Eco-Laundry

This page is the open source and free-shared design and construction page for the Duplicable City Center eco-laundry facility capable of processing laundry for over 300 people. This page will continue to evolve until it includes complete open source and free-shared purchase orders, installation instructions, maintenance and use instructions, and all other needed specifics for duplication and care of the One Community eco-laundry facility as part of the Duplicable City Center or as a stand-alone component. After that it will evolve even further through global collaboration and sharing the evolutions and adaptations for other people’s projects and our additional 7 sustainable villages using these templates and plans.

This page discusses this with the following sections:

• • Related Pages
  • What is Eco-Laundry
  • Why Open Source Eco-Laundry
  • Ways to Contribute to this Open Source Component
  • Key Consultants to this Component of One Community
  • Understanding Eco-Laundry
    • Understanding the Basics of Eco-Laundry
    • The Simplest Approach to Eco-Laundry Application
    • What This Means to You
    • Taking Eco-Laundry to the Next Level
  • Washer Research & Application Data
    • Data Sources and Starting Point
    • Baseline Electricity and Water Analysis
    • Total Savings Over the Life of an Energy Star Machine
    • Maximization and Scalability Analysis
    • Emerging Eco-Laundry Technologies
    • Exploring Industrial Laundry
      • Summary of Industrial Laundry
  • Dryer Research & Application Data
  • Discussion and Relation to One Community and World Change
    • Summary and Limitations of What We Learned
    • Initial Machine Rationale and Flexibility Strategy
      • Flexibility Strategy
    • Long-Term Maximization and Scalability Strategy
    • A Surprise in Our Findings
    • What We’re Going With
    • Running Your Own Calculation
    • Interactive Tool Tutorial
      • FAQ on How to Determine Your Own Inputs
    • Green Laundry Technologies
  • Resources
  • Summary
  • FAQ

RELATED PAGES

WHAT IS ECO-LAUNDRY

Eco-laundry is laundry done with machines that combine affordability with durability and produce clean laundry while minimizing chemical, water, and energy use. The information listed on this page is the best we have found thus far for combining all of these criteria. 

With the desire to maximize sustainable laundry practices, we see the ultimate expression of eco-laundry, as we’ll show here, as the idea of doing laundry in a way that combines durability and efficiency with affordability in a community-based model. While a traditional understanding of eco-laundry would encompass laundry washing and drying net-cost savings through an analysis of energy and water savings over the life of the machine as well as equipment costs, we offer a more comprehensive model that further includes the consideration of total labor requirements and maintenance costs. We do this by comparing the traditional residential laundry options with commercial and industrial laundry and demonstrating how the benefits that come from our eco-laundry model can easily be applied in a collaborative community model like One Community’s. 

Open Sourcing these details allows for application elsewhere too. As you will see, these ideas can be applied anywhere people see enough benefit and are willing to work together. In accordance with One Community’s methodology for world change, our goal is to demonstrate this as easy enough, affordable enough, and attractive enough for more and more people to apply and adapt these ideas globally. 

WHY OPEN SOURCE ECO-LAUNDRY

Eco-laundry is beneficial individually and to society. According to the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, residential clothes washers and dishwashers account for approximately 3 percent of household energy use and more than 20 percent of indoor water consumption. Making these processes more efficient saves money and resources.

In 2021 alone, the United States generated over 4 trillion kilowatt hours of utility-scale electricity, approximately 61% of which was produced from fossil fuels (coal, natural gas and petroleum). Choosing more energy efficient products saves money on monthly utility bills and also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. By reducing water consumption, eco-laundry also helps protect our lakes, streams, and oceans. Additionally, instead of twisting and pulling clothes around a turning agitator as done in older washing machine types, front-load and advanced top-load clothes washing machines use more sophisticated wash systems to gently flip and spin clothes through a reduced stream of water, which lengthens the lifespan of your clothing.

WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE ECO-LAUNDRY DESIGN

SUGGESTIONS     ●     CONSULTING     ●     MEMBERSHIP     ●     OTHER OPTIONS

KEY CONSULTANTS TO THE ECO-LAUNDRY DESIGN

Jinxi Feng: Environmental Consultant and primary contributor to this page
Western States Design: Initial laundry consultation and machinery exploration
Charles Gooley: Web Designer
Julia Meaney: Web and Content Reviewer and Editor

UNDERSTANDING ECO-LAUNDRY

Eco-laundry implementation, improvements, and complete infrastructure development can be looked at from several different perspectives. For the purpose of a comprehensive and easy to understand tutorial, we’ve divided this into the following sections:

• Understanding the Basics of Eco-Laundry
• The Simplest Approach to Eco-laundry Application
• What This Means to You
• Taking Eco-Laundry to the Next Level

Our purpose here is to provide approaches anyone can easily apply while clarifying the benefits and costs of the various levels of increased sustainability and efficiency.

UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF ECO-LAUNDRY

The most basic approach to eco-laundry is understanding the difference between the available consumer washer types. Existing laundry machines focus on improving the machine efficiency of energy and water consumptions while maintaining clothes washing performance. There are two common types of washing machines: top-loading and front-loading. Top-loading machines with agitator models, also known as high-efficiency (HE) washing machines, require less time and water consumption in a regular washing cycle and are thus more efficient than top-loading washing machines without an agitator. Front-loading machines are generally more expensive but produce better cleaning results, consume less water, and are gentler than HE top-loading washing machines.

One relevant note about washer vibration and front-loading washers: When thinking about the information above, keep in mind your floor type. The high-spin speed of a washer causes vibration, which may be easily absorbed by concrete floors. However, for wood-framed floors, it is noteworthy to be aware that front-loading washing machines may cause significant vibrational noise for you and anyone sharing your space. Front-loading washing machines may also collect water around the rubber door gasket and develop mold.

For extensive details about top-loading and front-loading washing machines, including specific brand analysis, you can click here to see the Consumer Reports on washing machines.

THE SIMPLEST APPROACH TO ECO-LAUNDRY APPLICATION

Now that you understand the basics of laundry efficiency, the simplest approach for an individual household to improve their sustainable living is by choosing eco-friendly and energy-and-water efficient products. ENERGY STAR^® certified washers and dryers are purposed to make this easy. The Department of Energy supports the testing and verification of ENERGY STAR products in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), using a universal measurement of residential and commercial washing machine water and energy efficiency.

• “Modified Energy Factor” (MEF) is the energy performance metric for ENERGY STAR certified commercial clothes washing machines. “Integrated Modified Energy Factor” (IMEF) is the energy performance metric for ENERGY STAR certified residential clothes washing machines. The higher the MEF/IMEF, the greater the energy efficiency.
• “Water Consumption Factor” (WF) is the water performance metric for commercial clothes washing machines. “Integrated Water Factor” (IWF) is the water performance metric for residential clothes washing machines. The lower the WF/IWF, the greater the water efficiency per washing cycle.

As specified in the current Department of Energy Code of Federal Regulations at 10 CFR430.32(g), residential and commercial washer and dryer manufacturers have restrictions on minimum MEF/IMEF and maximum WF/IWF. As of April 22, 2021, the ENERGY STAR criteria for residential and commercial clothes washers are as follows.

Product Type and Criteria Levels (2021) for ENERGY STAR Clothes Washers – Click for source

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU

It is estimated that the average American family washes 300 loads of laundry each year. With the ENERGY STAR^® certification, household clothes washers use about 20% less energy and 30% less water than regular washers. This means replacing your old washing machine with an ENERGY STAR certified machine will save significant water and energy. Research indicates that there are 76 million top-loading washers, 25 million of which are at least 10 years old. Washers built before 2003 are significantly less efficient than newer models. These inefficient washers are estimated to cost consumers $2.9 billion each year in energy and water consumption.

Click here to see more facts about energy and water consumption for more efficient and sustainable products.

TAKING ECO-LAUNDRY TO THE NEXT LEVEL

In a community model, or with any group willing to work together for each other’s benefit, an alternative way to do laundry is to use a commercial laundry model. Many resources and data online point to these models being more efficient and sustainable than residential laundry options. These models are widely used in laundry mats, gyms, and several other industries that require larger capacities because washing this way saves both money and resources.

To illustrate this, here is an image that shows the relationship between washing machine capacity/load size and the Modified Energy Factor (MEF) and Water Factor (WF):

Eco-Laundry Washing Machine Energy and Water Efficiency – Click to enlarge

As you can see, there is a pattern demonstrating that as washing machine capacity grows, the MEF increases and the WF decreases. This means lower energy and water consumption in a washing cycle for the same unit load. Sustainable energy infrastructure can bring these costs down even more and in a collaborative community model, shared labor can also provide significant individual and group time-saving benefits.

Based on these mainstream understandings of commercial laundry, we conducted our research with commercial machines in mind as the assumed best options. However, through analyses of the best commercial and residential washers available we were surprised to find commercial machines to be only slightly more efficient in electricity use. We further found that residential machines outperform commercial machines in water use and in multiple other considerations. See the “A Surprise in Our Conclusions” section for details.

