Environmental Building News

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The Leading Newsletter on Environmentally Responsible Design & Construction

A Publication of BuildingGreen, Inc. www.BuildingGreen.com Volume 22, Number 2 · February 2013

Waste Water, Want Water In This Issue

Options for small-scale, onsite wastewater treatment and reuse are Feature Article ............ 1
improving—but can we solve a global crisis one building at a time? • Waste Water, Want Water

by Paula Melton What’s Happening ...... 2

• Study: Learning Can Be

W
ALK INTO ALMOST ANY HIGH- the disposal of human pee and poop, where Harmed By Classroom
way rest area bathroom in the do those toilets flush to? Design
U.S., and what do you hear? The • Sprout Space: A Healthier
Our wastewater infrastructure is largely
constant whine of hand dryers and an Choice for “Temporary”
invisible and little understood. Most of us Classrooms
equally constant drone of high-pressure
never question the wisdom of polluting
flush after flush after flush. Before you grab • Newsbriefs
pristine drinking water, losing valuable
that cuppa and get back in your car, stop
nitrogen and irreplaceable phosphorus in Product Reviews ......... 6
and think: from this building in the middle
the process, just so we can make our poop
of nowhere, devoted almost exclusively to • BioBarrier Offers New
disappear. Our own waste Approach to Treating Waste-
is a classic SEP—Somebody water Onsite
Else’s Problem.
• Sika: Submetering Water at
The result? “Aging pipes and the Fixture Level
inadequate capacity lead ....
BackPage Primer ...... 16
to the discharge of an esti-
mated 900 billion gallons of • Water Budgets: A Holistic
Look at Efficiency
untreated sewage each year,”
warns the American Soci-
ety of Civil Engineers in its
report Failure to Act. “Water Earn CEUs
infrastructure in the Unit-
ed States is clearly aging, Get AIA and LEED credit
and investment is not able with EBN feature articles at
to keep up with the need.” BuildingGreen.com/Learn
(For more, see “Failing Water
Infrastructure Drains Econ-
omy, Report Warns,” EBN
Feb. 2012.) Though most rest
Quote of the month:
areas still use one-way water
cycling (onsite septic fields “What small-scale projects
or long-distance connections do is break down the
with centralized systems), a number one impediment
few throughout the U.S. are to reuse of wastewater:
incorporating constructed the fear factor.”
wetlands and other natural – Pete Muñoz, P.E.,
filtration systems that close senior engineer at
the loop, permitting safe Biohabitats, on onsite
Photo: Eckert & Eckert
and sustainable wastewater wastewater projects
This Living Machine at the ZGF-designed Port of Portland headquarters
treats all the wastewater for the building and made better financial treatment and reuse right on
(page 11)
sense than rainwater collection, say the designers. the site. (continued on p. 8)
What’s Happening
Environmental Building News
Executive Editor · Alex Wilson
Editor · Tristan Roberts
Managing Editor · Paula Melton
Products Editor · Brent Ehrlich
Editorial Intern · Erin Hathway Weaver
Art Director · Amie Walter
President · Nadav Malin
Outreach Director · Jerelyn Wilson
Marketing Director · Walter Pearce
Customer Service · Charlotte Snyder
Advisory Board
Steve Baczek, R.A., Reading, MA
Bob Berkebile, FAIA, Kansas City, MO
Arlene Blum, Ph.D., Berkeley, CA
John Boecker, AIA, Harrisburg, PA
Terry Brennan, Rome, NY
Bill Browning, Hon. AIA, Washington, DC
Nancy Clanton, P.E., Boulder, CO
Raymond Cole, Ph.D., Vancouver, BC
David Eisenberg, Tucson, AZ
Drew George, P.E., San Diego, CA
Harry Gordon, FAIA, Washington, DC
Bruce King, P.E., San Rafael, CA
John L. Knott, Jr., Charleston, SC
Sandra Mendler, AIA, San Francisco, CA
Greg Norris, Ph.D., N. Berwick, ME
Russell Perry, FAIA, Washington, DC
Peter Pfeiffer, FAIA, Austin, TX
Bill Reed, AIA, Arlington, MA
Jonathan Rose, Katonah, NY
Marc Rosenbaum, P.E., W. Tisbury, MA
John Straube, Ph.D., P.Eng., Waterloo, ON
Michael Totten, Denver, CO
Gail Vittori, Austin, TX
ENVIRONMENTAL BUILDING NEWS (ISSN 1062-
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2 Environmental Building News · February 2013
What’s Happening
Study: Learning Can Be individual performance. Together,
the parameters meant as much as a
Harmed by Classroom 25% difference over the course of a
Design year for an individual.
In the only study of its kind to date, Researchers from the University of
the design of classrooms and schools Salford’s School of the Built Envi-
has been found to have significant ronment and from architecture firm
impact on student performance over Nightingale Associates gathered
the course of a year. Published in data from 751 students in 34 class-
January 2013 in Building and Envi- rooms across seven primary schools
ronment, the study found six de- in Blackpool, England, over the 2011–
sign parameters—such as color and 12 academic year and also rated each
light—that particularly harm or help classroom for quality on ten different
Effect of Classroom Design on Student Performance
The following is EBN’s summary of results from the study, “A holistic, multi-level analysis identifying the
impact of classroom design on pupils’ learning,” Building and Environment, January 2013. See the pub-
lished study for statistical detail.
Design
Indicators Effect on Learning Progression
Parameter
Appropriate colors on walls,
floors, and furniture: warmer for
Color younger students (supporting extrover- Strongly positive
sion) and cooler for older students
(supporting concentration)
“This is our classroom!”—a sense of
Choice ownership and use of comfortable Positive
and familiar furniture
Strongly negative, i.e., an increase in this
Clear and orienting corridors;
factor led to a decrease in learning
quick access to classrooms and
Connection progression. Surprised with the result, the
connections with other spaces;
authors note that this factor is clearly
wide and clear pathways
important but not well understood.
Greater site and building area,
and novelty of surroundings;
Complexity Strongly positive
interior décor that catches attention,
in balance with orderliness
Adequate space for students; attractive
Flexibility learning space, configurable for Strongly positive
varied learning activities
Quality and quantity of natural light,
Light Positive
and degree of control
Availability of distant and close views Initially found to be individually significant at
Texture through the windows, area to play out- the 10% level, but in a statistical model they
side, and outdoor learning alternatives were closely correlated with other factors
Level of contaminants such as carbon and not found to be significant, possibly
Air Quality because of low variability among classrooms.
dioxide, and availability of controls
Comfort level in summer and winter, Initially found to be individually significant at
Temperature and quality of heating distribution the 5% level, but in a statistical model they
and control were closely correlated with other factors
Frequency of disturbance, and the and not found to be significant, possibly
Sound degree to which teachers can be heard because of low variability among classrooms.
 What’s Happening

design parameters, each measured
with multiple indicators and calcula-
tions (see table). Students were even-
ly spread across the schools, were
evenly divided between genders,
and spent 50%–80% of their time in
their fixed classrooms, providing
some assurance that an individual
classroom could affect learning. The
researchers weren’t able to obtain
government assessments of teachers
at all the schools and so didn’t fac-
tor this in; however, they note that
the data they did obtain showed a
consistent level of teaching.
Of the ten environmental factors in-
vestigated, eight were correlated at a
level greater than 10% with learning
progress. However, a central feature
of the study was the application of a
type of regression analysis that helps
unravel the relationships among
several variables. That model shows
that two of the variables initially
found significant—air quality and
texture—were not significant in ex-
plaining the variations in learning.
That result was surprising to the
researchers, especially considering
that they found the classroom air
quality to be “universally poor”
based on spot checks of carbon diox-
ide levels. The authors hypothesize
that air quality, along with sound
and temperature, varied little be-
tween classes in the study and thus
didn’t account for variations in stu-
dent progress between classrooms.
They also suggest that those factors
may be quickly acted upon if they
become a problem—for example,
by turning up the heat or opening
a window—while the color of each
classroom was a less changeable
influence.

