Energy Efficiency In Las Vegas’s Desert Landscaping: Challenges And Solutions – Urban sprawl is spreading across the desert and, as drought worsens in Henderson, Nevada, next to Las Vegas, demands for water are increasing. Photo: David McNew/Getty Images

I have Detective Perry Kaye cut the brakes on his government-issued vehicle to investigate the crime. “Uh oh this doesn’t look good. Let’s take a look,” he said, getting out of the car to address what has become one of the most existential violations in parched Las Vegas – a faulty sprinkler.

Energy Efficiency In Las Vegas’s Desert Landscaping: Challenges And Solutions

Kaye is one of about 50 wastewater inspectors deployed by the local water authority to determine even the smallest use of a liquid that is dangerously low in the western United States, which has been drained by two decades of drought. break The situation in Las Vegas, which last year had a record 240 days without rain, is getting worse.

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Lake Mead, the massive reservoir that supplies Las Vegas with 90 percent of its water, has now dropped to a historic low, meaning Nevada faces its first mandatory drawdown next year. This lack of visibility imposes limitations on the city that has somehow managed to thrive as a desert oasis in the baked Mojave desert.

“The lake is not full at this time, so we have to conserve every drop,” said Kaye, a former U.S. Air Force officer who wears a hi-vis vest and waves a sign as he makes his rounds. violators. He starts his shift at 4 o’clock. “A lot of people think that because we’re government employees we’re out at that time but we’re out 24/7, every day of the year,” he said.

Kaye routinely issues fines — they start at $80 and then double for each other offense — for the kind of rule violations he’s seen in Summerlin, an affluent Las Vegas neighborhood where landscapers manicure lawns in the sweltering heat. they try Water sprinkled on lawns and plants is not allowed to run off the property, but that day a broken bottle caused water to flow into the lake, where the precious resource is lost.

“Look, we’ve got a creek or a small river here,” said Kaye, as he used his phone to record video of the water on the road. “If everyone did this, a lot less water would be wasted.”

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It’s so hot in Vegas – the temperature on this July day will exceed 40C (104F) – that the faulty water will run out in five minutes. Kaye planted a yellow flag along the floodway as a warning to homeowners, but a few clicks on his boat-mounted computer showed the property had a previous warning, so an $80 fine would be on the way.

However, there is growing concern that such rules — no watering between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., no watering at all on Sundays — will not be enough as Nevada faces a dangerously increased drought in 2021. legislation to remove “non-functional” public turf in Las Vegas, such as grass planted along roadways or on sidewalks, to save about 10% of the city’s water use over the next five years.

Perry Kaye, a water waste researcher in Las Vegas, Nevada, issues a yellow warning flag for a faulty sprinkler. Photo: Oliver Milman / The Guardian

“It’s just a waste — the only person who walks on it is the person who cuts it,” said Kaye, tapping a nearby patch of grass. “Some people just want to recreate the house where they grew up with grass.” The new law, along with a financial incentive for homeowners to replace dry grasses with hardier desert plants and rocks, is an acknowledgment that climate change won’t easily allow bright green ocher to come over a bony desert pond. forced

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A city with a giant replica of the Eiffel tower, sprawling golf courses and a simulacrum of the gondola-filled canals of Venice can hardly be said to be in harmony with its surroundings. But Las Vegas, called “Meadows” in Spanish because of its natural springs that dried up in the 1960s, is at least aware of its place in such a dry place that only a few small patches of creosote and sedges can live here naturally.

“We live in the desert. We’re the driest city in the United States, in the driest state in the United States,” said Colby Pellegrino, deputy director of resources for the Southern Nevada Water Authority. “We have to act like it.”

Pellegrino said the drought has been “very scary” for some Vegas residents, though he insists the water authority has planned for the moment. Lake Mead’s level dropped below 1,075 feet in June, nearly a third full, which would have led to the first reduction under a seven-state agreement on sharing water from the Colorado River, which is operated by Hoover Dam to create reservoirs. . .

Different states receive different water allocations, and Nevada is a victim of its unpopulated history, receiving just 300,000 acre-feet of water per year (compared to California’s 4.4 acre-feet) under a contract that expires before Hoover Dam. the 1930s. “The only thing is that Nevada’s representative was drunk,” said Pellegrino, who was born in 1983, when the state’s population was barely 900,000.

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This small water allocation will be reduced by 21,000 acre-feet with the new cuts, although Nevada has taken significant steps to stay below its cap, reducing water use even as the population has nearly doubled since the early 2000s. has been. Pellegrino is confident that more savings can be made and research is being done on the water used in the extensive cooling systems of Vegas casinos.

But the effects of global warming on the snow and rivers of the West are endless, and the city’s water savings will only go so far. Las Vegas has only a supporting role in its destiny. Three-quarters of the Colorado River’s water is used to irrigate thirsty agriculture, and the public water supply depends more on the rate of snowmelt hundreds of miles away in the Rocky Mountains than on some marginal savings made in the suburbs.

“Vegas has done great things like mowing the grass, but we’ve lost 20% of the Colorado River’s flow since 2000, and another 10% loss by 2050 is entirely possible,” said Brad Udall, a water and climate scientist. ” at Colorado State University whose research has focused on surface stresses.

Back in Summerlin, Perry Kaye is also ruthless. A house opposite the first offender is broken with water running down the lawn and into the gutters. Kaye knocks on the ornate door to notify the homeowner, but no one is inside.

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“These sprinklers aren’t properly retracted, they’re just running everywhere,” muttered Kaye. He has been a water waste policeman for 16 years, issuing countless fines during that time. “I was hoping I’d be out of a job by now. But it looks like I’ll be retiring first.” Aeron Tozier, a 44-year-old designer and industrial architect, has built an eco-friendly steel house in Henderson, Nevada. Why? As an experiment to build a business that sells less energy, it calls its project “G Home”. How unique!

The single-family home was built on 0.68 acres of land and allows for more than 3,000 square feet of living space – with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two living rooms, a kitchen, dining room, office and den. Not to mention, it has 1,290 square feet of indoor garage space, with separate garage doors for three bays.

With plenty of space, the average energy cost for electric and gas services combined was reported to be just $179 per month.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the home was built to U.S. Department of Energy guidelines. Tozier conducted tests to ensure the design met the Energy Star and Zero Energy Ready Home program requirements.

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Additionally, SteelMaster metal arches are covered in a special Energy Star-rated coating called Galvalume Plus, which protects the steel from harsh elements and makes it more energy efficient. Steel roofing requires no painting or maintenance and reflects light, keeping indoor temperatures 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than outside air. Tozier also used rigid spray foam insulation to protect against energy loss.

The home was offered for sale in the drywall construction phase to allow prospective buyers to customize the home to their personal style. It was sold in August 2017 for $225,000 and was last valued at $445,500 in June 2019.

SteelMaster customer Todd M. and his wife dreamed of owning their own vineyard and farm. They purchased the property, where guests can stay in an S-Model Quonset hut cabin after wine tasting.

In Pomona, Missouri, Charles Black and his wife converted their SteelMaster building into a solar-powered home where they can live without the fear of high winds on America’s Tornado Street.

S Desert Echo Rd, Tucson, Az 85735

SteelMaster customers Luke and Kelly

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