Aspen Villas in Park City, Utah Saves Thousands By Swapping Fixtures

“Our property spends tens of thousands of dollars annually on water bills alone,” said Karla Cruz, property manager at Aspen Villas at Park City. “We knew there had to be a way to lower those costs, without jeopardizing our residents’ daily experiences.” Cruz and her team worked with CFG to install 85 showerheads and 170 aerators in the bathrooms and kitchens throughout the property in September 2012.

Switching to the CFG products has made a palpable impact on Aspen Villas’ bottom line: the property has experienced a 25 percent reduction on its water bills, and a 10 percent savings on its sewer bills when comparing the same eight-month period from 2012 to 2013. Also, because less hot water is being used by the new CFG showerheads, they’ve seen a reduction in the gas bill as well, with an additional savings of 23 percent during this same time frame.

The Cornerstone® water-saving showerhead from CFG was installed throughout Aspen Villas’ units. The high quality showerhead is designed to provide the durability multi-family properties need, while ensuring a lower total cost of ownership. Best of all, the showerheads are certified to meet WaterSense® criteria, meaning the fixtures meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) guidelines as environmentally responsible and efficient products. The showerheads provide a water savings of up to 30 percent, versus a standard model that flows at 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm). Flow-optimized aerators were also added to both the kitchen and bathroom faucets in each unit. These aerators use up to 30 percent less water, and are an easy, low-cost retrofit to any existing faucet.

“Our property management team was extremely satisfied with the impact the CFG products had from a cost-savings perspective; as we were able to save more than $20,000,” explained Cruz. “But even though the amount of money we saved was remarkable, we also wanted to gain feedback from our residents about their experiences with the products on a daily basis.”

In addition to lowering the property’s operating costs, switching to CFG showerheads and aerators has drastically decreased the number of maintenance calls for plumbing-related issues. “The number of work orders coming in for faucet or showering problems has gone down significantly since the switch. We used to regularly receive calls from residents that their kitchen faucet was malfunctioning; but since the installation of the CFG aerators, we haven’t had any maintenance issues.”

Not only have there been fewer service calls to units, but Aspen Villas has not had to replace any CFG products since they were installed. “The main reason we looked for new plumbing fixtures was for the water savings,” Cruz said. “But the durability and reliability of these products is an added bonus for our property. We only have one maintenance worker on staff; by reducing the amount of time he has to devote to plumbing issues, he’s able to focus his efforts elsewhere.”