Public parks have long been a platform for sustainability initiatives, so it's no surprise that parks across the nation host green initiative and seek out new ways to cut resource consumption each year. State- and city-level parks follow the lead of the National Parks Service – the organization's Green Parks Plan, launched in 2013, prescribes a long list of best practices for helping parks to improve sustainability and reduce their carbon footprint. In addition to utilizing more sustainable design standards, public parks can become more sustainable with infrastructure upgrades like tankless water heaters.

Water use reduction is essential
A recent report from the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department demonstrated a shining example of how much a public park can reduce water use. Endeavoring to cut water waste by 2008, the 4,000 acre park has since slashed water use by nearly 20 percent. Likewise, the Pennsylvania Department of Conversation and Natural resources listed new hot water heaters as a key strategy for reducing water consumption. Bathrooms and sinks at parks are an oft overlooked point of use when considering how a park can improve water use, but utilizing highly efficient tankless heaters in these scenarios will cut water use by decreasing standby loss. Park visitors are likely to let cold water run hot before washing their hands, and the Tree Hugger noted that this bad habit sends hundreds of gallons down the drain each year. In fact, the on-demand heaters provide hot water as soon as visitors need it, eliminating a major source of water waste from the park.

Tankless cuts wasted electricity
Utilities make up nearly 70 percent of the consumed electricity annually in the United States, according to the NPS' Green Parks Plan. This massive amount of energy use puts the onus on responsible government departments to curb their own energy use as much as possible. Thankfully, parks departments can facilitate reduced water and electricity consumption simultaneously by going tankless. Tankless water heaters are far more energy efficient than conventional storage tank designs. By ditching the storage tank, electric on-demand heaters don't have to continuously spend fuel to keep a water tank at a high temperature.  Tankless water heaters are small enough that they can be installed virtually anywhere, and placing the source of hot water close to its close to its point of use will diminish energy loss as well.

Compact models can be installed anywhere
As mentioned above, the design of tankless water heaters makes installation far more flexible than storage water heaters. This is a boon for parks departments, as they no longer have to plan around the mass of floor space needed to store and run a tank water heater. Tankless models alleviate this issue thanks to the fact that they are 90 percent smaller than storage tank reservoirs. Instead, park officials can simply mount tankless water heaters near areas where hot water is used the most often. When performing park renovations, the freedom from planning around a hefty reservoir can inspire smarter strategies for park logistics as well.

High-end performance guarantees safety
Public parks are a place where friends, families and neighbors from all walks of life can enjoy the fresh air and and the company of the community. This is one of the many reasons that park bathroom sinks deliver hot water at consistent, safe temperatures. Children and the elderly, two groups of the population who that frequently visit public parks, are particularly susceptible to intense burns and scalds caused by overheated water. Top-tier water heater models are designed to provide guaranteed compliance standards for hot water, like ANSI Z358.1. Parks departments can cut out process of finding safety standard compliant by choosing a tankless water heater that acts as an all-in-one solution.