Daybreak has been carefully planned to incorporate key social and environmental features in its design. With a commitment to sustainability, we work proactively to find common ground among different interests and create something that uplifts the entire community. Sustainability goes beyond environmental considerations and takes into account the economic and social implications of the decisions we make. It’s the lens that lets us see further down the road, bringing greater foresight to our planning and greater insight to our decision-making. It’s the spark that ignites big ideas and solves problems at a whole new level. And in the end, it’s just plain common sense.
Founding Principles
From the very beginning, Daybreak set a new benchmark for development in Utah. The following new urbanist design principles still lead our efforts almost 20 years later:
- Quality architecture & urban design
- Mixed-use development & diversity
- Sustainability
- Walkability
- Smart transportation
We elaborate on our design principles in the Daybreak story.
Sustainability in the landscape
- Smaller lot sizes.
- Use of native, drought-tolerant and water-wise planting materials and turf.
- Turf may not cover more than 60% of a homeowner’s yard. There is no minimum turf requirement.
- To reduce turf, planter beds are required to surround fences, tree trunks and foundations.
- Mulch is required in planting beds to maintain soil moisture, minimize evaporation and keep plant roots cool.
- Use of high-efficient irrigation systems throughout the community.
- All builder and homeowner landscape plans are reviewed to make sure they comply with the community’s landscape/water-wise guidelines.
- Use of an innovative secondary water collection and distribution system irrigates 80% of parks and open spaces.
- Parks and open spaces use only 2.25-acre feet of water per acre vs. 4-acre feet of water per acre that is needed for agriculture watering.
- All secondary water is metered at the point of connection.
- 100% of storm water is retained onsite. This is an important effort to preserve and replenish the aquifer.
- Daybreak is committed to planting 100,000 trees in the community, which will reduce urban heat island effect.
- Trees can lower the ambient temperature by five to ten degrees on a hot day and provide shade that conserves water by avoiding energy production.
- Trees also add capacity for the soil to store even more stormwater as deeper roots break up compacted soil.
2021 Water Conservation Plan
Utah is one of the driest states in the nation, which makes water conservation critical. While Daybreak has always been a good steward of water, from 2020-2021 we implemented several new practices.
- WeatherTRAK monitoring systems added to most parks and open spaces.
- Updated secondary water meters with new technology that remotely monitors usage and notifies of leaks or malfunctions.
- Increased the number of watering stations to allow for more precise control in watering.
- Reduce watering to native plants.
- Maintained turf in parks and open spaces at a longer length to improve moisture retention.
- Updated new home landscape requirements to include new water efficiency standards that affect park strips, front and side yard landscaping for single and multi-family housing. This update aligns with South Jordan City’s Municipal Code 16.30.
These efforts reduced secondary water usage by 16% below the allotted amount for 2021. Saving 32 million gallons of secondary water.
2022 Water Conservation Plan
With the increased severity of drought conditions in Utah, Daybreak continues to focus on sustainability and water conservation. The community works closely with representatives from South Jordan City.
- Continue all water conservation efforts implemented in 2021.
- Delay the start of watering season for parks and open spaces by three weeks.
- Further reduce watering to native plants.
- Implementation of Daybreak Direct, an app that residents can use to alert the Daybreak Community Association (HOA) of irrigation leaks.
- To prevent evaporation, parks and open spaces will not be watered during the hottest hours of the day, when possible.
- Provide water conservation classes to the community via LiveDAYBREAK’s Master Gardener.
We estimate that these efforts will reduce our secondary water consumption by an additional 5% compared to 2021. Saving an additional 10 million gallons of secondary water.
Moving Forward
Under the leadership of Larry H. Miller Real Estate, Daybreak will continue to take a thoughtful and forward-thinking approach to sustainability, water conservation and smart design principles. We recognize that our responsibility doesn’t stop here. We will continue to collaborate with thought leaders on this topic and do our part as a responsible developer.
Download Daybreak’s Sustainable Approach to Water Conservation document, here.
If you are a Daybreak resident and want to learn more about water-wise landscaping, visit mydaybreak.com.