PROJECT FOCUS

Sprout Space: A Healthier Choice for

“Temporary” Classrooms
Mindful of the documented impact of classroom inte-
riors on student progress (see “Study: Learning Can Be
Harmed by Classroom Design,” page 2), Perkins+Will
has unveiled a new modular classroom design, dubbed
Sprout Space, which incorporates both green building
features and features that enhance learning opportuni-
ties, while being relatively affordable to schools.
According to Allen Post, AIA, of Perkins+Will, more than
7.5 million children are being taught in mobile class-
rooms in the U.S. While most of these estimated 300,000
classroom units are designed for temporary use, the
actual average use exceeds five years, according to Post,
and that provides an opportunity for a hybrid solution.
Unlike most mobile classrooms, Sprout Space is designed
to be placed on permanent footings—but it can also be
disassembled and moved, and can be constructed in 60 Renderings: Perkins+Will
days and delivered nationwide on two semi-trucks. With Sprout Space was the modular category winner of the Open
a construction cost of about $120 per square foot (and a Architecture Challenge: Design the classroom of the fu-
floor area of 1,008 ft2 per classroom), the cost is greater ture by Architecture for Humanity and the Open Architecture
than that of cheaper mobile classrooms, but Sprout Space Network. Chattahoochee Hills Charter School (CHCS), located
delivers a lot more bang for the buck. 30 miles South of Atlanta, Georgia, will be the first such perma-
nent K–12 installation and will be composed entirely of Sprout
Targeting LEED Gold for permanent installations, the Space classrooms.
classroom design encourages a variety of seating ar-
rangements for different teaching styles and for facilitat-
emitting interiors,” notes Post. “The key is to have tight
ing collaboration among students. Double doors open out
control over that and make sure no bad materials get in.”
to an exterior space designed for outdoor learning and
Daylighting and operable windows were also a focus of
equipped with exterior marker boards.
the design. Variable-refrigerant-flow heat pumps provide
Aware of the terrible air quality of many classrooms, space conditioning, along with energy-recovery ventila-
and of ballooning asthma rates, Post told EBN that low- tion. Made by Mark Line Industries, the classrooms boast
emitting materials and good ventilation were priorities. a mere 100 pounds of construction waste.
“It doesn’t take more expensive materials to have low- – Tristan Roberts

Volume 22, Number 2 · Environmental Building News 3

What's Happening – Newsbriefs
The modeling exercise showed that
six design parameters—color, choice,
connection, complexity, flexibility,
and light—were individually signifi-
cant in influencing student progress
at a classroom level. Student prog-
ress was measured on standardized
aptitude tests for reading, writing,
and mathematics, with the average
student improving 11 points over
the year. As it happened, the study’s
model showed that “placing the
same pupil in the ‘best’ rather than
the ‘worst’ classroom would have an
impact on their learning that equates
to the typical progress of a pupil
over one year,” or 11 points.
According to Peter Barrett, Ph.D., the
lead author of the study, “I think this
is the first and only study of schools
that takes a holistic perspective,
guided by a comprehensive neu-
roscience and sensory framework,
and employing multi-level model-
ing to isolate the impact of the built
aspect.”
In future studies, the authors hope
to extend the work to additional
schools, to look at school-level ef-
fects, to better incorporate teacher
performance into the analysis, and
to explore further the environmental
factors (such as air quality) that were
not found significant, while further
refining an understanding of the ef-
fect of other design parameters.
– Tristan Roberts
For more information:
Building and Environment
www.sciencedirect.com
Newsbriefs
Hottest Year on Record (Again)—
The U.S. National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration (NOAA)
has confirmed that 2012 was the
hottest year in the contiguous U.S.
since recordkeeping began in 1895.
The warmest spring on record and
the second-warmest summer com-
bined with higher-than-average tem-
peratures over the rest of the year
4 Environmental Building News · February 2013
to clock an overall
average of 55.3°F
n at ionw ide — ex-
ceeding the previ-
ous record of just 14
years earlier by 1°F.
Nineteen individ-
ual states, and cit-
ies from Boston to
Denver, set records
for their warmest
yea r. The worst
drought in decades
affected 39% of the Photo: Courtesy of CityCentre
Research has shown that walkable neighborhoods, especially those
country, contribut- with grocery stores offering fresh food, are correlated with lower
ing to wildfires that rates of obesity in residents.
burned 9.2 million
acres in the third-
worst year of wildfires on record.
In the southern hemisphere, mean-
while, Australia’s summer is setting New Research Shows Walkable
records as well. With temperatures Neighborhoods Key to Health—
routinely averaging above 100°F, the Neighborhood layout can play a
country’s Bureau of Meteorology has significant role in residents’ health,
added two new colors to extend the according to new research that cor-
range of its forecasting maps, and relates local amenities and obesity. In
motorists have reported gasoline the study, published in the American
vaporizing while being pumped into Journal of Preventive Medicine, re-
gas tanks. searchers at the University of British
Columbia looked at hundreds of
neighborhoods around San Diego
and Seattle, assigning them scores
AIA Allows Sustainability Label
based on factors that included parks,
to Expire—The board of the Ameri-
walkability, and access to stores
can Institute of Architects (AIA)
selling fresh fruits and vegetables
voted in December 2012 to allow a
within a half-mile. (The presence of
requirement that its members earn
fast-food restaurants in that range
continuing education units (CEUs)
lowered a neighborhood’s score.)
with a focus in Sustainable Design
The researchers then examined the
(SD) content to expire. When the
health information of 681 randomly
requirement was instituted in 2009,
selected children between the ages
a 2012 date was set for reevaluation
of six and eleven in those areas; after
(see “AIA Requires Sustainability in
accounting for various other factors,
Continuing Education,” May 2008).
such as ethnicity, family income,
Members had to allocate half of their
and parents’ body mass index, they
eight required health, safety, and
found that children in high-scoring
welfare (HSW) hours to SD through
neighborhoods were 59% less likely
HSW/SD designated courses. Those
to be obese than children in low-
courses will now be folded into HSW,
scoring areas. The researchers con-
which will have a broader definition.
clude that people are more likely to
Beginning in 2013, architects are
be physically active when they can
required to accomplish 18 general
comfortably walk to nearby ameni-
learning units, 12 of which will be
ties, something that proved more
HSW. AIA representatives state that
common in older neighborhoods ex-
the change reflects the view that all
amined in the study. Grocery stores
architecture should be sustainable.
in strip development, for example,

