{"id":7733,"date":"2014-07-30T09:36:53","date_gmt":"2014-07-30T14:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=7733"},"modified":"2014-07-30T12:43:05","modified_gmt":"2014-07-30T17:43:05","slug":"four-lessons-in-corporate-water-efficiency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/07\/30\/four-lessons-in-corporate-water-efficiency\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Lessons in Corporate Water Efficiency"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SusannahBy: Susannah\u00a0Harris, 2014 Climate Corps Fellow<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u00a0received\u00a0quizzical looks from\u00a0family and friends\u00a0when I told them I was\u00a0working\u00a0on\u00a0water efficiency projects at Verizon this summer. They paused, racking their brains about where water\u00a0is used\u00a0within the telecommunications industry. \u201cLike in the bathrooms?\u201d they\u2019d ask.<\/p>\n

The reality is that\u00a0domestic telecom companies\u00a0rely on\u00a0billions of gallons of water\u00a0per\u00a0year to cool, clean, and\u00a0maintain\u00a0the buildings\u00a0and\u00a0equipment\u00a0that\u00a0support\u00a0their expansive\u00a0networks. And because\u00a0customers\u00a0require\u00a0networks\u00a0to operate\u00a024\u00a0hours a day, 365 days a year, much of that\u00a0equipment\u00a0is running\u00a0around the clock.\u00a0From cooling tower adjustments to\u00a0grey water recycling,\u00a0there\u00a0are\u00a0a number of\u00a0water-saving opportunities available\u00a0for the telecommunications\u00a0industry.\u00a0Implementing these practices \u2013 thereby reducing municipal water, sewer and energy bills \u2013 can also make a noticeable impact on the company’s bottom line.<\/p>\n

As an\u00a0EDF Climate Corps fellow<\/a>, my job was to chart a path forward for Verizon\u2019s water efficiency efforts. The\u00a0company\u00a0has already made significant strides\u00a0to reduce its\u00a0carbon intensity \u2013 by\u00a037 percent through 2012 over a 2009\u00a0baseline.\u00a0\u201cVerizon\u00a0is taking\u00a0a deeper dive into\u00a0water efficiency\u00a0to save critical resources for future generations,\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0James Gowen, Chief Sustainability Officer\u00a0and\u00a0vice\u00a0president of\u00a0supply\u00a0chain\u00a0at\u00a0Verizon.\u00a0\u201cReducing our\u00a0utility bills and increasing\u00a0the effectiveness of our assets\u00a0is a win-win for our business and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are some\u00a0lessons\u00a0learned from my time at Verizon, which I hope will help other professionals\u00a0developing\u00a0corporate water strategies.\u00a0The key is to gain a better understanding of how and where your company uses water \u2013 a critical\u00a0building block\u00a0for an effective program:<\/p>\n

1. Expect\u00a0water bills\u00a0to be a\u00a0handful:<\/strong>\u00a0If your company is serious about water tracking, invest in\u00a0bill paying software that\u00a0summarizes\u00a0utility data into easy-to-pull reports.\u00a0This will help you\u00a0avoid the data analysis nightmare of\u00a0manually normalizing billing cycles, units, fees,\u00a0etc., and make it easier to\u00a0calculate usage across a range of facilities billed by different water providers.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>2. Calculate\u00a0water use\u00a0intensities:\u00a0<\/strong>Normalizing\u00a0a building\u2019s\u00a0water use by its\u00a0square footage \u2013 or total number of employees for administrative buildings \u2013 is a helpful way to prioritize\u00a0facilities\u00a0for\u00a0water savings\u00a0projects. This is\u00a0similar to\u00a0how one might use an\u00a0Energy\u00a0Use\u00a0Intensity (EUI) metric\u00a0to prioritize energy efficiency projects.\u00a0Of course,\u00a0it\u2019s most useful to compare\u00a0water use intensities among\u00a0buildings with\u00a0similar\u00a0use profiles\u00a0and\u00a0climates\u00a0to account for cooling needs.<\/p>\n

3. Leverage benchmarking\u00a0resources:\u00a0<\/strong>Some\u00a0interesting resources\u00a0are popping up\u00a0that\u00a0you can use to\u00a0compare your buildings\u2019 water use to that of similar facilities.\u00a0Use\u00a0these resources\u00a0to give your\u00a0key\u00a0decision makers\u00a0a sense of where your buildings stand against average\u00a0buildings of the same\u00a0type.<\/p>\n