WASHER RESEARCH & APPLICATION DATA

To make a truly educated decision about the best approach to choosing a washer for our eco-laundry design, we invested hundreds of hours into research, calculations, and the creation of a tool for objectively evaluating machines and calculating their long-term water and energy savings. We will discuss the details here with the following sections:

• Data Sources and Starting Point
• Baseline Electricity and Water Analysis
• Total Savings Over the Life of an ENERGY STAR Machine
• Maximization and Scalability Analysis
• Emerging Eco-Laundry Technologies
• Exploring Industrial Laundry
  • Summary of Industrial Laundry

An important note: We completed the research for this section in November 2016. Our research therefore provides a benchmark for the best of the best at this time, so anyone seeking something better can compare their findings against ours. We are aware that the market for eco-laundry products is constantly evolving and improving, so newer and potentially more efficient technology may now exist. We will be re-doing all of our research before making our final purchase decision and this page will be updated accordingly. However, this research sufficiently evaluates the best options on the market in 2016 and will be used as the template for all future research.

DATA SOURCES AND STARTING POINT

Before establishing a model to start our savings comparison, we researched the specifications of the existing residential washing machine products that have been the best sellers and/or most popular products on Best Buy’s website. Here is our selection as a representative for each residential washer type (research completed Nov. 2016):

• Top-loading Whirlpool – Cabrio 4.3 Cu. Ft. 12-Cycle High-Efficiency Top-Loading Washer
• Samsung – 4.5 Cu. Ft. 9-Cycle High-Efficiency Top-Loading Washer – (ENERGY STAR certified)
• Front-loading Samsung – 4.2 Cu. Ft. 8-Cycle High-Efficiency Front-Loading Washer – (ENERGY STAR certified)

The table below shows their specifications. Prices were current as of January 2017.

For other consumer reports on residential washing machines, please see Consumer Reports or Washer/Dryer Reviews. 

Best-Selling Residential Washing Machine Products Chosen For Savings Comparisons

For commercial washing machines, we chose two products among 136 ENERGY STAR certified commercial washers and ran a preliminary test to compare these two to get the maximum utility savings numbers. The two selected machines were found by filtering all choices to find the ten with the highest MEF (Modified Energy Factor) and the ten with the lowest WF (Water Consumption Factor) ratings, and then choosing two that appeared in both of the top-ten lists for these criteria. This gave us the two front-loading machines seen in the table below that includes their specifications.

For a detailed comparison of the specifications of the most popular commercial laundry products we researched, visit our Commercial Laundry Products Google Spreadsheet. For a detailed comparison of the top MEF and WF rated commercial and residential products, visit our ENERGY STAR certified products Google Spreadsheet.

BASELINE ELECTRICITY AND WATER ANALYSIS

Based on the data and using our savings calculator, we ran the calculation for a multi-family household with 4 households as our baseline. To do this, we made several assumptions concerning general consumption including water and electricity rate, households number, average household washing number, and clothes washers unit conversions. For both residential and commercial purposes, we assumed the average washing load is 1024 loads per year for a 4-household multifamily residence. Some washers labeled the unit of capacity with pounds and some with cubic feet, which we assume a multiplier of 4 to convert the capacity unit of cubic feet to pounds for both residential and commercial types. This multiplier could vary with capacity and machine types. Later in our analysis, we will assume the number of households to be 1, 5, 50, 100, and 500 respectively to examine scalability and maximization.

With this in mind, the table below demonstrates the data generated through our research and calculations of electricity and water consumption and savings when using ENERGY STAR washing models instead of traditional models. It is important to note that our calculations are based on an industry that is constantly evolving, and traditional models are not as bad as they used to be. Generally speaking (as we’ve stated above), front-loaders are more sustainable than top-loaders when comparing utility consumption and costs. We found that residential top-loading ENERGY STAR washers can save 37% on electricity and 55% on water consumption compared with conventional top-loading washing machines, while residential front-loading ENERGY STAR washers can save 34% on electricity and 32% on water consumption compared with conventional front-loading types:

ENERGY STAR Electricity and Water Consumption and Savings Versus Traditional Models

TOTAL SAVINGS OVER THE LIFE OF AN ENERGY STAR MACHINE

A detailed analysis of the cost savings of changing to each of the four ENERGY STAR choices is shown below. Changing the washing machines from conventional to ENERGY STAR certified, residential top-loading machines have the biggest life cycle cost-saving benefit in a direct comparison with a traditional model, followed by residential front-loading and commercial front-loading. Both of the commercial washers in the chart below are front loading because this is the most efficient design.

Eco Washing Machine Detailed Baseline Cost Saving Results – Click to enlarge

If the percentages above seem confusing, you must keep in mind that this is comparing top-loading conventional to top-loading ENERGY STAR and front loading conventional to front-loading ENERGY STAR models for the first two, and front-loading conventional commercial to front-loading ENERGY STAR commercial models for the second two. Front-loading machines were only used for the commercial comparisons because front-loading always outperforms top-loading. This also means that any comparison of a front-loading ENERGY STAR washer to a conventional top-loading washer will produce even more significant water and energy savings.

With this in mind, the LG – GCWF 1069*# has a greater life cycle total cost savings and end cost savings than the Electrolux – W5105H. We therefore used the LG – GCWF 1069**# as a representative for the commercial front-loading type in our next calculations to explore maximization and scalability.