offer fresh food but are often virtu-
ally inaccessible on foot.
Deaths Related to Air Pollution
Increase Worldwide—A new study
in The Lancet shows air pollution con-
tributing to an increasing number of
deaths worldwide, with 3.2 million
premature deaths in 2010 attribut-
able to outdoor air pollution. Part of
the Global Burden of Disease Study
2010, the article tracks changes in
risk factors since 1990. While com-
municable diseases and malnutrition
cause fewer deaths than they did
two decades ago, deaths attribut-
able to air pollution have increased
fourfold. Overall, non-communi-
cable diseases such as cancer and
heart disease have become the lead-
ing causes of death, and many of
them are caused at least in part by
pollutants. Much of the increase in
pollution-related mortality is in Asia,
where rising numbers of vehicles
result in more soot and other ambi-
ent particulate matter from diesel
exhaust. Indoor air pollution, espe-
cially from coal- and wood-burning
stoves, has decreased since 1990—
but it still caused approximately 3.5
million premature deaths, largely in
India and parts of Africa.
Residential Infill Development
Increasing—Residential construc-
tion in U.S. metropolitan regions is
increasingly happening in previ-
ously developed areas, according
to a new report from the U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“Residential Construction Trends in
America’s Metropolitan Regions”
looked at 209 such areas and found
that, between 2005 and 2009, 21%
of new home construction was in-
fill replacing parking lots, former
industrial development, and other
existing land cover. Of the 51 largest
metropolitan regions in the study,
36 saw an increase in the percent-
age of infill development compared
to the previous five years, and infill
Volume 22, Number 2 · Environmental Building News
made up the majority of new home
construction in New York City and
several California cities. Infill devel-
opment takes advantage of existing
infrastructure and increases a com-
munity’s tax base; most metropolitan
areas, however, are still expanding
outward faster than they are gaining
density of housing. For more on the
study, see www.epa.gov.
Energy-Efficiency Tax Credits Re-
instated—The American Taxpayer
Relief Act of 2012, passed on January
1, 2013, to avoid the so-called fiscal
cliff includes the reinstatement of
two tax credits for energy-efficient
residences and appliances. Title 26
subsections (SS) 45L and 25C are in
effect through December 31, 2013,
and retroactively to their previous
expiration on December 31, 2011,
making them applicable to both
2012 and 2013 projects. SS45L is a
business tax credit of up to $2,000 for
contractors or developers building or
renovating dwelling units of up to
three stories, including multifamily
properties; the credit may be claimed
for each unit. The previous version
of SS45L required a 50% reduction
Percentage of New Homes Built in Infill Areas
A new EPA study shows infill development making up an increasing share of residential
construction in U.S. metropolitan areas.
Newsbriefs
in energy use compared to the 2003
International Energy Conservation
Code (IECC); this has been changed
to reference the 2006 IECC. This is
not a substantial change to efficiency
requirements, as the 2006 IECC up-
date largely focused on simplifying
compliance; properties qualifying
for the credit based on the previous
version are likely to meet the new
standards. SS25C is an individual tax
credit of 10% of the cost of efficient
appliances or property improve-
ments, such as insulation. The credit
is capped at $500 and is applicable to
all improvements from Decemeber
31, 2011, to December 31, 2013.
EBie Awards Submissions Due in
February—The 2013 EBie Awards
will be announced in June, with
project submissions due by Febru-
ary 26. The national awards, from
Urban Green, the New York City
chapter of the U.S. Green Building
Council, recognize professionals
working to bring existing buildings
into line with standards such as
LEED for Existing Buildings: Op-
erations & Maintenance. The EBies
may be awarded to building owners,
Image: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
5
Newsbriefs – Product News & Reviews

Product News & Reviews

BioBarrier Offers New BioBarrier is a modular system that

Photo: Mathias Krumbholz
Researchers have found that ants’ exoskel-
etons absorb phthalates from the surrounding
environment.
facilities managers, engineers, and
other professionals contributing to
significantly increased environmen-
tal performance. There are seven
categories in this second year of the
awards, focusing on energy, water,
operations, materials, lighting, and
tenant engagement, and all submis-
sions must include project data from
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency’s Portfolio Manager. More
information and the submission
form may be found at www.ebies.
org.
Ants Absorb Detectable Levels of
Phthalates—Scientists in France
suggest that ants can serve as bio-
indicators of phthalate pollution,
after finding the plasticizers in the
insects’ exoskeletons and internal
tissues. In the study, published in
Science of the Total Environment, ants
from various locations in Europe
and Africa tested positive for the
presence of phthalates even when
the insects were known never to
have had direct contact with plastic.
Ants kept in a closed, phthalate-
free box showed steady amounts
of the chemicals over time, while
those kept in open boxes showed
increasing quantities of phthalates.
This indicates the chemicals were
absorbed from the surrounding air;
phthalates are known to enter the
environment as the plastic items con-
taining them—such as vinyl floor-
ing—deteriorate. The researchers
found similar results when testing
crickets and honeybees.
Approach to Treating
Wastewater Onsite
Treating wastewater for onsite use
could take a burden off our aging
infrastructure while creating high-
quality water that won’t contaminate
local watersheds (as septic systems
can), but capturing and treating
wastewater for reuse is tricky. For
example, reusing graywater from
bathing and washing clothes re-
quires separating it from blackwater
from toilets and kitchen sinks, and to
prevent growth of bacteria it has to
be chemically treated or used imme-
diately for landscape irrigation. Kan-
sas manufacturer Bio-Microbics has
developed a residential wastewater
treatment system, BioBarrier, that
can process combined household
wastewater, including blackwater,
into non-potable water clean enough
to be reused onsite, even indoors.
BioBarrier is currently the only sys-
tem that meets the ANSI/NSF Stan-
dard 350 for Onsite Residential and
Commercial Water Reuse Treatment
Systems.
The MBR unit in this 500-gallon-per-day BioBarrier system uses micro- and ultrafiltration
to process blackwater into water suitable for non-potable reuse.
treats a household’s wastewater us-
ing membrane bioreactors (MBR),
simplified versions of technology
found in many municipal wastewa-
ter treatment systems. It is not a full
water reuse system, in that it does
not contain water storage or distribu-
tion networks; those would have to
be purchased and installed separate-
ly. BioBarrier units certified to NSF
350 use a two-compartment septic
tank, an MBR cartridge, a blower,
a pump, and controls. Household
wastewater (influent) flows into the
first chamber, where solids settle out
to be pumped out later, like in other
septic systems. The company’s Sani-
TEE device (essentially a cleanable
pre-filter) separates out remaining
larger pieces before the water flows
into a second chamber.
The second chamber houses the
heart of the BioBarrier system, the
MBR, which contains a block of filter
membrane plates layered vertically
together. The cartridge is submerged
in the tank and connected to an ex-
ternal, aboveground blower that aer-
ates the water so that it percolates up
Photo: Bio-Microbics

