In celebration of World Water Day on March 22, the 50 Liter Home Coalition and founding member Electrolux Group are proud to announce the preliminary results of a two-year joint pilot program designed to tackle water scarcity. The pilot demonstrates how the use of our products, and those of the other members including Ikea, Kohler and Procter & Gamble, achieved notable savings in domestic water and energy consumption, while consumers continued to enjoy a positive experience.
The Coalition, convened by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Economic Forum (WEF), launched the pilot project in Los Angeles with implementing partner the U.S. Green Building Council California (USGBC-CA) in 2022. It aims to measure the impact appliances, fixtures and consumables can have in reducing water consumption, to test whether using just 50 liters per day, per home, is achievable.
“Our work with the 50L Home Coalition clearly demonstrates that our appliance innovations effectively help people to save water and energy, enabling a more sustainable life, every day,” says Elena Breda, Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer, Electrolux Group. “These insights show technology is a key catalyst for effortless sustainability and also provides great user experiences.”
Why do we and our 50L Home partners care about saving water? Because more than 30% of the world’s population is experiencing extreme water stress, defined as using over 80% of their renewable water supply each year, according to the World Resources Institute. This includes California, where indoor residential water use averages 180 liters per person per day. The 50L Home Coalition’s goal is to make it easy and irresistible to have a water-efficient lifestyle, in which 50 liters a day feels like 500 liters, with lower energy use as well.
The results of the pilot showed a reduction of 21% in indoor water use vs. the control homes, translating to an 18% reduction in energy use, based on more than 250 million data points across 31 single-family homes. Water use was 50% less than the average usage in Los Angeles. Overall hot water use was 23% lower vs. prior water consumption.
The partnership took a whole-home approach to reducing residential water use by pairing currently available consumer products including detergents and shower products that require less water with energy-efficient appliances and fixtures.
Happy consumers
In addition to lower water and energy bills, a majority of participants in the pilot reported a positive impact on their quality of life at home. Some participant feedback:
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“[The pilot] has made my life easier and more pleasant to do the things I really didn’t enjoy before. I like laundry now!”
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"There's an added value [in] understanding that we're actually saving water, even though it doesn't feel like we've really changed a lot of our behaviors."
Electrolux products provided
A total of 15 homes were retrofitted with products from each of the partners in Phase 2. Electrolux Group installed:
Phase 3 of the LA pilot is ongoing, and involved installing appliances including our Electrolux 24" Stainless Steel Tub Built-In Dishwasher with SmartBoost™ and updating our fabric care products to the Electrolux 700 Series front-load washer and dryer.
The Coalition projects aim to leverage the collaborative efforts of policymakers, industry leaders and communities in an integrated and holistic manner to create a path towards scaled water and energy efficiency through consumer insights, technical learnings, and the identification of incentives that could support wider adoption.
To learn more about the pilot, or to get involved please visit https://usgbc-ca.org/50lhome/ and https://50lhome.org/.
