While I support new product development for Kohler’s Kitchen & Bath business, I’m also part of Kohler’s Environmental Leadership Team, which oversees our corporate sustainability efforts. At Kohler, we have a great story to tell about water—not only our water-efficient plumbing products, but also how we use water in our global manufacturing operations and in our diverse businesses. We track water use at all of our operations, and have reduced overall water consumption per unit of sales over the past three years.
I often get asked about another of Kohler’s businesses when speaking about water efficiency. Namely, the five championship golf courses: The Dukes in St. Andrews, Scotland, Whistling Straits Irish and Straits courses in Haven, Wisconsin, and Blackwolf Run River and Meadows courses here in Kohler, Wisconsin. Blackwolf Run is in the world spotlight as I write this, hosting the 2012 US Women’s Open.
Golf courses have the reputation for requiring a lot of water, but our managers and groundskeepers at the Kohler courses use many strategies to minimize water and fertilizer use. Among these are choices of drought-tolerant grass species, especially outside the fairways, careful application of irrigation water to only the areas that need it, hand-watering greens and tee boxes, use of wetting agents that retain and evenly disperse water, and use of soil moisture sensors and rain gauges that help take account of what water Nature provides.
Greens are watered by hand which allows careful application and frequent inspection of the playing surfaces.
And we continue to look for ways to reduce water use, which led to several of the ponds on the course being allowed to transition to wetlands.
I think our management practices at Blackwolf Run are very much aligned with what our plumbing business strives to do. That is, to create a memorable experience for our customers/guests while taking care to reduce our environmental impact in the process. Play a round and see for yourself…and hit ‘em straight!
6 Comments
now if Herbie would move those production plants from China back to Wisconsin…….
from the pictures it looks to be a beautiful course. Wish I could play.
How nice it would be for Mr Kohler to open his courses and lodging up to the contractors that made him the success he is today. Call it a contractor appreciation weekend. And wouldn’t be great to do it at the “old” Old St. Andrew’s fare. I have played Irish and Meadows. Tough, but nice.
very impressive, and beautiful courses!
but what exactly is meant by “reduced overall water consumption per unit of sales”? does that mean total water use has actually increased as sales have (presumably) increased?
Hey Erica–great question! In fact, annual water use at our golf courses has decreased significantly through 2011. But outdoor water use, either at a golf course or your home, depends a lot on the weather. It’s been very hot and dry this summer in Wisconsin, so I assume our use will be higher this year. But the increase is less than it would have been otherwise.
Because Kohler runs four very different businesses, we track total use of water and energy, along with greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste produced. We also index it to sales because that’s the only way to compare the resource-intensity of the businesses.
Hope this helps! Happy to answer any more questions.
Rob
Great article Robert,
Nice to see that you are trying to go very “Green” with maintaining the courses, it is no easy task to keep up with the greens with less water and fertilizer, but it looks as though you are doing a great job.
We missed an opportunity to golf in Kohler, a few years back, and I hope we get the opportunity once again.
Thanks for posting.