6 Environmental Building News · February 2013


between the filter membranes. The
bubbling action and added oxygen
keep the membrane clean and help
bacteria break down organic solids
and other contaminants. According
to James Bell of Bio-Microbics, the
MBR uses “a flat sheet membrane
that is sort of like a sandwich.” The
water is filtered from the outside in:
a small, submersible pump triggered
by a float switch pulls water through
the membrane, into the center, and
out of the system for reuse. The
company claims the membranes
remain clean and have an estimated
lifespan of around seven years, but
the membrane can be cleaned us-
ing a mild chlorine solution. The
company provides a two-year main-
tenance program with service every
six months for its units.
NSF 350 is the first robust standard
for onsite wastewater reuse and cov-
ers commercial- and residential-
scale systems. Effluent created by
these systems is clean enough that it
can be used indoors for toilet flush-
ing or outdoors for fountains, com-
mercial car washing, or subsurface
and surface irrigation, including
crops (as long as local regulations
allow it and the water does not come
in contact with food). The BioBar-
rier MBR system is certified to the
residential NSF 350 standard for its
units treating 500 gallons per day
(gpd) for one to eight people, 1,000
gpd (up to 16 people), and 1,500 gpd
(up to 24 people), but the company
offers HSMBR (High-Strength MBR)
systems for commercial buildings
and small communities that can treat
up to 9,000 gpd.
NSF data show that BioBarrier resi-
dential systems meet the more rigor-
ous commercial standard meant for
larger units, but according to Bell,
the company has not pursued NSF
350 certification for its larger units.
“There is no cookie-cutter regulation
that fits all commercial systems,”
said Bell, and larger commercial
systems are designed and reviewed
locally case-by-case, so product cer-
tification is less relevant.
Volume 22, Number 2 · Environmental Building News
Effluent Criteria Under NSF 350
Class R (Residential)
Carbonaceous biochemical
oxygen demand (CBOD5)
Total suspended solids (TSS)
Turbidity 5 NTU (10)
E. coli 14 MPN/100 ml (240)
pH
Chlorine
Because BioBarrier reduces nitrogen,
E. coli, and fecal coliform in the ef-
fluent to nearly undetectable levels,
water produced by the system is
clean enough for most onsite uses
and can be released into some envi-
ronmentally sensitive watersheds,
but even these systems may require
review since codes vary across the
U.S. Local codes, for instance, may
not allow effluent to be used indoors
or for some irrigation without the
addition of chlorine.
Though the company does not re-
lease cost data, David Wahrer, owner
of H2O Reuse, a licensed seller of
BioBarrier, estimates the 500 gpd
unit costs about $7,500 including a
two-year maintenance program—
more expensive than conventional
septic systems but comparable to
the mound systems required for
some soil types. Another down-
side: BioBarrier’s blowers and pumps
consume energy, unlike gravity-fed
septic systems (although mound
systems often incorporate pumps).
NSF testing showed a consump-
tion of 7.85 kWh per day for a 500
gpd treatment system (for context,
the most energy-efficient refrigera-
tors are about 1 kWh per day). The
company offers electronically com-
mutated motors for its blowers, but
systems containing these units have
not undergone NSF testing, and the
company does not offer them as
standard.
BioBarrier’s small footprint and high
water quality do provide a clear
advantage where conventional sep-
tic systems are impractical. Wahrer
says using the systems can make
Product News & Reviews
Class C (Commercial)
10 mg/l (25)
10 mg/l (25)
2 NTU (5)
2.2 MPN/100 ml (200)
6.0–9.0
0.5–2.5 mg/l
Source: NSF
smaller lots or those not connected to
municipal sewer systems buildable,
and they can be installed where soil
conditions make drainage a problem
or where a separation distance is re-
quired between a septic system and
a body of water. So although BioBar-
rier is not a drop-in graywater sys-
tem or an ideal replacement for ev-
ery septic or municipal wastewater
system, it does provide the cleanest
water available from a decentralized
wastewater product.
– Brent Ehrlich
For more information:
Bio-Microbics, Inc.
www.biomicrobics.com
Sika: Submetering Water
at the Fixture Level
A new product being introduced
from Europe aims to bridge the
yawning gap between the metering
of water at the building or campus
level, and awareness of water con-
sumption by individual tenants and
occupants. Sika USA, a subsidiary of
Sika Aquatec in Germany, is offer-
ing a water submeter intended for
installation on individual fi xtures
and fittings. The threaded, in-line
meter provides a digital readout on
the fixture and communicates wire-
lessly with a central control system
that building management can use
to track and analyze water use.
According to Andy Buchanan, presi-
dent of Sika USA, the meters make
sense for any building that wants
7
Product News & Reviews – Feature

erstein, but does fixture- Waste Water, Want Water (from page 1)
level water metering
make sense? Once an ef-
ficient fixture is installed, We’re seeing more wastewater recla-
he worries that the sav- mation in building types that aren’t
ings available from addi- devoted primarily to human waste
tional monitoring won’t disposal too, even in cities: com-
add up to much, and, he mercial offices, multifamily build-
says, the installation costs ings, and even hospitals have been
and ongoing monitoring experimenting with these systems
of dozens or hundreds of for more than a decade, producing
submeters “sounds like a not only clean water but also impor-
nightmare.” tant lessons that can be applied in
the buildings we’re designing today.
Fixtures may be the most
feasible place to attack Whether onsite wastewater treat-
the problem, though, ment is a good choice for your next
Photo: Sika USA
counters Buchanan. He project will depend on a lot of differ-
Sika's threaded, fixture-level water meters communicate notes that while most ent factors, from local codes to an-
wirelessly with a central receiver, providing fine-grained buildings may have a sin- nual rainfall to the age of municipal
submetered data for tenant spaces or residential units gle water main feeding infrastructure. If your project team
without cutting into pipes for installation. in, that might give way does choose to treat and reuse waste-
to a “spaghetti of pipes” water on the site, different types of
to control its water usage—any- inside the building lead- systems can have broad implications
thing from a single-family home to ing in all different directions, with- for energy consumption and other
multifamily residential, hotels, of- out any mapping. If the goal were aspects of the project—but decen-
fices, or any other building type. At to submeter a single tenant space, tralized treatment and reuse can also
$100 per unit, plus $300 for a central bathroom, floor, or apartment, that contribute to improvements in cen-
data receiver, the units are relatively might not be feasible, and certainly tralized infrastructure, sometimes
affordable, but the cost could add not without cutting into pipes. By in more ways than one.
up for an entire floor or building. going all the way down to the fix-
Larger buildings might also need ture level, Sika meters and monitor- An Integrated Water Plan
$200 signal repeaters—one per floor ing software allow an aggregation
is likely—to bridge the gap in wire- of data to serve the same purpose Fifteen years ago, “it seemed like a
less communication from the meters as submetering of an entire space. great idea, every chance we had, to
to the central receiver. The receiver Buchanan also noted that there is treat wastewater onsite,” says Rus-
includes a software package that nothing preventing installation of sell Perry, FAIA, corporate sustain-
allows for data collection, trend spot- the meters upstream of individual ability director at SmithGroupJJR.
ting, and usage alarms. fixtures. “It’s not that clear anymore.”
The submeters fill a distinct gap for The Sika meters have an expected During his time with William Mc-
monitoring water use inside build- lifetime of 20 years, although the Donough + Partners, Perry helped
ings. Whether it’s the right gap to standard lithium battery that pow- design the intensive natural filtration
fill is up for debate, however. “The ers them will require replacement system in the Adam Lewis Cen-
biggest sticking point in water me- after 10 years. Installation of the ter at Oberlin College, one of the
tering is the installation cost of the threaded meters should be a minor first so-called living machines to
meters; people hate cutting pipe to plumbing job, while installing and be built. (Living Machine is a regis-
stick one of these things in there,” tered trademark owned by Worrell
setting up the wireless data receivers
Dan Ackerstein, a consultant and Water Systems; the more general
will require someone with wireless
expert in sustainability for existing term is simply “natural treatment
Internet expertise.
facilities, told EBN. On that point, system”.) Perry isn’t convinced that
Sika’s threaded connections make a While Buchanan said that Sika USA
every building needs to do its own
lot of sense—they allow installation could make the meters available for
wastewater treatment, though: “The
without cutting into pipe—assum- individual projects, the company is
deeper you get into this, the more
ing there is room in the plumbing still looking for a partner to facilitate
you realize certain decisions that
configuration for them. U.S. distribution.
solve one set of problems cause other
That’s all well and good, says Ack- – Tristan Roberts problems.”

