Landscape water use: turf ≤ 40% of total landscape area, efficient irrigation w/ controller, or regionally-appropriate plant palette

Description

WaterSense Homes V2 outdoor requirements: where an irrigation system is installed, it must include a WaterSense-labeled controller (smart, weather-based) and the design must satisfy EITHER a landscape-water-budget calculation OR a prescriptive path: turfgrass area ≤ 40% of the total landscape area, with the balance in regionally-appropriate (typically drought-tolerant) plantings. Spray heads must be pressure-regulated; drip irrigation is preferred for non-turf zones. Where there is no irrigation system, plants must be regionally appropriate.

Why this exists

Outdoor water use is up to 50% of total residential water in arid regions. The 40% turf limit + smart controller is the largest single residential water-conservation lever after fixtures. Architects working with landscape designers should bring water efficiency into the early conceptual design — easy to design in, expensive to retrofit.

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Solver enforcement

Browsable only — the solver does not currently enforce this directive (no spec-level data to check against). This entry exists so the architect personas can cite it in conversation and the user can read what the rule says.

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