I used to work in California and spent a lot of time doing that,” says Lance Fulton, the Landmark planner who also worked on the tools. “All of that … requires a lot of calculation. Without this tool, you’d spend a lot of time entering data in a worksheet, noting surface areas, types of irrigation, how much water plants require, and even the evapotranspiration rate where you live. It’s especially useful in places like California, where the MWELO (Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance) dictates strict water budgeting. The Hydrozone tool is another improvement, allowing designers to create zones for various water usage or enter plant types and their needs. Nationwide, landscape irrigation is estimated to account for nearly one-third of all residential water use, totaling to nearly 9 billion gallons per day. The EPA estimates that as much as 50% of the water applied in landscape irrigation is wasted due to overwatering caused by inefficiencies in irrigation methods and systems. While the pros have long done the best they can to meet clients’ irrigation design needs in a sustainable way, the tools are only just now available to truly predict, measure, and meet precise water needs, whether you’re a landscape architect, irrigation contractor, or urban planner. Wasted water has been a top issue troubling irrigation professionals for years. To learn more about the irrigation tools, visit Vectorworks. Scientific data is at your fingertips and helps you ensure you save water, time, and money with Vectorworks’ new irrigation design toolset, taking your design from on-screen to real life

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