By Beatrice K Otto

• SUSTAINABLE OFFICE DESIGN & BUILDINGS
• WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
• WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR?
• AIR
• LIGHT
• ENERGY
• WATER
• MATERIALS
• GOVERNMENT RESPONSES
• OVERVIEW OF SUSTAINABILITY
• WHERE CAN I DIG DEEPER?
• GLOSSARY

• Want your own copy of our white paper on sustainability? Download it as a PDF

WATER

REDUCE THE USE & LOOP THE LOOP

The basic principles of sustainable water use are conservation and recycling, which leads into grey-water (water than can be used for non-drinking purposes such as watering gardens or flushing toilets) and rainwater use.

Conservation

Conservation can be direct and indirect. Indirectly, you could have your brochures printed using a waterless process such as Pureprint, or install Interface carpets that have changed their pattern printing processes to reduce water use in manufacture, by 81% for modular carpet and 52% for broadloom. Or you could take the direct conservation approach and install low flush toilets and waterless urinals: urine is 96% water, and yet we use great quantities of water to flush it away.

• Waterless urinals using various sealants and water repellent coatings offer a waterless, odourless alternative, also saving costs in installation, piping and maintenance.
• Dual flush and ultra low flush toilets - conventional toilets use about 23 litres of water per flush, whereas ultra low flush toilets use six.
• Reduced flow taps and sensors that switch the tap on only in the presence of hands, so avoiding the huge wastage of taps left running or dripping.

Recycling

Water can be recycled, such as using the grey-water from hand-washing to flush toilets or water the garden. Rainwater can be harvested through porous paving or gently sloping surfaces that allow run-off to be collected - the refurbishment of the BP building in St.James's Square installed a rainwater harvesting system. It can then be used to water gardens or flush toilets, or for cooling systems.

The Fulton County Health Center in Ohio used almost 3 million gallons of water a year in its air conditioning systems. Maintenance staff now use condensate water from two air handlers to help cool the water in the cooling tower basin, rather than sending it down the drain. The retrofit was done in winter when the air conditioning was switched off. The cost of materials was US$ 300 and the work took less than 40 hours. The refit is expected to save about 1 million gallons a year.

Mike Hurd, 'Cooling tower uses recycled water', Buildings, March 2006, p. 68.

Fun with Factoids

• Only 2.5% of water is fresh, of which 68% is trapped in glaciers and ice packs. 30% is in groundwater, and 0.3% is in freshwater lakes and rivers.
• The Environment Agency says rainwater harvesting could replace 55% of treated water in domestic use and 85% in commerce and industry.
• Toilet flushing can use 30-40% of water in non-industrial buildings.

WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE?

http://www.greenbuilder.com/sourcebook
A clear guide to several key aspects of sustainable buildings, including a section on water.

http://www.advancedbuildings.org/
This is a superb source of briefings on a range of sustainable building topics including water use, conservation, recycling and heating, and stormwater management. A great place to start learning.

WHERE CAN I SURF MORE?

GENERAL

http://southwest.construction.com/features/archive/0410_feature11.asp

Greening your site, a short article by Heather Kinkade-Levario, looks at how low impact techniques can maximise water conservation.

http://www.greenbuilder.com/sourcebook/

A clear guide to several key aspects of sustainable buildings, including a section on water.

http://www.advancedbuildings.org/

This is a superb source of briefings on a range of sustainable building topics including water use, conservation, recycling and heating, and stormwater management. A great place to start learning.

http://www.advancedbuildings.org/main_t_plumbing_ultra_flow_toilets.htm

A simple summary of the pros and cons of ultra low flush (6 litre) toilets.

http://www.interflush.co.uk/

A device for reducing water use in flushing.

http://www.ukrha.org

UK Rainwater Harvesting Association.

TOOLS

http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/tools_directory/subjects_sub.cfm

This is the mother of all tools, providing a directory to hundreds of different tools concerning analysis of building performance, with a section dedicated to water conservation tools.

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