(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
Interesting news from the World Resources Institute (WRI) this week. According to an article entitled “Betting on Water” by Piet Klop, WRI is partnering with Goldman Sachs and General Electric to develop a “Water Index.” The index will be created using “publicly available data on water quality and water scarcity” in order to create a series of map overlays that combine and compare various water-related risks. Unlike the more familiar water footprint (and its cousin, virtual water), the Water Index offers an analysis of how the environment can effect a company’s water supply and/or its water needs, rather than the other way around.
More specifically, the Water Index would supply a company with information regarding the availability and quality of water sources considered integral to the companies operations, along with information on other competition for that water source. As the article elaborates, “Water risks, in short, are disruptions, costs, revenue losses, or growth constraints due to water shortages and declining water quality—all can affect asset performance and the profitability of a company.” The idea is that better information can lead to not only smarter investment decisions, but—hopefully—a more conscientious use of water in order to avoid a negative “repetitional cost.”
So what do you think? Can the information contained in something like this Water Index really affect the behavior of companies large and small? And if so, what—if any—information contained in this index will actually encourage water conservation and intelligent resource management
Monday, January 25, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Batten Down the Hatches
(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
Here in California, we’re bracing for a fortnight of winter storms that, while arriving late in the season, promise to inundate the state with several inches of rain over the next several days. As I watch trees bent and lashed by the wet weather, I think it’s perhaps the perfect time to look back on some of the rainwater harvesting articles we’ve covered in the magazine.
In “Acing the ‘Greening’ Curve” by Sue Marquette Poremba, we highlighted Duke University’s Pratt College of Engineering that, along with help from The Home Depot, designed a “smart home,” that includes two 1,000-gallon rainwater collection systems from BRAE rainwater systems irrigate the property and provide water for toilets and the clothes washing machine, as well as landscape irrigation.
If you take a look at the University of Georgia’s water conservation program (“Water Task Force”), you can read all about how the university worked hard to save over 84 million gallons of water during a five-year period. Instrumental to that program was the utilization of rain gardens, and the modification of two existing campus buildings to include cisterns capable of capturing rainwater and air-conditioning condensation for reuse.
And finally, in Margaret Buranen’s article, “Raincatcher's Delight”, we took a long look at Austin’s Seaholm project, which includes an extensive rainwater harvesting system.
So what do you think? Does rainwater harvesting get enough attention? And should cities take up the call, or should we fall back on the old mantra of individual responsibility?
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
Here in California, we’re bracing for a fortnight of winter storms that, while arriving late in the season, promise to inundate the state with several inches of rain over the next several days. As I watch trees bent and lashed by the wet weather, I think it’s perhaps the perfect time to look back on some of the rainwater harvesting articles we’ve covered in the magazine.
In “Acing the ‘Greening’ Curve” by Sue Marquette Poremba, we highlighted Duke University’s Pratt College of Engineering that, along with help from The Home Depot, designed a “smart home,” that includes two 1,000-gallon rainwater collection systems from BRAE rainwater systems irrigate the property and provide water for toilets and the clothes washing machine, as well as landscape irrigation.
If you take a look at the University of Georgia’s water conservation program (“Water Task Force”), you can read all about how the university worked hard to save over 84 million gallons of water during a five-year period. Instrumental to that program was the utilization of rain gardens, and the modification of two existing campus buildings to include cisterns capable of capturing rainwater and air-conditioning condensation for reuse.
And finally, in Margaret Buranen’s article, “Raincatcher's Delight”, we took a long look at Austin’s Seaholm project, which includes an extensive rainwater harvesting system.
So what do you think? Does rainwater harvesting get enough attention? And should cities take up the call, or should we fall back on the old mantra of individual responsibility?
Monday, January 11, 2010
WaterSense for New Homes
(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
In the “news you may have missed” category, I submit the WaterSense specifications announced by the EPA on December 10, 2009. While the rest of us were gearing up for the holidays, the EPA released its final specifications for new single-family homes—and the specifics are certainly worth reviewing as we head into a new year.
This new set of WaterSense specifications, three years in the making and incorporating input by a variety of stakeholders, was designed to dovetail with existing green building programs. According to the EPA’s press release, the WaterSense singly-family new homes specification creates “the first national, voluntary, water efficiency specification for an entire new home.” The new WaterSense homes will not only be 20% more efficient, according to the EPA, homeowners can expect save up to $200 a year in utility bills (as compared to existing residential structures) by employing these new efficiency standards.
The specifics of the plan include the following:
1) Any new homes aspiring to meet WaterSense criteria must be independently inspected and certified by a licensed EPA certification provider.
2) The WaterSense homes will include WaterSense-labeled plumbing fixtures, Energy Star appliances, smart landscaping, and dedicated hot-water delivery systems.
The EPA anticipates that this program will save over 12 billion gallons of water each year (based the average 1.27 million new homes built every year in the US). Additionally, by investing in WaterSense labeled homes, the EPA estimates that the average homebuyer can “reduce their water usage by more than 10,000 gallons per year” and “save enough energy annually to power a television for four years.”
