Section 4: Water Efficiency Flashcards
In the U.S, the operation of buildings, including landscaping, accounts for approximately what percentage of the total water usage?
12%
In regards to water, what do submeters do?
Submeters report how much water is being used by systems and fixtures and alerts managers to leaks or other inefficiencies
Name three strategies for reducing indoor water usage
- Install efficient plumbing fixtures
- Use non potable water
- Install submeters
What is graywater?
Wastewater from bathtubs, showers, bathroom sinks washing machines and laundry tubs
This water has not come into contact with toilet waste according to the International Plumbing Code (IPC)
What could be considered as blackwater?
Wastewater from toilets and urinals.
Kitchen sink, shower, and bathtub wastewater is also considered sources of blackwater due to what it could contain.
High-efficiency fixtures use less water than specified by which policy?
Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 1992
What is process water?
Water used for building systems and industrial purposes, such as:
- Heat and cooling air
- Chillers, cooling towers, and boilers
- Washing machines, ice machines, and dishwashers
Using only site’s precipitation for both indoor and outdoor water needs is called what?
Water balance
What is Xeriscaping?
The use of drought-tolerant native or adapted plants along with rocks, bark mulch, and other landscape elements
Name five strategies for reducing outdoor water use
- Choose locally adapted plants
- Use Xeriscaping
- Select efficient irrigation technologies
- Use non potable water
- Install submeters
What is drip irrigation?
Drip irrigation minimizes the use of water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, or tubing
Conventional irrigation has an irrigation efficiency of about what percent?
65%
Drip irrigation has an irrigation efficiency of what percent?
90%
In addition to rainwater, the typical suburban lawn consumes an estimated of how much water per year?
10,000 gallons
What are invasive plants?
Plants that grow quickly and aggressively, spreading and displacing other plants
Why are perennial flowers are preferred to annuals?
Because perennials will come back year after year and will require less watering
Flowers which come back year after year and will require less watering are known as what kind of flower?
Perennial flowers
How much of residential wastewater is graywater?
50-80%
A dual flush toilet could save what percentage of water?
67%
Under the EPAct of 1992, new toilets must not use more than how many gallons per flush (gpf).
1.6
Name three goals of the water efficiency credits?
- Reduce the quantity of water needed for a buildings and landscaping
- reduce municipal water use
- reduce the need for treatment of waste water
Name a program that help identify water efficient products and services?
WaterSense
Replacing a standard urinal with a waterless urinal could save an average of how many gallons per year?
40,000
A low-flow water closet uses what percentage less water than a conventional water closet?
30%
Flush fixtures, such as toilets and urinals, are measured by what metric?
Gallons per flush (gpf)
Flow fixtures, such as sink faucets, showerheads, and aerators, are measured by what metric?
Gallons per minute (gpm)
Name two water efficient strategies for an existing building with a limited budget
Aerators and flush valves
These are the two most economically feasible options if fixtures cannot be replaced.
What accounts for the primary use of outdoor water usage?
Irrigating landscaping
The amount of water delivered by sprinkler heads is measured by what metric?
Gallons per minute (gpm)
Cleaning dishes and clothes is best with which kind of water?
Potable water
What does HET stand for?
High Efficient Toilet
What is another name for drip irrigation?
Micro-irrigation
Which landscape design technique could potentially remove the need for irrigation?
Xeriscapping
What code refers to standard plumbing fixtures?
Energy Policy Act (EPA)
High Efficient Toilets could have a flush rate as low as what?
0.05 gpf
What is tertiary water?
Waste water that has been treated to the highest quality standard
What is the water baseline for conventional urinals?
1.0 gpf
What is the water baseline for a conventional toilet?
1.6 gpf
What is the water baseline for conventional kitchen/bath faucets?
2.2 gpm
What is the water baseline for conventional shower heads?
2.5 gpm
In commercial buildings, which fixture uses the most water?
Toilets
For LEED calculations, how many times does one FTE use the bathroom per day?
3
Waste water that has been treated to the highest quality standard is known as what?
Tertiary water
Municipally supplied reclaimed water is considered what?
Non-potable water
What does IPC stand for?
International Pluming Code
What does UPC stand for?