MAXIMIZATION AND SCALABILITY ANALYSIS

Next, we compared the commercial washer savings for 1 household with those of a 5, 50, 100 and 500 household community to see the cost-saving potentials for larger groups. As mentioned above, we used the LG – GCWF 1069**# as our source data. Here are the results:

Washing Machine Cost-saving Potentials for Larger Groups – Click to enlarge

What you see in this table is that the net cost savings are negative for one 1 household, meaning that it is not financially beneficial for a single household to switch to commercial-sized ENERGY STAR certified products because of the additional purchasing price. However, as the number of households grows, the total cost savings and net cost savings also increase dramatically. These net-savings were justifiable even for groups as small as 5 families, significant for groups of 50+, and dramatic for a group as large as 500 households with savings of over 72,000 kWh of energy, 744,000 gallons of water, and $68,000 of net cost. For the group of 5 families the payback period for the initial cost was also only 2 years and for a group of 50 of more, the payback period was just 1 year.

To summarize and explore a bit deeper, electricity savings happen even with only 1 household switching to maximum-efficiency commercial front-loading laundry machines. However, they would have to wait to have enough laundry to run them at capacity, and the increased cost of the machine would still mean a net-negative cost result. Once you get over 5 households, the savings over the lifetime of the more expensive and efficient machine become justified if people are in a situation where coordination of laundry work is practical (click here to read how One Community will accomplish this). These savings become greater and greater as the number of households coordinating increases anywhere beyond 5.

Here are the electricity usage and energy savings as the number of households participating increases:

LG-GCWF 1069**# Electricity Consumption & Energy Savings as per Number of Households

Here are the water usage and savings figures as the number of households participating increases:

LG-GCWF 1069**# Water Consumption & Water Savings as per Number of Households

Here are the total projected net water and energy savings over the life cycles of the machine as the number of households participating increases:

LG-GCWF 1069**# Life cycle Net Cost Savings & Total Cost Savings as per Number of Households

EMERGING ECO-LAUNDRY TECHNOLOGIES

In the laundry market, there are emerging technologies and many commercial products being advertised as “eco-laundry”, energy-saving, water-saving or cost-efficient. Although we lack critical information on these products to properly integrate them into our comparison model, we would like to include them in our research to drive the market and our community towards a more sustainable future. Here is an example of the Milnor RinSave washer. The table provided by Milnor shows their electricity and water savings compared with a standard washer.

Table PAC Industries’ Eco-Laundry vs Conventional Laundry and Savings – Click for source

As the capacity grows up from 40 lbs per load to 160 lbs per load, the total cost for two laundry washers only doubles. The saving potential of eco-laundry compared to a standard washer also goes up from 12.10% to 13.02%, indicating there is still an economy of scale for large-capacity eco-laundry.

And if we further consider combining with the highest good community model, after taking off the effect of labor cost, the percentage of savings is even greater compared to a standard washer: from 13.78% to 13.86% as the capacity grows from 40 lbs per load to 160 lbs per load. Shown below are annual sewer, water heating, and labor costs for standard and commercial washers. Click the images to open the open source spreadsheet and head to row 70.

Costs Per Year For a Standard Washer

Costs for a Milnor RinSave Washer

As capacity grows, labor costs (orange) are taking a smaller percentage in the total costs, whereas water costs (yellow) and water heating fuel costs (pink) are going up. The labor costs for 160 lbs capacity only take about 30% of the total costs, dropping from 60% when the capacity is ¼ of the largest washer.

Note: When we re-do our eco-laundry research, this section will be expanded. Given better availability of information on new and emerging eco-laundry technologies, we will further explore them as potential purchasing options.

EXPLORING INDUSTRIAL LAUNDRY

In order to maximize the scalability and meet the washing needs for our sustainable community, we searched for more commercial and industrial laundry brands and compared their utility use. We reached out to various companies and both the brands Dexter and Xeros provided us with their water usage data. Xeros has an average usage of 32.9 gallons/cycle, which is a huge water saving compared with Milnor data we collected (Milnor has 2 gal/lb of water usage estimate for all its capacity models, i.e. a 40-lb washer has 80 gal/cycle water usage). The problem, however, is that we don’t know which Xeros model is analyzed in this data. If we assume the machine capacity to be 90 lbs as the brochures we were sent mentioned, the annual water usage is only 5080.9 gal/year. As it didn’t specify the model and the capacity, we simulated the most popular sizes (20, 40, 60 and 80 lbs) for water usage (table below) assuming they all have an average usage of 32.9 gal/cycle. To give you a quick comparison, the residential front-loading ENERGY STAR washer has an annual water usage of 11,119 gal/year. So if the Xeros data works for models over 40 lbs, then it is the most water-efficient washer.

