50L Home is a holistic vision to transform building systems and communities for a water-efficient and low carbon future. Our vision is a future where 50L (13 gallons) of daily water consumption per person per day feels like 500L (132 gallons) at low carbon.
The coalition brings companies, civil society organizations, intergovernmental organizations, local governments and knowledge leaders together to develop, scale and implement innovations for systems level change in domestic urban water management as well as responsible and highly efficient water and energy usage in the home.
The water-energy-carbon (WEC) nexus shows us how interconnected water use, energy consumption, and carbon emissions truly are. At 50L Home, we’re addressing these complex issues head-on. Our latest Action Paper, in partnership with Arcadis, provides a practical roadmap for action by focusing on implementation.
Through our pilot project in Los Angeles, we:
The result? We’ve shown how significantly we can reduce both water and energy consumption. But this challenge requires collaboration between policymakers, industries, and communities. Together, we can drive meaningful change.
Download the full Action Paper and join us in operationalizing the WEC nexus to build more sustainable homes.
We envision a future where companies, policymakers, innovators, researchers and communities work together to reinvent urban water use to promote water security and reduce carbon emissions (by saving energy used to heat water) without compromising comfort and quality of life, making 50 liters per person per day feel like 500 liters.
This ambitious goal, if achieved at scale, could reduce energy consumption, accelerate the journey to net zero, and help alleviate household water and energy costs in cities around the world.
We hope to instill the importance of responsible water and energy consumption, making 50 liters of daily water use per person a reality. To achieve this and add value, we have four key focus areas:
Advancing solutions to address the three R’s to water efficiency: reduce, recycle, and reuse water in homes, and within the wider urban water system.
Collaborating on pilot projects in water-stressed cities and mobilizing local actors to learn and inform the path to global scale and replication.
Knowledge is power, which is why reshaping peoples’ relationship with water will help inspire daily behavioral lifestyle changes that can bring effective change to our water crisis.
Advancing policy, regulatory and industry framework changes to transform home use and water supply or treatment.
“Day Zero” is closer than you think. Two-thirds of the global population is projected to live in water-stressed areas by 2025. To add, nearly 60 percent of the global population is expected to live cities by 2030, which, in turn, means a higher demand for water in urban areas. On average, the energy required for household water use is approximately 18% of total energy use in the home, contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Without effective action and support now, many cities worldwide face the inevitability of their water sources running dry.
Electrolux, IKEA, Kohler, and Procter & Gamble collaborate with USGBC CA to pilot water and energy-saving innovations in 30 Los Angeles homes, retrofitting 15 with advanced solutions.
We held three roundtables in London, UK throughout 2023 to explore how technology, customer behavior, and policy impacts this nexus in urban homes.
The roundtable discussions led us to turn our collective findings into useful resources for cities, states, and federal level government so that they can transform their water systems.
Findings from the roundtables are summarized in our action paper “Operationalizing Water-Energy-Carbon Nexus for Homes,” drafted with our partner Arcadis. On October 8th, we introduced the paper at the University of East London with panel discussions from industry experts.
| January, 2025 | Policy paper release - “The High Cost of Cheap Water” |
| February 2025 | Release of Los Angeles pilot data |
White paper on how cities can integrate water reuse and transform their water systems
White paper exploring the embedded energy and carbon costs of water for Los Angeles
