Bathrooms Feature
Delivering savings in water usage and tenant bills
A big consumer of water in social housing is the bathroom. Here, Stuart Reynolds from AKW discusses how inclusive sanitaryware and showers are now being designed to promote water and energy-saving, delivering long-term savings that ultimately benefi t tenant bills
W
ith water bills seeing their largest rise in England and Wales in almost 20 years, many social housing providers are looking at incorporating water effi ciency into their energy saving and fuel
poverty agendas. Starting with the bathroom. T e design, construction and management of buildings is key in delivering
savings in water usage and associated energy bill reductions for tenants. However, the way in which the building is managed and maintained to ensure effi cient operation and the minimisation of leaks is also important, along with the specifi cation of low water consumption products and encouraging responsible use by tenants. Obviously, it is easier to deliver water effi ciency in a new build, compared to
refurbishment projects, however there is still an argument for replacing some water-using fi ttings with ones that deliver net savings over their lifecycle period. Also, for those existing fi ttings where it isn’t practical to replace them, there is an increasing wealth of retrofi t devices that can deliver cost-savings by improving the performance of the original fi tting.
STEP-BY-STEP WATER EFFICIENCY When it comes to water effi ciency, WRAP recommends three ‘practice levels’ of effi ciency for procurement requirements: Baseline practice – fi ttings and appliances that meet legal requirements but do not off er appreciable water savings compared to others on the market; effi cient practice – fi ttings and appliances off ering reduced water consumption in comparison to baseline practice products, without materially impacting cost or performance for most types of use; and highly effi cient practice – fi ttings and appliances off ering reduced water consumption in comparison to effi cient practice products, but which are not necessarily comparable in cost or performance. Looking at the levels of effi ciency in practice, moving from one level to
another can deliver signifi cant savings on high water usage fi ttings. Taking the mixer shower as an example, using WRAP’s fi gures, it has a 12 l/min at baseline, but in effi cient practice this can drop to ≤10 l/min and ≤6 l/min in highly effi cient practice. With baseline showers having a fl ow of 12 l/min and the average shower being 10 minutes long – that’s up to 150 litres of water with every shower. It is no surprise therefore that reduced fl ow mixer electric showers that can monitor water usage, frequency, and energy consumption are increasingly being specifi ed in social housing. T e popularity of mixer showers is due in part to the water and energy
savings they can deliver. A case in point is an eco-save mixer shower, which is ideal for social housing, as it is a thermostatic and pressure balancing mixer shower that has been designed to deliver anti-scald, anti-legionella, effi ciency, and value for money benefi ts. T e environmentally friendly design of this shower also means it achieves water and energy savings of up to 70% compared to typical mixer showers, while ensuring that there is no compromise in comfort for users.
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMMAugust/September 2023 | 41
Interiors
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
