national multiple family submetering and allocation billing program ...

Factors such as showerhead replacement and presence of an exercise room that were
close to being statistically significant in both 2001 and 2002 were utilized in subsequent
modeling, but were never found to improve the overall fit of the model and hence were
eventually excluded.
Categorical Variables That Did Not Influence Water Use
The following list of factors were found not to have any statistically significant impact on
per unit indoor water use in this sample of multi-family properties.
! Property classification (subsidized, private rental, condo, resident owned, etc.)
! Separate source of water for irrigation (well, irrigation ditch, etc.)
! Presence of a separate irrigation meter
! Presence of an automatic outdoor sprinkler system
! Presence of clothes washer hookups in each unit
! Presence of dishwashers in each unit
! Presence of a sauna/steam room
! Presence of water features/fountains
! Presence of landscape ponds
! Presence of tennis courts
! Presence of a spa
! Presence of a common shower area
! Presence of a club house
! Presence of common bathrooms
! Presence of one common laundry room
! Presence of more than one common laundry room
! Presence of a store or other commercial facility on the property
! Type of laundry facility (in-unit, common area, or mix)
! Presence of any common area laundry rooms
It is not surprising that factors related to outdoor use and irrigation showed no statistical
significance since indoor and outdoor use were explicitly separated for this analysis as described
in Chapter 3. It is interesting to note that common area laundry rooms did not offer any
statistically significant water savings over in-unit laundries, a result that contradicts previous
research on this subject (NRC 2001). Many common area property features such as tennis
courts, spa, showers, club house, etc. did not have any statistically significant impact on water
use.
145