Facility managers are challenged with creating and maintaining safe, healthy places. Decisions about restrooms and water use planning offer an opportunity to save money, water, and energy, while also decreasing the environmental impacts.
Restrooms have always been a top hygienic priority not to mention energy and water-saving in big buildings like office complexes, airports or sports facilities. As life adjusts to the new normal and people return to public facilities after the pandemic, they become top areas of concern again.
Save water, save energy
According to FacilitiesNet, restrooms are using 37% of office buildings’ water. Thus by creating a healthy and efficient environment facility managers can foster a sustainable and resilient world. Selecting the proper features can cut restroom water and sewer utility bills to save money. Using less water also saves energy, as the costs to heat the water goes down with the reduced volume of water used.
Third-party certification systems like LEED offer guidelines for selecting water-efficient equipment through the requirements for indoor water. „This includes commercial faucets, toilets, and urinals with the Water Sense labelled low-flow and ultra-low-flow fixtures, as well as dual-flush toilets. The criterion LEED rating offers have already been implemented on hundreds of thousands of projects successfully and are now considered an industry standard for efficient buildings” – shares Elizabeth Thompson, vice president of customer service and LEED support at the U.S. Green Building Council.
Save water, save money
„Additionally, to save money and improve the durability, health, sustainability, and efficiency of a whole project or portfolio, create a water use monitoring, education, and replacement plan, and incorporate the expertise of a commissioning agent early in the planning. Holistic water-use planning is an excellent investment, responsible for substantial reductions in utility bills and maintenance needs. These proactive investments can also reduce or eliminate much larger drains on time, energy, and resources”– the expert advises.
„While there’s a strong economic argument for more water-efficient buildings, at the core it’s really about ensuring that we continue to conserve an important resource and lessen the strain on our water resources. Thus, it’s important to use water efficiently and give everyone greater access to reliable clean water supplies today and in the future” – Thompson highlights.