Xeros Commercial Front Loading Washer Capacity, Annual Washing Loads, and Water Usage

For Dexter, we have more specific water use per cycle data for each capacity sizes. Coin washers use less water than OPL washers. The most water-efficient one is T-450 (30lbs) model for Dexter Coin washers. It certainly performs better compared with the other Dexter washers and is comparable with the front-loading ENERGY STAR washer in terms of its water performance.

Dexter Commercial Front Loading Washer Capacity, Annual Washing Loads, and Water Usage

SUMMARY OF INDUSTRIAL LAUNDRY

Comparing with our baseline calculation, both Dexter and Xeros achieve or go beyond the current best water saving laundry design.

• Our baseline calculation gives that residential and commercial front-loading machine use the least amount of water (11,119 and 12,855 gallons/year respectively).
• Dexter’s most water efficient model is T-450 (30lb). The annual water usage is 11,166 gallons, which is comparable to the residential and commercial front-loading machine in baseline calculation.
• Xeros has an average usage of 32.9 gallons/cycle and an 80lb capacity (given the latest information), leading to 5,716 gallons/year.

Therefore, Xeros’ industrial laundry saves about half of annual water consumption by allowing a larger capacity in one load. However, we still need to research electricity consumption and savings as well as costs for Xeros’ machine. It is possible that the electricity, water, and cost savings could be better than our currently selected machine and if so, we will update One Community’s plans for eco-laundry. We will continue to expand this section as we conduct this research, which will include similar analyses as those we have already completed for residential and commercial washers.

DRYER RESEARCH & APPLICATION DATA

This section will eventually include analyses and comparisons of the best eco-laundry drying options. We will evaluate the energy, water use, and costs of the best dryers on the market and use this to make our recommendations for the most efficient dryer. We will also explore new drying innovations and discuss a laundry line as being the most sustainable drying option.

For now, we have chosen the Samsung DV56H9000EW (Amazon Link for Cost) as our dryer selection. Our final dryer choice will be made once our research is complete.

DISCUSSION & RELATION TO
ONE COMMUNITY AND WORLD CHANGE

We created our cost comparison between non-ENERGY STAR and ENERGY STAR certified washing machines based on the knowledge of market sales and product information available in 2016. In our selection of the representative for each washing type (top-loading or front-loading, residential or commercial, ENERGY STAR or non-ENERGY STAR) we do not have a strict rule for a clear definition of what the “best” is, or a perfect candidate for every single different category. As a matter of fact, there really is no best or perfect here. Each machine has different specifications, energy and water ratings, durability, and price. So instead, we chose data from different online websites based on their purchase popularity and user reviews. However, there are people who bought washing machines directly from a retailer store who also consider other factors besides price or energy rating as priority in their selection, such as machine size, design (outlook), color or other specific features.

In our analysis, we mainly focused on the U.S. average data or forecast data (utility rates, discount rates, washing loads per year, etc.). However, the calculation results may vary with a lot of factors, such as different locations, utility contracts signed by individual households or communities, or the changing utility rates across time. We also made assumptions on customer purchasing preference, average household washing loads, and number of washing hours, which could be significantly different from household to household.

One Community will grow beyond 500 people. As we’ve shown, the resource and monetary savings are huge for groups of this size and we intend to demonstrate how convenient large-scale eco-laundry can be. We’ll share our graphs and images summarizing our findings and limitations, detail our action plan moving forward, and discuss what is possible within the following sections:

• Summary and Limitations of What We Learned
• Initial Machine Rationale and Flexibility Strategy (what we’re going with)
  • Flexibility Strategy
• Long-term Maximization & Scalability Strategy (what’s really possible)
• A Surprise in Our Findings
• What We’re Going With
• Running Your Own Calculation
• Interactive Tool Tutorial
  • FAQ on How to Determine Your Own Inputs

SUMMARY AND LIMITATIONS OF WHAT WE LEARNED

Knowing that our analysis is a simulation to find the optimal solution for a sustainable community, we do encourage you to create your own calculation based on your own washing machine choices or usage assumptions. You can use this calculation to see how you can make a difference with changing your washing behavior (such as less washing loads) or make a choice such as purchasing a more efficient washing machine. If you are interested, please go to Running Your Own Calculation for more detail.

Based on our research, we have come to the following conclusions: conventional machines use more energy per load than ENERGY STAR machines, front-loading machines are more efficient than top-loading machines, and commercial washers are only slightly more energy-efficient than residential washers.

Annual Baseline Electricity Across Different Washing Machine Types – Click for source (row 136)

The same applies for water, but residential ENERGY STAR washers outperform commercial ENERGY STAR washers for water.

Note: Below we’ll discuss how to radically improve commercial energy and water savings far beyond any residential option.