So what do you think of this latest set of WaterSense specifications? Do you think that the savings alone are incentive enough to encourage homebuilders to strive for a WaterSense label? Do you think this type of consumer outreach is the first step towards name recognition on par with the EPA’s Energy Star program? And how could the EPA have insured that the program would have a significant impact?
For more on WaterSense, go to: www.epa.gov/watersense
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
In the “news you may have missed” category, I submit the WaterSense specifications announced by the EPA on December 10, 2009. While the rest of us were gearing up for the holidays, the EPA released its final specifications for new single-family homes—and the specifics are certainly worth reviewing as we head into a new year.
This new set of WaterSense specifications, three years in the making and incorporating input by a variety of stakeholders, was designed to dovetail with existing green building programs. According to the EPA’s press release, the WaterSense singly-family new homes specification creates “the first national, voluntary, water efficiency specification for an entire new home.” The new WaterSense homes will not only be 20% more efficient, according to the EPA, homeowners can expect save up to $200 a year in utility bills (as compared to existing residential structures) by employing these new efficiency standards.
The specifics of the plan include the following:
1) Any new homes aspiring to meet WaterSense criteria must be independently inspected and certified by a licensed EPA certification provider.
2) The WaterSense homes will include WaterSense-labeled plumbing fixtures, Energy Star appliances, smart landscaping, and dedicated hot-water delivery systems.
The EPA anticipates that this program will save over 12 billion gallons of water each year (based the average 1.27 million new homes built every year in the US). Additionally, by investing in WaterSense labeled homes, the EPA estimates that the average homebuyer can “reduce their water usage by more than 10,000 gallons per year” and “save enough energy annually to power a television for four years.”
So what do you think of this latest set of WaterSense specifications? Do you think that the savings alone are incentive enough to encourage homebuilders to strive for a WaterSense label? Do you think this type of consumer outreach is the first step towards name recognition on par with the EPA’s Energy Star program? And how could the EPA have insured that the program would have a significant impact?
For more on WaterSense, go to: www.epa.gov/watersense
Monday, January 4, 2010
Tri-State Co-Op
(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
With all the talk these days about impending water wars, it’s heartening to hear about how three states are working together to solve their water supply and demand issues. As reported by the Yuma Sun, the Central Arizona Project, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and the Southern Nevada Water Authority are all splitting the $172 million cost associated with the a new storage reservoir located 25 miles west of Yuma that is being constructed as part of the rehabilitation of the All American Canal. This new reservoir will be able to capture about 70,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water, water that—until now—has been lost to runoff. The project—which will be completed by September 2010—depends upon gravity (no pumps needed) created by its location to funnel water into the “six-and-a-half mile concrete-lined inlet clean that feeds the reservoir.” This inlet can transfer up to 1,800 cubic feet of water per second to the fill reservoir, and the outlet canal can then lead that water back into the All American Canal—all within three days time.
What makes this project interesting is the participation of three water purveyors who usually find themselves at odds over the water flowing through the Colorado River. With this new reservoir in place, the stored water (which will be used as needed by the Imperial Irrigation District) will free up water from Lake Mead—water that will then be allocated to the three funding agencies. This additional water from Lake Mead will go a long way towards helping those funding agencies meet ever increasing demand in the face of lingering drought on local scarcity.
So what do you think? Can this type of cooperation be duplicated in other parts of the country? Could a similar strategy work for regions like the South, where Georgia has found itself at odds with its neighbors over water allocations? And does this “interstate water-commerce” promote efficiency or does it provide yet another stopgap solution that will deter communities from making the tough conservation calls?
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
With all the talk these days about impending water wars, it’s heartening to hear about how three states are working together to solve their water supply and demand issues. As reported by the Yuma Sun, the Central Arizona Project, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and the Southern Nevada Water Authority are all splitting the $172 million cost associated with the a new storage reservoir located 25 miles west of Yuma that is being constructed as part of the rehabilitation of the All American Canal. This new reservoir will be able to capture about 70,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water, water that—until now—has been lost to runoff. The project—which will be completed by September 2010—depends upon gravity (no pumps needed) created by its location to funnel water into the “six-and-a-half mile concrete-lined inlet clean that feeds the reservoir.” This inlet can transfer up to 1,800 cubic feet of water per second to the fill reservoir, and the outlet canal can then lead that water back into the All American Canal—all within three days time.
What makes this project interesting is the participation of three water purveyors who usually find themselves at odds over the water flowing through the Colorado River. With this new reservoir in place, the stored water (which will be used as needed by the Imperial Irrigation District) will free up water from Lake Mead—water that will then be allocated to the three funding agencies. This additional water from Lake Mead will go a long way towards helping those funding agencies meet ever increasing demand in the face of lingering drought on local scarcity.
So what do you think? Can this type of cooperation be duplicated in other parts of the country? Could a similar strategy work for regions like the South, where Georgia has found itself at odds with its neighbors over water allocations? And does this “interstate water-commerce” promote efficiency or does it provide yet another stopgap solution that will deter communities from making the tough conservation calls?
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