Uniform Pluming Code
In the United States, what is the annual water deficiency in gallons?
3,700 billion gallons
In the United States, how many gallons of potable water do buildings use each day to flush toilets?
5 billion
List two ways a water end-use profile help a project team
- Identifies the projects largest users of water
- Evaluates cost-effectiveness of conservation strategies
What standard for high-efficiency fixtures specifies fixtures that use less water than those specified by the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 1992?
WaterSense
Projects using a strategy that does not require a permanent irrigation system for all landscaping must remove any temporary irrigation within what time period?
Two years
WE Prerequisite Outdoor Water Use Reduction requires all projects to reduce the landscape water requirement from baseline by what percentage?
30%
What is used to calculate the project’s landscape water requirement and reduction from baseline for WE Prerequisite Outdoor Water Use Reduction?
WaterSense Water Budget Tool
WE Prerequisite Indoor Water Use Reduction requires that all newly installed toilets, urinals, private lavatory faucets, and showerheads that are eligible must have what label?
WaterSense
What standard for fixture performance must be used to calculate the Baseline Case for Water Use Reduction credits?
EPAct
What standard must residential clothes washer meet for WE Prerequisite Indoor Water Use Reduction?
ENERGY STAR
What period of time must projects commit to share with USGBC the whole-project water usage data for WE Prerequisite Building-Level Water Metering?
Five-year
Besides biodiversity what are the other benefits of using native & adapted species?
Reduced irrigation, fertiliser, &; pesticide needs
What is necessary for projects using automatic sensors or flow valves?
Calibration
What should be performed to determine which plants will adapt best to the site and specify the most suitable plants?
Soil and climate analysis
Define the density factor as it applied to water efficiency
The density factor accounts for the number of plants the total leaf area of a landscape
Define scheduling as it relates to efficient irrigation practices
Scheduling is watering the landscape during cooler, less windy parts of the day
What removes heat from the machinery via water circulation & steam
Cooling towers
What does a water analysis compare?
Water analysis compares the cost of adding rainwater cisterns, other storage for reclaimed water, or advanced irrigation technologies with the cost of savings from reducing potable water
Full Time Employees + Transients =
Peak building users
Motion detectors that automatically turn lavatories, sinks, water costs, and urinals on and off are known as what?
Automatic fixture sensors
Define nonwater toilet systems
Nonwater (or composting) toilet systems are dry plumbing fixtures and fittings that contain and treat human waste via a microbiological process
Which kind of roofing materials are ideal for rainwater harvest?
Metal, clay, or concerte-based roofing materials
What transforms waste into resources that can be used on the building site?
On-site biological treatment
What must be developed for the cooling tower that addresses chemical treatment, bleed-off, biological control, and staff training?
Water management plan
What enables a comparison of trade-offs for water conversation strategies and evolution of the impact of water infrastructure on other systems
Water budget
These are examples of what?
- Water early or late in the day to minimise evaporation
- Develop and follow a seasonal maintenance schedule for a healthy and maintained landscape
- Commission irrigation systems and controllers
Efficient Irrigation Practices
Name three Efficient Irrigation Practices?
- Water early or late in the day to minimise evaporation
- Develop and follow a seasonal maintenance schedule for a healthy and maintained landscape
- Commission irrigation systems and controllers
A reduction in overall water quality due to an increase in the concentration of chemical nutrients is known as what?
Hypertrophication
What indicates the volume of water lost via evapotranspiration and varies with plant species, microclimate and planting density?
Landscape coefficient
What is the evapotranspiration rate?
A measurement of the total amount of water needed to grow a reference plant (such as grass or alfalfa), expressed in millilitres or inches
The amount of water used by conventional irrigation in the region is known as what?
Baseline irrigation water use
Natural, inanmiate elements of the landscape are known as what?
Ecologically appropriate features
The water management plan that has to be developed for the cooling tower must address what four issues?
- Chemical treatment
- Bleed-off
- Biological control
- Staff training
Name two types of roof material which are no good for harvesting rainwater
- Asphalt
- Lead-containing materials
What kind of plants can survive on natural rainfall qualities after initial planting
Climate-tolerant