8 Environmental Building News · February 2013

 Feature Article: Waste Water, Want Water

Conservation first these regulations change (see side- seem like a logical solution for a
bar, “Net-Zero Nutrients”). Energy given project may not make sense
Even by usual standards of green on paper. Common sense dictates
use from pumping wastewater over
building, the considerations around
long distances also “represents a that the Pacific Northwest is rainy,
projects considering onsite treat-
significant portion of the overall but “Portland [Oregon] is a little dif-
ment can be remarkably specific to
impacts” of centralized wastewater ficult in that we have eight months of
the climate, the site, and the local
treatment, according to a Cascadia a lot of rain—39 inches total is nor-
infrastructure.
Green Building Council life-cycle mal—and then four months when it
“Salt Lake City has a sophisticat- analysis, detailed in its report Clean hardly rains at all,” explains Doug
ed wastewater system, including Water, Healthy Sound. Composting Sams, AIA, of ZGF Architects. While
wetlands,” says Perry, describing toilets use relatively little energy and working on new headquarters for the
discussions his firm has had with do not pollute water, making them Port of Portland, ZGF realized that,
the University of Utah about a new the most sustainable choice, accord- to span the dry period, the size of a
building that will eventually house ing to the analysis. proposed rainwater collection tank
the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, would be so large that the approach
Resources and the Environment. Rainwater harvesting simply “didn’t pencil out.” Waste-
The project team is open to onsite Most sites have plenty of rainwater water treatment was a better option
wastewater treatment because of the that can be harvested and used not in this case, and Sams oversaw the
client’s environmental mission, but only in toilets but also as make-up design and installation of a Living
it’s not necessarily the most sensible Machine in the building.
water for cooling towers and to ir-
choice due to the exemplary munici-
rigate landscaping (see “Alternative Additionally, many sites do not even
pal infrastructure, Perry said. De-
Water Sources: Supply-Side Solu- have rights to the water that comes
spite the region’s minimal rainfall,
tions for Green Buildings,” EBN May off their own roofs, particularly in
by using ultra-low-flow plumbing
2008). Again, though, what might the West and Southwest.
fixtures and collecting rainwater and
graywater to flush toilets, the build-
ing will already have more water Centralized Water Infrastructure
than it needs and can use the excess
for irrigation. “In a certain way of
looking at it, you’re solving a prob-
lem that doesn’t exist,” Perry notes.
Project teams looking to address wa-
ter consumption and sewer loads—
whether for sustainability reasons
or financial ones—will want to de-
fault to low-flow plumbing fixtures,
look holistically at conservation (see
“Water Budgets,” page 16), and then
consider other options, usually in the
order discussed below.

Composting toilets
They’re not for every client, but they
do warrant consideration for almost
every project. Composting toilets
use very little or no water, depend-
ing on the model, thus avoiding pol-
lution of potable water just to move
human waste around. Although the
humus and liquids generated by
composting toilets cannot legally be
used to amend soil in some places, Source: KMD Architects
composting toilets could eventually U.S. water infrastructure is a poorly designed, centralized system that devalues our most
help us recover valuable nitrogen precious non-renewable resource by using it to move pollution and waste from place to place.
"Sometimes I hope that water will get more expensive to force us to find solutions," says Megan
and phosphorus in the future if
Koehler of KMD, which developed this diagram.

Volume 22, Number 2 · Environmental Building News 9

Feature Article: Waste Water, Want Water
Graywater harvesting
Graywater is wastewater from lava-
tory sinks, showers, and laundry
facilities that does not include food
waste or human waste; it may also
include condensate from boilers. In-
door graywater reuse requires dual
plumbing with purple pipes for the
reclaimed water; but minimal water
treatment and no purple pipes are
needed if graywater is used only
outdoors for irrigation. Graywater
reuse may be a good supplement to
composting toilets, but because of
the expense of dual piping, for some
projects it may make better financial
sense to treat graywater and black-
water together.
Why Onsite Wastewater
Treatment?
Onsite wastewater reclamation sys-
tems represent significant first costs
10
Illustration:
Source: Trinity Works and Gary Hartley
and a long-term maintenance com-
mitment that not every client will
be able to take on. So why consider
them?
Remote site
The most obvious time to consider
onsite wastewater treatment and
reuse is when a site is not connected
to centralized infrastructure. A re-
mote site will have to be hooked into
a municipal system, often at great
expense. Many such sites simply opt
for a septic field, but conventional
septic systems are not always well
managed, they don’t treat water for
reuse, and they don’t do a good job of
nutrient cycling, typically overload-
ing the groundwater with concen-
trated nutrients instead.
Even if connecting with a municipal
system is the least expensive option,
a client may have other reasons for
wanting to treat onsite. When the Boy
Environmental Building News · February 2013
Scouts first chose its Jam-
boree site in West Virgin-
ia’s New River Gorge, “we
looked at upgrading the
nearby municipal system,
which would have been re-
ally easy to do there—and
from a cost point of view
would have been by far the
cheapest solution,” says
Allison Schapker, director
of design and sustainabil-
ity at Trinity Works, which
has conducted site selec-
tion and design and con-
struction management for
the project. But the area’s
rivers and streams attract
tourists, who fuel the local
economy. “Once we under-
stood where we were, we
had a firm commitment
that we needed to manage
our wastewater onsite.”
The Boy Scouts’ choices
have had a ripple effect.
“What’s really exciting
about this for us,” Schap-
ker told EBN, “is that our
site was heavily mined and
has extremely degraded
soils, and returning nutrients back
to the soil actually helps us rebuild
the soil.” Treatment combines decen-
tralized graywater systems—which
will reuse shower and sink water for
toilet flushing in more than 300 bath-
houses—with a blackwater system
comprising an equalization lagoon
and trickling filters. Stormwater will
be carefully managed with rain gar-
dens and swales, specifically to keep
it separate from both of the other
systems, preventing concentrated
nutrients from polluting the water-
shed before the wastewater has been
treated.
No matter where your site is, she
urges, “Once the water is treated,
if you could identify a use for the
wastewater, you could have nutrient
cycling within your own site. You
really start to find the value of your
wastewater rather than just sending
it downstream.”

