The Huntington Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center 

implemented an award winning faucet and showerhead water 

efficiency program in 2007. The efficiency improvements save 

the medical center more than 1.5 million gallons of water each 

year. 

The Huntington VA Medical Center is a fully-accredited, 

80-bed acute medical and surgical care facility located in 

West Virginia. The medical center serves veterans in western 

West Virginia, southern Ohio, and eastern Kentucky. It 

offers primary and specialized outpatient services while also 

functioning as the main teaching facility for the Marshall 

University School of Medicine. With approximately 1,000 

professional, technical, and support personnel, Huntington VA 

Medical Center provided health care to 293,000 outpatients 

and 4,200 inpatients in 2008 alone. The facility is situated on 

101 acres with 24 buildings covering 635,000 square feet. The 

medical center is one of seven anchor hospitals in the VA 

Mid-South Healthcare Network, which is headquartered in 

Nashville, Tennessee. 

Project Summary

The Huntington VA Medical Center implemented a large 

retrofit of faucets and showerheads in its 1-South section, 

which contains offices, clinics, a surgery unit, patient rooms, 

and laboratories. Conducted in 2007, the retrofit was part 

of the medical center’s Green Environmental Management 

Service (GEMS) initiative. 

New 1.5 gallon per minute (gpm) laminar flow faucets replaced 

178 outdated 2.5 gpm models. A laminar flow head delivers 

tiny side-by-side streams of water, that provide a continuous 

FEDERAL ENERGY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

Huntington Veterans Affairs 

Medical Center—Faucet and 

Showerhead Replacement 

Project

Best Management Practice Case Study #7: 

Faucets and Showerheads

flow while maintaining a low flow rate. Laminar faucets tend 

to have less splashing and lend a smooth feel to the water. 

The GEMS initiative also converted 33 showerheads from 

2.2 gpm to 1.75 gpm models with flow restrictor style heads. 

The retrofit utilized the existing pressure and temperature 

compensating valves in the shower stalls. The efficient retrofits 

perform well while providing an adequate flow rate for both 

patients and staff.

As an added benefit, the Huntington VA Medical Center 

incorporated silver ion antimicrobial technology to faucets 

and showerheads. Because air easily enters heads, bacteria 

can grow inside faucets and showerheads. The combination of 

air and water is a perfect medium for bacterial growth, which 

could endanger patients at the hospital. Silver ion interrupts 

this process by killing the bacterial cell wall, stopping the 

bacteria from entering the water stream.

Huntington VA Medical Center 

used in-house staff to perform 

the retrofits. Each new fixture 

took approximately 30 minutes 

to replace. The medical center 

scheduled retrofits over a period 

of time, making it possible for 

in-house staff to perform regular 

duties while also implementing 

the efficiency retrofits. 

The Huntington VA Medical 

Center also implemented additional fixture efficiency retrofits, including converting 87 toilets 

to both 1.6 gallon per flush (gpf) and dual flush toilets. Dual 

flush toilets have a full and partial flush option with average 

water use of approximately 1.3 gpf. 

rsed 

e

Energy Efficiency &

Renewable Energy

Energy Efficiency &

Renewable Energy

FEMP facilitates the Federal Government’s 

implementation of sound, cost-effective 

energy management and investment practices 

to enhance the nation’s energy security and 

environmental stewardship.

Low-flow showerhead retrofits save water and prevent bacteria 

through a microbial head.

Photo credit: PIX16720

Huntington VA medical 

Center saves 1,538,000 

gallons of water each 

year due to faucet and 

showerhead retrofits. 

Costing less than $3,500, 

project payback was less 

than two months. 
Cost and Savings Summary

Retrofitting faucets and showerheads save the Huntington VA 

Medical Center 1,538,000 gallons of water each year. This data 

is based on actual pre- and post-retrofit metered data and was 

derived based on average patient and staff occupancy rates 

over the year. 

Huntington VA Medical Center enjoys an annual cost savings 

of $12,900 based on combined water and sewer costs of $10 

per thousand gallons. In addition, using less hot water saves 

energy resulting in an annual energy savings of 5,800 therms 

per year creating an additional $7,200 in annual cost savings. 

The center spent $771 for total material costs and $2,637 for 

in-house labor to install the features. As a result of combined 

water and energy savings, the Huntington VA Medical Center 

achieved a project payback in less than two months.

Since completing the plumbing fixture retrofits in 2008, 

Huntington staff evaluated water use and found that consumption decreased 11 percent from fiscal year 2006 compared to 

2008. This reduction includes faucet and showerhead retrofits 

described in this case study as well as other conservation 

efforts, such as a toilet retrofit done during the same time 

period. The bar chart above right shows actual water use at the 

medical center in fiscal year 2006 through 2008, revealing more 

than three million gallons of annual water savings.

Because of this project’s incredible success, the Huntington 

VA Medical Center received the Federal Energy Management 

Award for Water Management in 2008. Project success is 

credited to a dedicated in-house plumbing team that includes 

Scott Webb, Maintenance and Operation Supervisor, and Paul 

Myers, GEMS Coordinator. 

John Stenger, Director of Healthcare Engineering for the 

Veterans Healthcare Administration, congratulates Scott Webb 

on receiving the 2008 Federal Energy Management Award for 

Water Management. FEMP acknowledges ScottWebb and Paul 

Meyers, GEMS Coordinator, for supporting this program and the 

resulting case study.

Photo credit: PIX16681

Huntington VA Medical Center Annual Water Use

29

27

25

23

21

19

17

15

FY 06 FY 07 FY 08

Million Gallons

Laminar flow faucet in Huntington VA Medical Center

Photo credit: PIX16679

For additional information 

please contact:

EERE Information Center

1-877-EERE-INF (1-877-337-3463)

www.eere.energy.gov/informationcenter

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper 

containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 

10% post consumer waste.

Prepared by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 

(PNNL) and the National Renewable Energy 

Laboratory (NREL), national laboratories of the 

U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy; NREL is operated 

by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

DOE/GO-102009-2932 • December 2009

Prepared by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC

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