At UBC Vancouver we enjoy a relatively large amount of water due to high levels of rainfall. However, as a large, research-intensive university, UBC also consumes a significant amount of water.
So far, water consumption trends on campus reflect reductions of about 50% since 2000 due to a number of factors including:
- Retrofit projects to buildings and infrastructure have increased water use efficiency
- New green buildings are more water efficient, and
- Shutting down the campus steam plant and converting the Academic District Energy System from steam to hot water saves 272 million litres of water per year.
However, without further action on water conservation, consumption will rise in the future due to growth of the campus.
To help address this, UBC’s Energy & Water Services department recently completed a project to reduce water usage at the Earth Sciences Building (ESB). By upgrading the fan system in the building to a new acid-resistant material, engineers Colin Mingus, Climate & Energy Engineer, and Waleed Chaudhry, Energy Data Analyst, were able to proceed with shutting off water supply to acid scrubbing devices.
In order to get approval to turn off water to the scrubbers, water testing was conducted to ensure the existing system would not be adversely impacted. UBC worked with a third-party consultant who completed a full system review to ensure the downstream fans and ductwork would not be impacted. Two acid scrubbers that serve the percholoric acid hoods in the building will remain in operation as well as the full duct washdown system.
The result? Water savings from this project alone total approximately 15 million gallons of water annually, roughly the equivalent of 21 Olympic Sized Swimming pools.