lower and lower it takes more to improve. Unfortunately, most of the irrigation systems I see are an equivalent of over 110 in golf. 10% improvement in irrigation uniformity decreases water consumption by 25% Broken or missing nozzle wastes 35 gallons of water per cycle Broken pipe or lateral break wastes 200 gallons of water per cycle Broken 1” diameter leak wastes up to 6,300 gallons of water per month Savings on water bills can be significant -- up to $8 per 100 sf of landscape/year In some cases, ROI can be realized in less than 6 months
Richard Turf conversions save on water and long-term maintenance –where grass is in a non-functional, non-recreational area.
Richard Turf conversions save on water and long-term maintenance –where grass is in a non-functional, non-recreational area.
Charles Smarter irrigation technology and controls can often represent the lowest hanging fruit to improve sustainability and waste metrics. I’m curious how our audience today is managing outdoor water so we are posting a question for you know. Are you using smart irrigation controllers? If yes, what is the biggest benefit? Cash Savings Automation Mobile Control Flow Monitoring Not Used On Site As I travel around the country, I often ask the water managers that I am working with what they see as the biggest change or impact after moving from a conventional clock timer to a true smart, technology-based system. Is it all about the money – immediate water bill savings? The scheduling and adjustments to local weather conditions – we all see those sprinklers in the rain Modern platforms can now run irrigation by iPhone or tablet both on site or 1000 miles away! – No more costly, heavy remotes or cords required. Increased visibility to flow and real-time alerts save time and troubleshooting in the field Or are you still new to the sophisticated irrigation tools now available? And, it looks like your answers are in… (Review findings)
Charles Let’s talk more about these smart systems and your landscape. So the first thing we think you should do when evaluating a system is look at the items you can change or adjust with minimal time and effort creating an immediate ROI for your property. This is going for the lowest hanging fruit! First inspect the irrigation system and see how it performs. You will discover lots just by taking time to evaluate a system and the cost for this, is just your time. Cap non essential sprinklers – this sounds basic, but I am always surprised at how many times I see duplication of emission devices. Significant water saving gains can be made in this area. Group similar plants with same or close water requirements- this also sounds basic- and on renovation projects, possible in some areas and complex in others And finally reducing the plant density will make significant gains. We see so many properties that were overplanted at the initial phase because people want them to look lush at the start, but over time this creates too dense of planting and too much water waste
Richard Remember when we discussed sustainability and focusing on reducing input creating less output. This is a great example of that message. Especially when landscapes are first planted we sometimes plant too many plants wanting the landscape to look great as soon as possible. Reducing the density of the landscape especially with mature landscapes is a great way to reduce input in terms of landscape trimmings and clippings, less water use as well.
Richard Galleria Office Park, Atlanta GA
Richard Galleria Office Park, Atlanta GA
Richard leads with bullets, Charles comes in at end with short, compelling customer case study with focus on how irrigation self-funded other susty programs Richard I really believe being sustainable is being a responsible citizen and we all need to pitch in to help the environment. As a consumer, I want to do business with companies that are promoting and practicing sustainability. These are the companies where I will chose to spend and invest my money. A sustainable program promotes many positive outcomes for companies and this list reflects a few of the many benefits. Thriving business, Loyalty of employees and customers, Increased bottom line, Opportunity to change the world A major developer and owner of office space in So CA, No CA and Chicago – approx 450 + sites They create a revolving multi year plan to phase in sustainable water management practices They systematically alternate their focus on smart controllers one year- and smart sprinklers another Create a process to review progress of sustainable water practices Last but not least, the continues to offer top notch working environments that are sought by their customers
Richard – closes and wraps up Earlier we promised to talk about you and provide you with tools to make it easier for you move forward with your sustainability program at your property. I hope we planted some seeds and ideas to make small or large changes. This is a really exciting time to be in business. I am excited about what the global citizens movement toward sustainability can do and I hope that you are excited as well. We’d like to open it up to questions now.
Planted questions: 1- How quickly can my facility be up and running with smart water management? (Richard) 2- What is the typical payback period for smart controllers? (Charles) To put this in context, a typical site with a mix of approximately 50% each of turf and shrubs, and a 10 year old plus landscape and irrigation system would probably generate savings of 15 % and up to 40%- customers typically see payback in 2 years or less after adding a smart controller. The greatest variable is the cost of the water- which varies from just over a $ 1 per unit to $ 9/unit. Obviously, rebates improve the payback period. 3- What makes a controller smart? (Charles) 4- Are there other improvements that can be made to existing irrigation systems to optimize water savings? (Richard)
Richard Please be sure to visit our websites for more information. (read URLs) For those of you on Twitter, continue the discussion with us on #landscapechat through 3 pm EDT / 12 pm PDT and every Wednesday. You will be receiving a link to the recording of today’s program to share with others at your organization. Michelle at WebEX: Thank your attending. Ladies and Gentleman, this concludes today’s presentation. We hope you enjoy the rest of your day!