Overtaxed municipal system
Even in urban settings, there may be
environmental advantages to treat-
ing and reusing wastewater on your
site.
A full 3% of total energy in the U.S.
is consumed by piping water and
waste from place to place, according
to the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency—just one reason the port-
manteau word watergy is increasing
in popularity (see “The Water-En-
ergy Connection,” EBN Oct. 2010).
Although small-scale wastewater
treatment typically consumes more
energy per gallon than centralized
treatment, it does greatly reduce the
use of potable water, which typically
has a massive energy footprint even
before we contaminate it with hu-
man waste.
And although centralized systems
can boast economies of scale, many
are aging, leaky, and overtaxed, and
older ones combine stormwater and
wastewater, which can lead to “com-
bined sewer overflow”—the release
of raw sewage into waterways. Treat-
ing your own wastewater makes
your waste your own problem in-
stead of someone else’s. Keeping it
onsite may also encourage occupants
to think twice before putting haz-
ardous or nonbiodegradable waste
down the drain, a common problem
in municipalities.
“You’d be amazed how much we
let flow off our sites that then goes
on to cause another problem,” says
Erin English, P.E., associate engineer
at ecological restoration and regen-
erative design firm Biohabitats. “If
you’re harvesting your water onsite,
you’re disconnecting yourself from
that whole cycle. That’s a pretty
profound thing to do.” English char-
acterizes potable water as “almost
criminally cheap” and argues that
once we begin to pay the true cost
of water, “the whole [decentralized]
approach is going to make a lot more
sense.”
Volume 22, Number 2 · Environmental Building News
Feature Article: Waste Water, Want Water
Expensive sewer fees ing water and sewer fees. Because
of this incentive, onsite wastewater
Potable water remains remarkably treatment has become “relatively
inexpensive even in regions where common” in the city, particularly
it’s scarce, but municipal wastewater for project teams that are also seek-
treatment can represent a major cost ing deep potable-water-use reduc-
for commercial buildings in some tions for green building certification,
places, potentially creating a busi- according to Edward Clerico, P.E.,
ness case for onsite wastewater treat- president of Natural Systems Utili-
ment for certain projects. Some cities ties and a co-designer of the pioneer-
may waive considerable sanitation ing wastewater treatment system at
hookup charges if owners choose The Solaire high-rise in Battery Park.
to treat their water on the site, and
ongoing sewer fees are also avoided. Education and research
On the other hand, energy use will
One of the most compelling rea-
offset cost savings, as will system
sons to treat wastewater onsite is to
maintenance.
educate building occupants, visitors,
In New York City, sewer connections students, and professionals about
aren’t optional, but there is a finan- freshwater scarcity and wastewater
cial incentive for water reuse: build- treatment. “What small-scale proj-
ings that replace at least 25% of their ects do is break down the number
potable water with reclaimed water one impediment to reuse of waste-
receive a 25% reduction in remain- water: the fear factor,” explains Pete
Net-Zero Nutrients
The aim of wastewater treatment is to protect us from exposure to disease pathogens. In
the process, we remove nitrogen—and, more rarely, phosphorus—to reduce biochemical
oxygen demand (BOD) before releasing effluent. These biological nutrients can damage
ecosystems and are very much a part of the “problem” that wastewater treatment is “solv-
ing.” They are rarely viewed as a valuable resource.
At the same time, we’re facing global shortages of the fertilizer we use to grow most of
humanity’s food. Peak phosphorus is the term now being used to describe this looming
problem: people used to replenish phosphates in soil by applying manure and “nightsoil”
(composted human waste), explains Craig Briscoe, Assoc. AIA, director of integrated
design at Glumac. Nowadays we make industrial fertilizer out of rock phosphate, a
nonrenewable resource that is rapidly being depleted, and by using an energy-intensive
process to harvest nitrogen gas from the air. It’s time we added net-zero nutrients to our
list of sustainable design goals, argues Briscoe, right alongside net-zero energy and
net-zero water.
There are some promising techniques for recovering nutrients from human waste for
agricultural use without compromising public health, explains Harold Leverenz, Ph.D., a
researcher at the University of California–Davis. Centralized treatment plants near very
sensitive ecosystems like the Chesapeake Bay and the Florida Everglades have developed
a process for precipitating phosphorus out of wastewater using metal salts or by encour-
aging bacteria to do similar work. A few plants even sell the concentrated phosphorus
as an industrial fertilizer, says Leverenz.
“Nitrogen removal is a bit more complicated,” he concedes. Nitrogen is abundant, and
letting nitrogen evaporate out of wastewater is much simpler than recovering it. The
ideal solution would be catch the nitrogen before it gets mixed into wastewater in the
first place—through urine separation, which works best in decentralized systems. (Urine-
separating toilets are a niche product, more common in Europe.)
Mindful of existing infrastructure, Leverenz is pushing toward other options. “We could
have facilities that don’t even have a biological treatment process,” he argues. “You would
separate all the solids and all the organics and take them to an energy recovery process.
Then you could strip out the ammonia, precipitate out the phosphorus, and bring it back
to drinking-water quality. It recovers all the nutrients, all the water, and all the energy.” In
practice, it might be hard to implement, he says, but “on paper, at least, the energetics
are favorable,” he told EBN.
11
Feature Article: Waste Water, Want Water
Photo: KMD Architects
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will use
its recently installed Living Machine to study natural
wastewater treatment technology with the goal of scaling
up; the commission also intends to share irrigation water
with its neighbors, something that's difficult in most
cities unless a utility is in charge of the reclaimed water.
Muñoz, P.E., senior engineer at Bio-
habitats. “There’s a perception that
reused water is more dangerous or
that we don’t have the safeguards in
place.” Pointing to high-profile proj-
ects like the one at Sidwell Friends
School—where President Obama’s
daughters flush toilets with waste-
water treated in an onsite construct-
ed wetland—Muñoz argues that
“breaking down that psychological
barrier is reason enough to have
single-building or small-scale waste-
water treatment. But the economic
case isn’t there most of the time.”
Onsite systems require frequent test-
ing and provide research opportuni-
ties for students and scholars alike.
“One of the big things for Oberlin
College is the educational value,”
notes Sean Hayes, facilities manager
and community outreach coordina-
tor at the school’s Lewis Center. “To
us that is the biggest thing. We have
a dozen students or so who work
12
with it every semester. The
value really can’t be quanti-
fied for us.”
The San Francisco Public
Utilities Commission will
be using its new Living Ma-
chine as a research tool as
well. “There are some excit-
ing future possibilities there
at the district scale,” says
Megan Koehler, associate
at KMD Architects, which
designed the building. As a
public utility, “they under-
stand that and are trying
to study this.” An in-house
team of wastewater experts
is conducting ongoing re-
search on water chemistry
and quality during all stages
of treatment and gathering
data the utility hopes to ap-
ply on a much larger scale in
the future.
How Wastewater
Treatment Works
Every wastewater treatment
system, from the smallest
basement bioreactor to the
largest centralized plant, needs to
do certain things to wastewater.
Typically, wastewater is treated just
enough that it can be legally released
into soil or waterways; treatment for
reuse, at any scale, requires extra
filtration, or polishing, during ter-
tiary treatment. (Even more steps can
make treated wastewater potable,
but this is extremely rare—only
NASA, Singapore, and a smattering
of municipalities do it—and won’t
be discussed here. More common is
for treated wastewater to be released
into rivers and then reused by cities
downstream—without the psycho-
logical barrier of a closed loop.)
The goal of wastewater treatment
is to remove contaminants—which
make up just 0.06% of typical waste-
water, according to the Water En-
vironment Federation (WEF)—and
reduce biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD) so that released wastewater
Environmental Building News · February 2013
will not damage aquatic ecosystems
by starving them of oxygen (for
example, by causing algae blooms).
This is accomplished primarily by
encouraging bacteria to break down
the organic materials in the water.
Wastewater treatment typically fol-
lows these basic steps:
• Screening that removes sanitary
products and large items like
sticks and litter that wash down-
stream in stormwater (prelimi-
nary treatment)
• Settling and skimming of solids
(primary treatment)
• Microbial digestion of suspended
and dissolved organics, typically
an aerobic process using aerated
wastewater, or activated sludge (sec-
ondary treatment)
• Nutrient removal to reduce BOD
further and, sometimes, polish-
ing to remove small microbes and
chemical contaminants (tertiary or
advanced treatment)
• Disinfection, using chemicals or
UV light
The solids left behind by the process
can also be composted, either aerobi-
cally or anaerobically, and in some
places can be used to amend soil.
In very advanced wastewater treat-
ment plants, methane produced by
anaerobic digestion of solids can be
harvested for power generation or
use as a transportation fuel or heat-
ing fuel. More commonly, untreated
solids are incinerated or trucked to
landfills. A full understanding of lo-
cal wastewater infrastructure should
guide project teams in their decision-
making about onsite wastewater
management.
Onsite Treatment Options
Once a project team chooses to treat
wastewater on the site, there are
two basic types of systems. Most
onsite “natural” systems rely on
plant roots to create ideal condi-
tions for bacterial growth and cycle
water relatively slowly through a
variety of filtration media. Parts of

