Sustainabilty

Whenever and wherever possible, Irvine Company irrigates the landscaping at its apartment communities using recycled water. In fact, in Irvine alone, 91% of the water used for landscaping at the company’s communities is recycled. Combined with the use of high-tech equipment that delivers precise amounts of recycled water – such as weather-based satellite systems and “smart” irrigation controllers – the company annually saves hundreds of millions of gallons of fresh water at its apartment communities. Here are a few other ways Irvine Company is conserving water at its apartment communities:

1. Over the past couple of years, Irvine Company has installed nearly 16,000 water-efficient toilets and shower heads at its older apartment communities in Orange and San Diego counties. This initiative is reducing water consumption by approximately 60% – or at least 234.7 million gallons annually. To save even greater amounts of water, new apartment communities feature water-conserving fixtures and appliances, including energy-saving washers and dryers.

2. Simply by converting outdoor landscaping to micro-spray sprinklers and using drip-irrigation where possible, Irvine Company saves 36 million gallons of fresh water annually at its apartment communities.

3. Irvine Company has adopted a process known as “fertigation,” in which very small amounts of liquid fertilizers are administered through landscape irrigation systems. Plants receive nutrition in very small amounts, increasing the effectiveness of watering and strengthening soils. The water savings over time are substantial.

Irvine Company employs a Water Conservation Task Force whose expert members continually monitor water usage at the company’s apartment communities and other properties. Team members work to prevent overspray and runoff, quickly fix any leaks discovered and use the latest water-saving technology both inside and outside the properties.