Title: Building Energy Management: Building Water
Course: WGF 105 DEVELOPMENT > Section: Content

Content
The Federal Government uses an estimated 148 to 165 billion gallons of potable water annually, enough to supply a state the size of New Jersey or 8 million people.1 Of this amount, a significant percentage can be preserved through water conservation measures targeting:

- Distribution system improvements (including leak detection, repair, and replacement)
- Heating and cooling (including steam boilers, cooling towers, and single pass cooling)
- Landscaping/Irrigation
- Laboratory and medical equipment (including water purification, sterilization equipment, and washing applications)
- Distribution system improvements (including leak detection, repair, and replacement)

Sustainable water systems in commercial office buildings are considered a high priority due to:

- New and existing water resources becoming increasingly scarce or too costly to harvest
- Spiking water and sewer utility rates (100-400%)2 during the last decade

Moderate efficiency efforts and proper maintenance of water system components can save the Federal Government approximately forty percent of its water and related energy use, leading to beneficial resource, human, and financial implications.
Attributions | Image and content courtesy of Sustainable Facilities Tool – U.S. General Services Administration