A buildings water use is only part of the water cycle story; for every unit of water used in a building there are significant distribution losses, plus the energy used in extraction, processing and distribution. Reducing consumption proportionally reduces these elements.
Understanding water availability and local water stress metrics, allows suitable reduction targets to be set, while consumption predictions and assessment of potential for efficiencies, and rainwater/greywater/blackwater use helps give insight into the impact of potential strategies.
New to the IES VE-Toolkits and VE-Gaia in version 6.0.0 of the <Virtual Environment>, the water review capabilities provide designers with an indication of the potential for water reduction. Occupancy and fixture type selections can be set to establish a baseline, while output on overall consumption and water scarcity are offered. Measures that offer the biggest reductions are identified, and LEED calculation methodology/credit assessment is provided at both the indicative and actual level.
