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Greening A Facility's Water Systems One Step At A Time

The push for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification combined with current economic challenges makes smart water conservation a critical bottom-line issue for owners of commercial and public buildings. Yet facility managers face the sometimes daunting task of identifying where to begin when corporate goals are to reduce, recycle and reuse water and energy.

Five steps - performed in consultation with a Certified Water Technologist (CWT) - can help green the building envelope, identify the right technology for conservation, and ultimately save thousands of dollars in water and energy consumption in as few as 12 to 18 months.

• Step One: Identify Goals

Commercial facility managers’ goals vary depending on the setting, from office to hospital, with each site having very specific needs. While some managers are mandated to save a percentage of water and energy costs annually, others are simply striving to make their buildings and its systems more environmentally friendly.

Because solutions are site-specific, determining the right technologies for the job must include a discussion about goals upfront. For this reason, real-world, practical experience when working with a CWT is important. Their job is to help building professionals sort through the myriad of technologies available - chemical, chemical minimization, non-chemical, “green,” reverse osmosis, membrane technologies, etc. - to help managers achieve their facility’s goals.

• Step Two: Collect Data

CWTs will next identify the biggest water and energy users to determine where technology should be focused. They will examine all the energy used to heat and cool the facility and document every drop of water, including diagramming its flow. This includes calculating water and energy use from potable drinking water systems, rainwater capture, groundwater sources, HVAC, and boiler operations.

Cooling towers are typically one of the largest water users in any facility. Proprietary tools like eSolutions’ boiler and cooling tower calculators determine water use and potential for cost savings. In a hospital, for example, a 24-7 operation that demands an extremely sterile and temperate environment for its patients, the primary source may be potable or domestic water. By their very nature hospitals, unique from commercial office buildings, also present opportunities for secondary disinfection technologies, including copper-silver, on site chlorine generation and chlorine dioxide.

• Step Three: Survey plant

A full plant survey will review the building’s blueprint, identify potential for lost savings and sort out unique characteristics that provide additional opportunities for conservation initiatives. The survey will include a physical walk of the plant to analyze all current water systems.

The CWT will document the survey with photos and conduct water sampling and testing. To document findings and analyze them for site-specific recommendations, they will then create a flow chart using information gathered during data collection and the on-site survey.

• Step Four: Provide recommendations

From analyzed data and the on-site systems review, a CWT can customize technology to address all areas impacting the facility’s water and energy use. When applied correctly, facilities can typically realize savings in less than two years.

A Midwest university, for example, recently employed new non glycol based heat transfer fluid technologies resulting in an energy savings of eight percent. Commercial office buildings that have huge cooling needs may use up to 30 million gallons of water annually. Chemically-minimized technology can save up to 30 percent in water consumption.

• Step Five: Implementation

The focus on greening any facility - whether commercial, office or hospital - should be on achieving building management’s goals. That includes employing appropriate technologies and reducing energy use for reasonable savings through calculated assessment and a practical approach.

Implementation then includes management’s approval to employ recommendations based on the CWT’s research and analysis, and the anticipated return on investment. That’s key for being and saving green. If you want an environmentally-friendly facility in today’s world, you have to show that you’re conserving water and energy in a reasonable manner by using technologies that are proven and have reasonable payback, typically less than three years.

With five Certified Water Technologists and a staff with more than 120 years combined experience, Earthwise Environmental Inc., Bensenville, IL, is an industry leader at providing safe, efficient, environmentally-sound water management solutions. Expertise includes boiler, cooling tower, closed system and waste water applications. For information about its proprietary programs and services, including eSolutions and EarthCare, visit Earthwise Environmental online at www.earthwiseenvironmental.com.

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