Water usage in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 10 percent of all water used in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Buildings that use cooling towers for evaporative cooling can reduce water usage by employing more efficient water treatment technology. Non-chemical water treatment systems have the potential to significantly reduce water consumption, by increasing cycles; energy consumption, by improving the efficiency of building chillers; and chemical discharge into wastewater systems, by decreasing or eliminating the need for chemical additives.
Published Water Findings
The GPG program, in association with federal laboratories, has subjected the following technologies to real-world measurement and verification in GSA buildings. Links to published results are listed below.
- AWT: Advanced Oxidation Process for Cooling Towers, January 2019*
- AWT: Catalyst-Based Scale Prevention for Domestic Hot Water Systems, February 2015*
- AWT: Electrochemical for Cooling Towers, December 2018*
- AWT: GSA Guidance for Cooling Towers, January 2020*
- AWT: Monitoring & Partial Softening, October 2020*
- AWT: Salt-Based & Chemical Inhibition for Cooling Towers, February 2019*
- Wireless Soil-Moisture Sensors for Irrigation Control, April 2015
- Weather Station for Irrigation Control, January 2015*
*M&V Results Demonstrate Deployment Potential for GSA