these systems may include lagoons,
indoor or outdoor constructed wet-
lands, and a variety of gravel or
sand filtration beds (along with less
attractive pumps and polishing and
disinfection tanks). Other onsite sys-
tems enclose the bacteria in a tank
and cycle water relatively quickly;
the bacteria are doing all the heavy
lifting here, too, so in a sense these
systems are just as “natural” as the
kind that involve showy plantings
and water features. In general, the
more compact the system, the more
energy it will require.
Natural filtration
There’s not a sharp difference be-
tween the simplest natural systems
and the more intensive ones: it’s
more of a spectrum from the most
basic constructed wetland to an en-
ergy- and space-intensive indoor
natural filtration system. This is part-
ly because, in general, the industry
has moved away from tropical plant-
ings (at least in temperate climates)
that require greenhouse conditions
and lots of water aeration. “Our Liv-
ing Machine was built in 2000,” says
Sean Hayes at Oberlin. “There’s been
a lot of improvement to the design.”
Erin English of Biohabitats confirms
that natural filtration technology
has advanced considerably since
the earliest Living Machines were
piloted; her firm uses “a range of dif-
ferent approaches,” employing natu-
ral treatment that’s characterized by
longer retention times and a variety
of “different ecologies” that may
include septic tanks, wetlands, and
biofilm systems. “That way you have
a variety of opportunities for differ-
ent microorganisms to access waste
in the water,” English explains. And
for systems that go through soil,
“that additional step tends to help
things get broken down.” Although
she cautions that all systems are
different and that there are fairly
few to study so far, preliminary
evidence suggests that constructed
wetlands can “substantially reduce”
compounds like pharmaceuticals
Volume 22, Number 2 · Environmental Building News
Feature Article: Waste Water, Want Water
and endocrine disruptors in addi-
tion to reducing BOD and removing
contaminants that are more conven-
tionally removed from municipal
wastewater.
Recent Biohabitats projects include
a very simple system for the Dixon
Water Foundation in partnership
with designer Lake|Flato Architects.
The remote, rural building will be
used only a few times a month, and
the system involves a septic tank
that meters out about a hundred
gallons of wastewater per day into a
constructed wetland, which slowly
treats and polishes the water; it will
be used only for irrigation. “These
are ranchers who are committed
to rotational grazing and have a
profoundly pragmatic approach to
watershed management,” explains
English. “The system is almost en-
tirely hands-off, as it should be.”
The system at KieranTimberlake
Associates-designed Sidwell Friends
School, by contrast, is urban and
intensively occupied during most of
the year. It’s also one small portion of
an onsite water management system
that includes wastewater recycling
The Living Machine System
Intensive natural filtration, which is used in systems like the Living Machines designed by
Worrell Water Technologies, relies on the bacteria in a constructed ecosystem to treat both
graywater and blackwater. The processed water can then be used for cooling towers, for flush-
ing toilets, or for irrigation.
and rainwater harvesting, and it
produces non-potable water that’s
reused to flush toilets; this system
is commensurately more complex
and includes a trickling filter in
addition to the wetland, making it
a hybrid of natural and enclosed.
English provides a cautionary tale
about the project, though: “There
were some issues with quality of
construction. If you’re going to do
this as an architect, make sure con-
tractors are getting things like liners
and planting media down correctly;
it’s really essential. Make sure it’s not
just overlooked as ‘some landscape
component.’”
One of the advancements since the
days of tropical greenhouse Living
Machines is that not every “natural”
treatment method needs plants—al-
though most use them anyway. Some
recent projects, like the San Fran-
cisco Public Utilities Commission
building, involve very deep plant-
ers, explains Pete Muñoz. Although
the systems are being called tidal
wetlands, he argues, “plants don’t
grow ten feet deep,” so their root
systems don’t have a major role to
play, making the systems more like
1 Office building:
toilet, sink &
shower
2 Primary &
equalized tanks
3 Tidal flow wetland
4 Polishing vertical
flow wetland
5 UV sterilization
disinfection
6 Clean effluent tank
7 HVAC office
cooling tower
Source: ZGF Architects
13
Feature Article: Waste Water, Want Water

Wastewater Treatment & Reuse Technologies from a membrane bioreactor for a

project under way in Fort McMur-
Energy ray, Alberta.
Type of Treatment Example System Site Footprint
Consumption
Constructed Medium to For more about how membrane bio-
Natural filtration Minimal
wetland large reactors work and the quality of the
“Natural”
Low to high water they produce, see “Biobarrier
systems Intensive natural
Living Machine Small to large (older systems with Offers New Approach to Treating
filtration
tropical plants) Wastewater Onsite,” page 6.
Small to
Biofilm treatment Trickling filter Medium to high
Enclosed medium Think Purple
systems Membrane
Ultrafiltration Very small High As Clerico notes, when it comes to
bioreactor
wastewater treatment and energy,
the question of scale can be crucial.
“tidal gravel filters.” But the plants energy profile and achieve efficiency The more expensive and energy-
have aesthetic and educational val- comparable to municipal-type en- intensive your system is, the more it
ue, and such systems “are still an ergy consumption,” he claims. “In may make sense to rely on a central-
effective method of treatment for the 200,000-gallon-per-day range, ized system’s economies of scale—
small footprints,” he told EBN—and you’re comparable to municipal on particularly if the local infrastruc-
they are far less energy-intensive energy.” That’s roughly 1,000 multi- ture is reasonably sustainable. Since
than enclosed mechanical treatment family residential units, Clerico says. that’s not often the case in the U.S.,
systems. though, many wastewater experts
He also sees new promise for the
idea of recovering energy from mem- are advocating for larger decentral-
Enclosed systems
brane bioreactor systems. “There’s ized systems.
“We’re always working on the spec- great technology coupled with ther- “It’s great to have onsite wastewater
trum of space and energy,” says Mu- mal energy recovery of the water treatment at the building scale,” Mu-
ñoz. “Our practice is definitely more in the building,” meaning that heat ñoz maintains, “but we find the most
of a land bias, larger systems with from the bioreactor can be used to bang for our buck is with eco-district
smaller energy footprints.” In cities, heat domestic hot water. “That you wastewater systems.” Rather than a
though, that approach doesn’t al- can do in a building on a small scale LEED Platinum or Living Building
ways make sense. “A small footprint much more readily than on a large Challenge “island of sustainability,”
and larger energy load does have a scale,” Clerico adds. “When you start he argues, “it makes much more
place in certain communities.” The bringing that type of solution to real- sense to do it at a block scale or
most common enclosed systems, ity, then the whole distributed model neighborhood scale.”
membrane bioreactors, are very com- takes on more immediate value.” His
pact and work relatively quickly firm is proposing energy recovery “You can’t become a utility”
compared with natural filtra-
tion systems, but they require Unfortunately, some of the
very high energy inputs. best opportunities for on-
Biofilm-based systems like site wastewater treatment
trickling filters also push wa- involve remote greenfield
ter through fine membranes, development: if you’re build-
though they tend to use less ing a suburb, a medium-scale
energy per gallon (and also wastewater treatment system
work at a slower rate). When that cycles water more than
might these higher-energy once—rather than mimick-
approaches make sense for a ing large-scale, once-through
building? systems—should be a no-
brainer.
Probably when a few build-
ings are able to process In already developed areas,
Illustration: SERA Architects
wastewater through one sys- Multi-building wastewater treatment may make sense in some it’s much harder to share
tem, argues Edward Clerico urban areas, especially where infill development is creating small wastewater treatment with
of Natural Systems Utilities. eco-districts. By "scalping" water from a combined municipal your neighbors. “We can’t
stormwater and wastewater system, such districts could treat necessarily collect water in
“With multiple buildings, and distribute reclaimed water while helping prevent combined
you quickly improve your one building and use it in
sewer overflows that wash raw sewage into waterways.

