Q: What water-saving measures are musts for any commercial property? What’s the best way to tackle water management outdoors?
A: Last month’s Q&A on green restrooms offered some ideas for saving water indoors such as faucet aerators, waterless urinals and automatic faucets. Since buildings in the U.S. account for 14 percent of potable water consumption, it is important to consider all water-saving options. Here are some ideas for saving water outside your property.
If designing landscaping from scratch, using plants, shrubs and trees that require little or no water is considered the best way to go for most commercial properties.
For existing properties, consider transitioning to adaptive, drought-tolerant or native plants when the vegetation that’s already there needs to be replaced, rather than ripping out swaths of live growth.
Other water savings opportunities may exist through green roof and other rainwater capture initiatives, drip irrigation systems, as well as retrofits to the water heating/cooling systems.