Annual Baseline Water Consumption Across Different Washing Machine Types – Click for source (row 136)

Then, using the most energy-efficient commercial washer (LG-GCWF 1069**#), we calculated how much the annual energy savings increase would be when these washers are used by larger and larger groups.

LG-GCWF 1069**# Electricity Consumption and Energy Savings as per Number of Households – Click for source (row 196)

We did the same with the annual savings increases for water when these washers are used by larger and larger groups.

LG-GCWF 1069**# Water Consumption and Energy Savings as per Number of Households – Click for source (row 196)

We also calculated the total savings in dollars over the life cycle of this machine when used by larger and larger groups.

LG-GCWF 1069**# Life Cycle Net Cost and Total Cost Savings per Number of Households – Click for source (row 165)

INITIAL MACHINE RATIONALE AND FLEXIBILITY STRATEGY

In our selection for the optimal laundry strategy, we made assumptions and chose some of the products as a representative for the market.

Here are our assumptions:

• For general assumptions such as electricity, gas and water rates, please see the General Assumptions for the ENERGY STAR Appliance Calculator.
• For household numbers: 1, 5, 50, 100, 500
  • We started our analysis for a baseline of 4 households using the appliances calculator.
  • Multifamily washes 1241 loads per year (Residential 295 loads per year, → Multifamily = 4.2 families).
  • Then, we scaled the community to hold a number of 1, 5, 50, 100 and 500 households to see how much the utility (electricity, gas and water) savings and net savings could be.
• For average households washing load per year:
  • For residential type: 295 loads per year using Federal Register, 77 FR 45 (Mar. 7, 2012).
  • For commercial type: 1241 loads per year using DOE Technical Support Document Chapter 6, 2010.
  • In our model, we determined that it is better to assume the same washing clothes weight (pounds) for the same number of households across different washing machines, i.e., bigger-capacity washing machines wash less loads. (see example below for how this applies).

Using these assumptions, here is our water and electricity comparison between ENERGY STAR residential front-loading and commercial washer (annual consumption) for 1, 5, 50, 100 and 500 households (assuming 2.5 people per household).

Comparison Between ENERGY STAR Residential Front-Loading and Commercial Washer – Click for source (row 128)

Here is the Land Use Comparison for one machine (assuming 2.5 people per household).

Land Use Comparison For One Washing Machine

FLEXIBILITY STRATEGY

One Community will implement a flexibility strategy to ensure that our capacity for eco-laundry grows as our community size increases. Initially we will purchase 8 of our selected machine and use these until we reach maximum capacity. As we grow, out strategy is simple: We will buy and add more machines as we need them. This will allow us to continue to install the most efficient machine as our community expands. If future research finds an even better machine than the one we have chosen and installed thus far, then we will purchase the better machine for any future needed additions.

LONG-TERM MAXIMIZATION & SCALABILITY STRATEGY

One Community’s plan for long-term maximization and scalability is designed to be timeless. As mentioned in our flexibility strategy, we will start out our eco-laundry by purchasing 8 of our selected machine. We will maintain and repair them as needed and will continue to buy and add machines as we grow. We will add tutorials to this section as well as further research as we learn from our experience of implementing this strategy.

A SURPRISE IN OUR FINDINGS

When starting out with this research, we had assumed that commercial  washers would be the best option for our eco-laundry plans. At this time we were also prioritizing energy savings over all else. However, water savings and other considerations have moved up in our priorities. The overall comparisons show us something we were not expecting.

Here is the savings comparison between ENERGY STAR residential front-loading and commercial washers when considering 1, 5, 50, 100 and 500 people.

Savings Comparison Between ENERGY STAR Residential Front Loading and Commercial Washers – Click for source (row 105)

What these tables tell us is that as the number of households increases, the commercial front-loading machine uses less electricity while the residential front-loading ENERGY STAR machine uses less water and yields better total and net cost savings over its life cycle. Further, the residential machine achieves more significant CO2 savings as well as having a lower additional purchasing price and a longer assumed equipment lifetime. In addition to this, the residential front-loading machine (Samsung WF42H5000AW) has a larger capacity of 4.2 cu. ft. compared to the front-loading commercial machine (LG – GCWF1069**#) capacity of 3.7 cu ft. Although for our comparison we used assumed the same washing clothes weight (pounds) for the same number of households across different washing machines, taking this difference in capacity into consideration means that ultimately, the residential washer can hold more per load.

While we initially thought that commercial ENERGY STAR machines would be the best option for eco-laundry washers, this tells us that residential ENERGY STAR machines are better overall. If you want to prioritize electricity savings then you can opt to stick with our suggested commercial machine (LG – GCWF1069**#).

WHAT WE’RE GOING WITH

Given the discovery that the residential ENERGY STAR front-loading machine out-competes the commercial front-loading ENERGY STAR machine in water savings, cost savings, CO2 reductions, capacity and yearly loads, we have chosen to go with the Samsung – 4.2 Cu. Ft. 8-Cycle Front-Loading Washer. We will be updating this choice again when we re-do our research before finalizing our purchasing decisions.

