1. Sustainability Assessments - Water
11 September 2018

2. Sustainability Environmental SUSTAINABILITY BREEAM RENEWABLE EFFICIENT
PASSIVE
GREEN
Social
Economic
WATER
POLLUTION
CONCLUSION
LEAN
MEAN

3. How do you measure the sustainability of a general building?
BREEAM
WATER
POLLUTION
BREEAM Communities
BREEAM
New Construction
BREEAM Refurbishment
CONCLUSION

4. How do you measure the sustainability of a home?
BREEAM
WATER
POLLUTION
CONCLUSION

5. BREEAM Categories Management Health & Wellbeing Energy Transport Water
Materials
Waste
Ecology
Pollution
SUSTAINABILITY
BREEAM
WATER
POLLUTION
CONCLUSION

6. Sustainability Assessment Drivers
Planning / Funding Requirement – this is the most common driver although cannot be used for HQM
Consumers – an accredited building should be easier to operate and cost less in the long term
Client Requirement – tangible way of ensuring a sustainable portfolio, saving on running costs
Project Teams – demonstrating the teams commitment to sustainable development and setting the project apart from the rest
SUSTAINABILITY
BREEAM
WATER
POLLUTION
CONCLUSION

7. Sustainable Development: The Big Picture
SUSTAINABILITY
An estimated 2 billion litres of fresh water are used to flush our toilets every day in the UK (Waterwise)
Average person uses 150 litres of water a day in the UK
If you include water embedded within products our water consumption increase to about 3,400 litres a day (Waterwise)
BREEAM
WATER
POLLUTION
CONCLUSION

8. Water
Source:

9. Water
Source:Staffordshire Water

10. BREEAM Category 5 - Water
Wat 01 – Water Consumption – proposed building compared to a notional building with regards to potable water consumption.
Operational uses are excluded only domestic scale fittings are assessed
SUSTAINABILITY
BREEAM
% Improvement
No. of Credits
12.5%
1 credit
25%
2 credits
40%
3 credits
50%
4 credits
55%
5 credits
65%
Exemplary performance
WATER
POLLUTION
CONCLUSION

11. BREEAM Category 5 - Water
Product data sheets are used to fill in calculator tool
Flow restrictors need to be evidenced if they are to be included
Default values can be used for some fittings e.g. dishwashers
Low pressure or high pressure system needs to be confirmed as impacts flow rate

12. BREEAM Category 5 - Water
Wat 02 – Water Monitoring – water meter on incoming supply to building with connection to BMS or clear labelling
Any high uses are sub-metered;
Laundries
Swimming pools
Kitchens
Laboratories
Wash down areas
SUSTAINABILITY
BREEAM
WATER
POLLUTION
CONCLUSION

13. BREEAM Category 5 - Water
Wat 03 – Water Leak Detection
A system is installed to detect major leaks on the mains supply or within the building
Must meet specific criteria;
Be programmable
Activated when flow of water passing through the water meter / logger is above a set max for a pre-set period of time
Able to identify different leak rates
Designed to avoid false alarms due to large equipment e.g. chillers

14. BREEAM Category 5 - Water
Wat 03 – Flow Control Devices
A device is installed in WC areas to ensure that water is only available in the areas when the room is occupied. This is typically done as follows;
Solenoid valve and PIR sensor
Time controller
Volume controller

15. BREEAM Category 5 - Water
Wat 04 – Water Efficient Equipment – specification of system or process to reduce unregulated water demands
Typically irrigation of planting or vehicular wash
Compliant solutions include;
Water Reclaim technology i.e. rainwater harvesting
Drip fed irrigation systems with moisture sensors
Planting that doesn’t require irrigation

16. BREEAM Category 9 - Pollution
Pol 03 – Surface Water Run Off
Flood Risk
Sites with low flood risk achieve 2 credits
Sites with medium to high risk can achieve 1 credit if their resilience and resistance to flooding is improved
A Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) must be undertaken for either and must consider all risks of flooding;
SUSTAINABILITY
BREEAM
WATER
POLLUTION
CONCLUSION
Ground water
Sewers
Reservoirs, canals etc
Fluvial
Tidal
Surface water

17. BREEAM Category 9 - Pollution
Pol 03 – Surface Water Run Off
Up to 2 credits can be achieved for managing the surface water run off from the site
Volume of run off
Peak rate of run off
Aim is to not make the situation any worse
Should use SuDS where possible and ensure maintenance agreements are in place
SUSTAINABILITY
BREEAM
WATER
POLLUTION
CONCLUSION

18. BREEAM Category 9 - Pollution
Examples of SuDS
Soakaways
Permeable paving
Green roofs
Swales
Rainwater harvesting

19. BREEAM Category 9 - Pollution
Pol 03 – Surface Water Run Off
1 further credit for minimising watercourse pollution
No discharge for rainfall up to 5mm
Petrol or oil separators specified if relevant
Containment provided for any chemical / liquid gas storage areas
Pollution Prevention Guideline 3 and SuDs Manual to be followed
Maintenance agreements in place
SUSTAINABILITY
BREEAM
WATER
POLLUTION
CONCLUSION

20. BREEAM Category 9 - Pollution
Conclusions
Water is becoming an increasingly important sustainability consideration that crosses over into many different areas
Targets are getting progressive more challenging in sustainability assessments
Similar to energy and waste hierarchy; reduce, re-use, recycle is the best philosophy
SUSTAINABILITY
BREEAM
WATER
POLLUTION
CONCLUSION

21. THANK YOU
Any Questions?