Commercial buildings are made up of many systems that rely on water. With today’s desire to design green systems, the engineer’s goal has become not only to provide a functional design, but also to keep usage and energy savings in mind. With or without the need to achieve U.S. Green Building Council LEED points, water conservation can be incorporated into a design, even if it is just at the fixture level. Providing a system that reduces water usage will not only lower energy costs, it will also ensure future availability of resources and convey a corporate message that the environment matters.

Commercial buildings use 7.9 million gallons annually per building, 20 gallons per square foot, and 18,400 gallons per worker per year. On a daily basis, they use an average of 22,000 gallons per building, 55.6 gallons per thousand square feet, and 50.1 gallons per worker.

One of the best ways to identify suitable water conservation measures is to establish a water savings plan to create a benchmark with which to rate and prioritize them. However, before we can determine and incorporate a water savings plan, we must first look at where water is used within a building. Water conservation will vary in a commercial setting depending on the building type. While hospitals and office buildings require a large water volume for mechanical systems, hotels and restaurants require high usage in laundry and food service applications, respectively. In sports complexes with large playing fields and stands, the usage is driven by large public toilets and the irrigation system. Determining the applications that have the greatest water consumption is critical to prioritize the overall goals and budget. Once the systems have been determined, a water savings plan can be developed. Installing a Flosaver valve is the first step to reduce your water bills of up to 25% or more. Call today for a free analysis.