For our dryer decision, we have chosen the Samsung DV56H9000EW (Amazon Link for Cost) for now. We will update this selection as well as this page when our more extensive dryer research is complete. Come back to this page in the future to see our final washer and dryer decisions, and for more up-to-date research on the best eco-laundry technologies available.

RUNNING YOUR OWN CALCULATION

In our analysis, we not only researched for the best eco-laundry options in the existing market, we also built a comparison tool that can help individuals make their own decisions in choosing the most sustainable laundry products.

We understand that different times, locations, and/or households’ purchasing preferences can all hugely influence the results. As we have mentioned above, we only chose the most representative or best-selling washing machines for each different machine type. We also mainly focused on the US average data or forecast data (water, electricity rate, additional purchasing cost, discount rate, etc.) using assumptions based on average household washing loads, which could be significantly different across time and households. We therefore encourage you to generate your own calculation, with your specific assumptions, to see how much money and resources you or your community can save by making the decision to purchase a more efficient washing machine.

If you have updated information on certain products or different opinions from ours, such as washing machine selection or loads per week, you are welcome to run your own calculation by following the simple tutorial below. Our website provides you with the exact same calculator we used in building our comparison model. Any user can change or modify the key assumptions or inputs so that they are tailored to your own preferences on washing frequency, washers, or washing type. Please visit the Interactive Tool Tutorial below.

INTERACTIVE TOOL TUTORIAL

To get you quickly familiar with the Savings Calculator, here is a simple demonstration of how it works:

1. Start with choosing your washer’s type of use (“Residential” or “Commercial”) and your location.

After you have done this, the utility rates will automatically apply as follows.

2. Type in the specifications of your chosen machine, such as average number of loads per week, washer capacity, IMEF/MEF or IWF/WF.

3. You can also use the default to show our assumptions for the residential and commercial clothes washers.

Default Assumptions For the Residential Clothes Washer Interactive Tool Tutorial – Click for source (row 72)

Default Assumptions For the Commercial Clothes Washer Interactive Tool Tutorial – Click for source (row 72)

4. After filling out the inputs in the calculator, you can scroll down to the green-highlighted cells in the savings estimate table or to the annual energy & water consumption table for a detailed review.

FAQ ON HOW TO DETERMINE YOUR OWN INPUTS

1. Determining annual washing loads:

   Using our assumptions above, any user can calculate the washing loads per year for each different washing machine you choose. Take the commercial front-loading LG-GCWF1069 (Capacity = 3.7 cu. ft.) as an example:

   Average commercial washing loads = 1241 loads/year for an average of 2.8 cu.ft.-capacity washer. If we assume that 1 cu.ft. can hold 4 lbs of clothes on average, then the average washing clothes weight = 1241*2.8*4 lbs/year = 13899 lbs/year.

   For our chosen machine, the washing loads = 13899/4/3.7 loads/year = 939 loads/year.

2. Determining quantity of washers:

   Since purchasing each additional washer would add extra costs to the model, we assume the washer could run at capacity. Assuming each washer can run from 8 am – 8 pm (12hrs/day) and each washing cycle is roughly 1 hour, we can get maximum of 12*365 = 4380 loads/year (~4000 loads/year) for one machine. So if one household washes 295 loads/year (~300 loads/year), five households wash approximately 1500 loads/year and only need one machine altogether. Similarly, fifty households wash approximately 15000 loads/year and need 4 washers.

GREEN LAUNDRY TECHNOLOGIES

As we continue to develop our research and apply it in our site development, we will share our processes and everything we learn here. This section will be expanded to eventually include One Community’s complete permitted plans, downloadable 3-D Sketchups and CAD files, instructional videos covering the entire installation and maintenance process, and more.

RESOURCES

• Article: “Tips to Help You Establish an Eco-friendly Laundry Routine”
• Consumer Reports: Laundry Machine Reviews
• Laundry Consulting Article: “Washers”
• Clothes Washers – Why ENERGY STAR?
• US Energy Information Administration FAQs – What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source?
• ENERGY STAR – The simplest choice for saving energy
• 10 CFR 430.32 – Energy and water conservation standards and their compliance dates
• Clothes Washers Key Product Criteria – ENERGY STAR
• Whirlpool 4.3 Cu. Ft. High Efficiency Top Load Washer with Smooth Wave Stainless Steel Wash Basket
• Samsung 4.5 Cu. Ft. 9-Cycle High-Efficiency Top-Loading Washer White WA45H7000AW:AA
• Samsung 4.2 Cu. Ft. High Efficiency Stackable Front Load Washer with Vibration Reduction Technology+
• Best Matching Washer & Dryer Sets of 2022 – Consumer Reports
• Best Washer and Dryer – BEST and WORST Rated Washing Machines
• Samsung DV56H9000EW – 9.5 Cu. Ft. Electric Dryer | American Freight (Sears Outlet)
• LG High-Efficiency Front-Load Platinum Washer
• Federal Register, 77 FR 45 (Mar. 7, 2012)
• DOE Technical Support Document – Energy Efficiency Program for Consumer Products and Commercial and Industrial Equipment – Chapter 6, 2010
• RinSave® Water and Labor Savings Calculations
• Download – Savings Calculator for ENERGY STAR Qualified Appliances
• Use this page (click here) if you have a resource you’d like to suggest be added here

