The Pacific Institute, a global nonpartisan water think tank, has released guidance for developers to plan, design, and operate onsite water reuse systems.
The Guide for Developing Onsite Water Systems to Support Regional Water Resilience “advances circular, localized approaches to managing water that reduce a site’s water footprint, improve its resilience to water shortage or other disruptions, and provide benefits for local communities and regional water systems,” according to a news release. Onsite water systems collect and treat water from onsite sources, including wastewater, rainwater, and stormwater, and reuse it for non-potable water uses like toilet flushing, outdoor irrigation, and cooling, which can account for over 75% of a site’s water demand.
The new guide helps site developers envision and evaluate how an onsite system can use a multi-benefit approach to build water resilience, support equity, improve environmental health, and protect public health. Each section includes sample questions to consider, ways for stakeholders to engage, highlights resources to examine, and offers recommended analyses. The guide also provides a range of case studies illustrating best practices and lessons learned.
“Onsite water systems are gaining traction across the U.S. and the world as a water resilience strategy,” said Heather Cooley, director of research at the Pacific Institute. “This circular approach can provide multiple benefits for the building, water systems, and the larger community. In addition to diversifying water supplies, they can reduce pollution from stormwater, create green space, and provide added flexibility and redundancy to centralized water systems.”
Related Stories
| Mar 9, 2011
Fast food franchises are taking the LEED
Starbucks, Arby’s, and McDonald’s are among the top when it comes to fast food franchises implementing sustainability practices. This article takes a look at the green paths these three brands are taking, and how LEED factors into their business and their future.
| Mar 8, 2011
Building, energy performance rating site launched
The Institute for Market Transformation and the Natural Resources Defense Council announced the launch of BuildingRating.org, the world’s first comprehensive resource on energy performance rating and disclosure policies for commercial buildings and homes.
| Mar 8, 2011
BlueCross HQ campus awarded LEED Gold
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee announced its certification as a LEED Gold campus, established by the U.S. Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). BlueCross’ headquarters, totaling 950,000 square feet of office space, is the largest LEED Gold corporate campus in Tennessee, and the second largest in the nation.
| Mar 2, 2011
Design professionals grow leery of green promises
Legal claims over sustainability promises vs. performance of certified green buildings are beginning to mount—and so are warnings to A/E/P and environmental consulting firms, according to a ZweigWhite report.
| Mar 2, 2011
Top 10 states for LEED green buildings
According to the U.S. Green Building Council's 2010 list of top 10 states for LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita (based on the U.S. 2010 Census information), the District of Columbia leads the nation, with 25 square feet of LEED-certified space per person in 2010. Nevada, being the leading state, has 10.92 square feet per person in 2010.
| Mar 2, 2011
The extraordinary growth of green building—A rebuttal to an article on why green building adoption is slow
In this rebuttal to The Green Building Adoption Rate is Slow, Find Out The Practical Reasons Why, the author argues that in fact the growth rate has been very high and that much of it came during a time of economic unrest and tight capital, which makes it all the more extraordinary.
| Mar 1, 2011
Smart cities: getting greener and making money doing it
The Global Green Cities of the 21st Century conference in San Francisco is filled with mayors, architects, academics, consultants, and financial types all struggling to understand the process of building smarter, greener cities on a scale that's practically unimaginable—and make money doing it.
| Mar 1, 2011
USGBC's new LEED Interpretations similar to old precedent-setting CIRs
This week the USGBC launched its long-awaited LEED Interpretations process and database. LEED Interpretations are like project-specific Credit Interpretation Rulings, but unlike those CIRs, they can be applied to multiple projects. LEED project teams with a unique situation or a question not answered by existing LEED resources have had access to CIRs since 2009, but those CIRs have been limited. With the launch of LEED Interpretations, the USGBC hopes to broaden its scope.
| Feb 25, 2011
Denver excelling in LEED green building development
The mile high city has a decidedly green tinge. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today noted that nearly 30 projects in Denver have achieved LEED green building certification since 2010 and two of these developments achieved LEED’s highest rating, Platinum.
| Feb 25, 2011
Procter & Gamble will pursue LEED for all new sites globally
Procter & Gamble will pursue LEED certification for all new sites. P&G's Taicang plant in China - which is breaking ground today - is the first P&G manufacturing site to pursue LEED certification, with several additional new P&G sites currently working toward the same distinction globally.