14 Environmental Building News · February 2013


other buildings: we end up with
other jurisdictional issues,” says Lisa
Petterson, AIA, associate principal at
SERA Architects. “You can’t become
a utility; that’s why you might con-
sider it on a single-building scale.”
If you are a utility, it might work out.
According to Megan Koehler, the
San Francisco Public Utilities Com-
mission is currently dumping almost
half its treated wastewater back into
the sewer system, but they are look-
ing into irrigating the landscapes of
several surrounding buildings with
the excess. The system at The Solaire
was intentionally oversized when
installed in 2002 and now serves
two buildings owned by the same
developer. District-scale systems
can also work on college or business
campuses, Petterson suggests.
Working with the city
And then there are opportunities for
a college or other major developer to
work directly with a municipality to
improve local infrastructure.
Oberlin College is creating a 13-acre,
net-zero-energy and potentially net-
zero-water “Green Arts Block” as
part of a public/private effort to make
Oberlin, Ohio, a “climate-positive”
city that also supplies 70% of its own
food. Right now the project team is
wrestling with “tradeoffs and issues
around scale and effective cost,”
says David Orr, Ph.D., professor of
environmental studies and politics
at the school. On the one hand, they
could choose to do onsite water treat-
ment for the Green Arts Block and
“integrate the system in a compelling
way,” with a gorgeous two-story
waterfall and various other features
that “make an iconic statement.” On
the other, they could “do something
cheaper but larger-scale” by build-
ing an industrial-scale constructed
wetland outside of town that would
partially treat the water for the entire
community but would not attract as
much interest.
Although a hybrid of the two ap-
proaches is likely, Orr sees the de-
Volume 22, Number 2 · Environmental Building News
Feature Article: Waste Water, Want Water
cision as an object
lesson for designers:
“How do we build
a larger fabric and a
larger pattern of re-
silience in the com-
munity? Some of that
has to be visual; it
can get people excit-
ed. But clock speed
and visual impact are
entirely different.”
Purple-pipe
districts Photo: Oberlin College
Although energy-intensive, the wastewater filtration system at
The ultimate goal, Oberlin College has provided students with more than a decade of
many designers feel, research opportunities; the project has also helped system design-
should be better mu- ers refine the most energy-efficient strategies for achieving onsite
natural filtration, such as moving away from tropical plants.
nicipal infrastruc-
ture, and architects
may be able to par- ture would help solve this prob-
ticipate in that in ways that don’t lem by “scalping” wastewater from
involve multi-million-dollar water sewer pipes (taking the clearer water
features. from the top of the pipe), treating it
at small neighborhood plants, and
Clark Brockman, AIA, principal at delivering it to nearby buildings.
SERA Architects, has been work- “You could create an overlay zone
ing with his colleagues to get the and say that buildings in these zones
City of Portland, Oregon, to rethink have to build with purple pipes.” San
its systems and to get developers Francisco, he notes, now requires
rethinking their neighborhood in- dual piping for all new buildings.
frastructure—possibly even creating
Brock man recognizes that his
micro-utilities for sharing reclaimed
scheme is “very specific to Portland,”
water among multiple building own-
but he encourages all architects to
ers.
think bigger. Although small-scale
Looking at existing systems and wastewater treatment certainly has
areas with lots of infill projects go- a place, he says, “I don’t want ar-
ing on, he and district systems lead chitects to start imagining they all
Scott Shumaker, P.E., have proposed need to put membrane bioreactors
four purple-pipe districts that would and constructed wetlands in their
make sense for Portland. (Purple projects with cool videos on their
pipes convey reclaimed water, and websites. They should be looking at
a few cities have purple-pipe infra- their community and their place and
structure that carries reused waste- their watershed. What can you do?”
water both to and from buildings.) Brockman challenges.
“We have abundant water in Port-
Although the answer will be differ-
land but combined sewer overflow,”
ent for everyone, it’s clear that we
he told EBN. Although Portland re- all need to be asking ourselves that
cently built a big-pipe system to question.
deal with most of the overflow and
to come back into compliance with For more information:
federal standards, the system still International Living Future Institute
dumps raw sewage into waterways www.living-future.org/research
about four times a year, Brockman
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
says. Their decentralized infrastruc-
www.epa.gov/region9/water/recycling
15
 Environmental Building News 0213

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A publication of BuildingGreen, Inc. · www.BuildingGreen.com

BackPage Primer
Water Budgets: A Holistic Look at
Efficiency
Have we been focusing on the wrong water-efficiency
measures all along? Even though low-flow and low-flush
fixtures have become common over the years, fewer
project teams have been aware of the water savings
that could be realized by looking at cooling towers,
commercial kitchen equipment, medical equipment, and
even municipal steam systems. The water consumption Illustration: Peter Harris
from these can dwarf that of bathroom fixtures.
not being aware that the cooling tower planned by the
Fortunately, there are tools available to help look holisti- mechanical engineer will consume tens of millions of
cally at how to get the biggest—and most cost-effective— gallons per year—a lot of toilet flushes.
water savings in a building. A “water budget” is a frame-
By talking about these and other uses in the same con-
work that has long been used to look at the relationship
versation (likely as part of an integrative design process),
of input and output of water flows in a region. By looking
a team might explore opportunities to reduce or reuse
at the interplay of precipitation and evapotranspiration,
cooling tower blowdown water; use another mechani-
planners and hydrologists can understand when an area
cal system, paired with energy-efficiency measures, to
has a water deficit or surplus.
reduce the size of the cooling tower (thus making energy
Applying the water budget concept at the building level efficiency gains as a water conservation effort—a dual
is similar but puts a focus on identifying and quantifying “watergy” approach); or look at rainwater catchment to
water uses in plumbing fixtures, irrigation, mechanical provide cooling tower water while reducing stormwater
systems, and any processes in the facility—and in turn runoff.
identifying possible water supply sources other than the
The water budget can also be used to look at landscape
conventional municipal source or onsite well that might
irrigation, aiding landscape design based on an amount
be used to meet some of those needs. Those might
of water appropriate for the region and the site. There is
include collected rainwater, mechanical system conden-
even a tool that does most of this work for you: using a
sate, graywater, or treated wastewater.
project’s zip code, the WaterSense Water Budget Tool
If done at a time when a lot of options are on the table, automatically looks up rainfall and evapotranspiration
such as early in design, the water budget exercise can data and then provides a menu of appropriate plantings
illuminate water conservation opportunities that might and irrigation technologies for each landscape zone.
otherwise go unnoticed. For example, the water use Although developed for single-family homes, the Water-
represented by a cooling tower can often come as a Sense tool works for landscapes around other building
surprise; members of the project team could be debating types and is referenced in LEED v4’s proposed irrigation
specifying 1.0 versus 1.2 gallon-per-flush toilets while efficiency credit.