SUMMARY

High-capacity laundry machines are more cost effective, save water resources, and use less chemicals. One Community is designing an open source eco-laundry facility to provide plans, all needed installation details, maintenance details, etc., so people can effectively evaluate this option for their own needs. In so doing, we hope to promote and grow the eco-laundry industry as part of our approach to living and creating for The Highest Good of All.

FREQUENTLY ANSWERED QUESTIONS

Q: What is ENERGY STAR?

The Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program is a voluntary energy conservation movement to save energy and protect the climate. Since its beginning in 1992, the ENERGY STAR program has helped identify and promote national energy efficiency in household appliances (clothes washers and dryers, refrigerators, etc.), building products (residential windows, doors, roof products, seal and insulate), lighting, electronics (audio/video, cable, telephones and TVs), office equipment (computers, data center storage, enterprise servers, monitors, etc.), water heaters, and heating and cooling systems.

As of 2023, ENERGY STAR has recognized the most efficient and innovative products for clothes washing machines and more. Click the icon here to visit the website for product information.

Q: How to calculate MEF/IMEF and WF/IWF for washing machines? And what do these attributes represent?

Modified Energy Factor (MEF) is the energy performance metric for ENERGY STAR certified commercial clothes washing machines,

MEF = C/(M+E=D)

Where C is the quotient of the capacity of the clothes container, M is the machine electrical energy for the mechanical action of a cycle, E is the hot water energy consumption, and D is the energy required for removal of the remaining moisture in a washing cycle.

Integrated Modified Energy Factor (IMEF) is the energy performance for ENERGY STAR certified residential clothes washing machines.

IMEF = C/(M+E+D+L)

Where L is the combined low-power mode energy consumption, C is the quotient of the capacity of the clothes container, M is the machine electrical energy for the mechanical action of a cycle, E is the hot water energy consumption, and D is the the energy required for removal of the remaining moisture in a washing cycle.

Higher MEF/IMEF indicates greater energy efficiency. Both MEF and IMEF are calculated in the unit of ft³/kWh/cycle.

Water Consumption Factor (WF) is the water performance metric for commercial clothes washing machines,

WF = Q/C

Where Q is the quotient of the total weighted per-cycle water consumption for the cold wash, and C is the capacity of the clothes washer.

Integrated Water Factor (IWF) is the water performance metric for residential clothes washing machines.

IWF = QA/C

Where QA is the quotient of the total weighted per-cycle water consumption for all wash cycles, and C is the capacity of the clothes washer.

Lower WF/IWF means greater water efficiency in a washing cycle.

Q: Where was your data sourced from? How did you develop your savings calculations?

Our researcher for this page, Jinxi Feng (Environmental Consultant), invested hundreds of hours into collecting data and developing the analyses and conclusions presented on this page. Her sources range from online websites, articles, and databases, as well as email correspondence with various washing machine companies. Much of these sources are linked in our Resources section, but summaries of all the data used on this webpage can be found in our open source Eco-Laundry Comparison Spreadsheet. Her calculations were developed using our savings calculator, that was inspired by the Savings Calculator for ENERGY STAR Qualified Appliances.

Note on data: The research for this page was completed in 2017. Our calculations are based on an industry that is constantly evolving and traditional models are not as bad as they used to be. We encourage you to use our savings calculator to compare your washing machine with that of our chosen baseline machine, LG – GCWF 1069**#, and to reach out to us if you find a newer machine that exceeds the sustainability and savings of this one. 

Q: Why not use a gas dryer?

100% sustainable energy infrastructure is one of the main goals of our project. Initially we started out with some gas-powered equipment to reduce the startup costs for energy infrastructure. Then we made the decision to go 100% electric so we wouldn’t have to replace gas appliances later.

Q: How will you keep people’s laundry separate when doing combined loads? 

Laundry will be kept separate using washable laundry bags like this.

Q: What about washing laundry by hand?

This is totally doable but probably not practical for groups as large as 300. In our case, even if it were practical, we’d rather invest those labor resources in more open source content creation as we feel this is more in accordance with our approach to global transformation and will have a more dramatic affect on global longevity and ecology. Here’s a great video on washing laundry by hand though: