Artemis Water Strategy

Water resilience for a thirsty future

Sep 17 2010

Bringing Water Design Vision to the “Rest of the Mess” in Real Estate

Shanghai Towers
Shanghai Towers
The Shanghai Tower will serve as a mammoth 125-floor rainwater harvesting structure. The breathtaking outside shell borrows the best designs from nature, collecting rain to purify and replenish 675,000,000 liters of water each year. Combining stores, offices and apartments, the building will serve as an icon for water resource management in China, as the country struggles to find enough clean water for its people and its growing economy.

“Unfortunately, most of the buildings in the world are not Shanghai Towers – most of the buildings aren’t new,” noted Dave Pogue, Director of Sustainability for CB Richard Ellis in the Artemis Project webinar earlier today. “While some of our buildings are new, we also need to be concerned about managing the ‘rest of the mess’,” David Pogue, CB Richard Ellis.

Shanghai Towers
Shanghai Towers
“While some of our buildings are new, we also need to be concerned about managing the ‘rest of the mess’,” Pogue explained.  CBRE manages over 1.2 billion square feet of property in the Americas, and the bulk of those buildings are not new. Environmental considerations must contend with budgets.  “We have a lot of buildings struggling trying to find a way to be better in a water constrained world,” Pogue stated.While water is vital, it is virtually free today.  And water seldom gets attention until there is a crisis.  Pogue noted that basic water saving devices such as toilets and urinals generate only a trickle of benefits and take 8 to 10 years to pay back. They’re better than nothing, but still just a small drop in the bucket.We’re still waiting for the onsite appliance that reclaims water and treats rainwater with the precision and beauty of a miniature Shanghai Tower.  Small-scale onsite waste water systems operate today, recycling water from sinks and toilets to save over half of the drinking water used by an apartment building.  Companies like Dominic Sulik’s Natural Solutions Utilities are offering whole building solutions for onsite water management that match much of the savings from the Shanghai Tower. This offering is a service that pieces together existing solutions.
Property Chart
Property Chart
We can see the crises are coming, but we are still waiting for the Apple version of a building water system that matches the benefits of the Shanghai Tower. “Its not about the cost of water, it’s about the downtime and the risk for the property,” John Macomber, Harvard Business School.“Its not about the cost of water, it’s about the downtime and the risk for the property,” notes John Macomber, Professor of Sustainability at Harvard Business School.  If there is a lower cost of capital for a better risk-adjusted return on the property, then onsite water management makes sense financially.
Sustainable Building Image
Sustainable Building Image
Professor Macomber suggests that real estate properties such as accommodations and hospitality operations—hotels, spas, and hospitals—are examples of some of the early candidates for water tech. “The beach head for water tech is where the landlord pays for the water, where the landlord can effectively measure the benefit of an intervention, and where the volume of water used really matters to the economics.”

Written by Laura Shenkar · Categorized: Corporate Efficiency, Desalinization, Design, Drinking Water, Events, Interviews, On-site Water Treatment, Produced Water, Stormwater, Technology, Trends, Wastewater Treatment, Webinar

Jul 27 2010

Market Driven Tree Hugging

A helicopter pours water on Californian wildfires in 2009 / Photo: kevindean on flickr
A number of small buckets of water can contain a wildfire / Photo: kevindean on flickr

Climate legislation in the United States just went up in a cloud of CO2. Again.

Which doesn’t for one second mean the battle is lost.

Regulation may have failed, but thankfully, the free-market surrounding water isn’t waiting for regulations to change. The BlueTech sector is already in position with profitable solutions to mitigate climate change.

The inefficient transportation and treatment of water from source to end-user accounts for 13% of energy use in the United States (and 17% in water-starved California).

As we reported earlier this year, the Carbon Footprint of Water Report calculated that a 5% decrease in infrastructure leaks in the United States would save 270 million gallons of water a day and 313 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually — enough to power 31,000 homes. Not only that, but it’d keep 225,000 metric tons of C02 emissions out of the air.

Meanwhile, cities like Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Seattle are introducing plans to replace aging infrastructure, to the tune of nearly $5 billion. Which is only a portion of the estimated $335 billion national pricetag.

It’s a perfectly timed confluence of events: we’re facing a global crisis. The inefficient water complex – which bears some responsibility for the crisis – is due for an upgrade. Simultaneously, innovation in water efficiency has bloomed.

Throughout the country the BlueTech industry is poised to offer municipalities and water authorities cost-savings and reduced costs to upgrade infrastructure via smart-water systems, efficient water-treatment and stormwater management, and positive revenue streams through resources recovered from waste streams.

As water supply ceases to match demand, new desalination technologies can replace ancient systems to achieve excellent energy efficiencies – often with decreased capital expenditures.

Each of these methods mitigates the causes of climate change by making efficient use of water, thereby making efficient use of energy. Efficient energy use reduces fossil fuel extraction (thereby reducing water usage still further) and reduces the release of pollutants like CO2 and mercury into the atmosphere and water supply.

And each of these methods reduces costs for implementers, either by reducing capital expenditures or by reducing operational costs. They’re a win for the economy and a win for the environment.

To be sure, it’d be helpful if Congress would expedite adoption of clean technology by establishing a firm price signal for pollution. But as American politicians have repeatedly refused, the free market is ready to manage the growing climate and water crises, with or without Congress.

 

Written by Laura Shenkar · Categorized: Commentary, Desalinization, Investments, News, Resource Recovery, Smart Water, Stormwater, Wastewater Treatment · Tagged: carbon, climate legislation, congress, ERI, free-markets, market drivers, regulations, smart water

Jun 18 2010

Getting Out of Water’s Way

Marysville Public Works Department Overwhelmed by Rain
Marysville Public Works Department overwhelmed by rainfall

In one hour last Wednesday 1.58 inches (4 cm) of rain fell in Marysville, Washington, near Seattle. The deluge overwhelmed the stormwater system, flooding streets and the Public Works Building with up to 18 inches (45.72 cm) of water.

Severe rain events have increased 16% in the Pacific Northwest and 20% nationwide in the past 100 years, and are projected to continue to increase. Overall nationwide precipitation has increased 5% in the past 50 years, stressing already crumbling stormwater infrastructure.

The main culprit: impervious surfaces.

Solutions do exist, however, and the good news is they typically cost less than end-of-pipe stormwater management. [Read more…]

Written by Laura Shenkar · Categorized: Design, Ground Water, Laws, Stormwater, Trends · Tagged: floods, green roofs, low-impact development, pervious pavement, rainwater catchment, stormwater

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