32
ROUND TABLE REVIEW
CALL FOR REGULATION
Kate Fletcher from Arup said a Part G covering commercial buildings was urgently needed to drive effi ciency measures, and wondered if there were “newer KPIs” than CIPHE guidance to aim for with commercial clients
already made huge strides in doing off their own back, in the absence of mandatory requirements), products are also targeted by the Government’s White Paper. The introduction of a mandatory water effi ciency label on appliances from washing machines to showers will show specifi ers and clients exactly what water use each is designed to provide. The Government thinks that combined with smart metering, this will save over £125m on “water and energy bills” over the next decade, however the breakdown between commercial and residential projects in that fi gure is unclear. We heard from our sponsors, Cistermiser and Delabie UK on some of their key issues, posed in questions to the group by Rich Braid and Aaron Bayfi eld respectively. These helped to not only give suppliers’ perspective on progressing water effi ciency, but they also zoned in on practical issues of supply chain collaboration, and where gaps might exist. Earlier in the discussion, Rich Braid had given the key perspective that retrofi t was a particular concern, when it came to robustness of water effi ciency specifi cation: “A water effi cient product can be replaced with a non water-effi cient product in existing buildings, which seems bonkers,” he said. In his question to the group, Rich asked how innovation was “helping building owners and facilities teams identify leaks earlier to prevent ongoing waste, particularly in older and more complex buildings.” Matt Wilkinson of JLL described the engagement needed across commercial portfolios, which depended on “being able to understand what you want to be targeted, not clear benchmarks because different asset classes will have different requirements for water and different standards, but clear markers on what you should be achieving.” Kate Fletcher of Arup said that it was worth asking owners “are they meeting the CIPHE 5 (Resource Effi cient Design) guide, or are there newer KPIs, and how close are we to that?” She added: “It’s still a good start but still quite a low bar – if you’re doing 100 litres per person per day in a commercial project, then clearly something is wrong.”
Fletcher said that incentives for commercial clients to go beyond appliances to bring in sensible, engineered rainwater harvesting solutions, for example combined with SuDS, were absent. “Engineers love designing all of that stuff but why should a lender put an extra 300K into a retrofi t or development, or a smaller offi ce spend 50 grand? This is where the regulation stick has to come in.” Naomi Sadler said that of the BREEAM jobs she was working on, “in no cases were the external water credits targeting rainwater harvesting.” Jane Bellard of Weir: The Agency drew focus to the facilities management side, and “trying to close the loop between the person who might see the leak and the person who might be fi xing it.” Rich Braid referred to one job where urinal controls had been subsequently disconnected after a refurbishment, as there was no monitoring. James Fisher suggested that facilities users in commercial buildings could be prompted to report if they had seen a leak to bring a link between customers and water effi ciency. Aaron Bayfi eld from Delabie UK asked the group how manufacturers could “be involved in the management and monitoring of ecological performance in commercial buildings in order to deliver sustainable solutions.” James Fisher said that with a proliferation of “green certifi cation schemes,” could manufacturers “agree a set of core metrics, which they could actually collaborate on, because there’s plenty of bathrooms out there for everybody to get a piece of?” Tucker and Sadler said that specifi cation of fi ttings, despite exceptions, wasn’t robust enough, the latter told the group: “We are still trying to manage water like it’s a controlled resource but specifying fi ttings like it’s 1998 – the only metric is ‘is it shiny?’.” Claire Spendley of Waterwise said that on fi xtures and fi ttings, “a water audit can identify that you need controlled urinals, low fl ow taps, or a recirculating shower.” However, a focus on fi xtures wasn’t enough: “It’s people valuing the water, not wasting it, because more water isn’t coming.”
There were citations of investment in innovations such as Propelair toilets on highlighted projects. However Bayfi eld also said there was a problem of companies buying “as cheap as possible, and people don’t understand the big difference between residential products and commercial; we test our products to half a million cycles before launch.”
EPCs & BREEAM
The group discussed the potential for regulatory solutions to drive water effi ciency, including via EPCs, which are being tightened on energy use in 2027, requiring commercial landlords to hit C as a minimum. The BRE’s James Fisher described to delegates how BREEAM already includes water effi ciency credits, but that the organisation would be working harder to align carbon goals with water effi ciency targets. The many commercial sector clients using ESG policies and other sustainability drivers to invest in BREEAM would therefore be able to achieve both using the method. Some standardisation was required, said Naomi Sadler, in order to achieve the goals: “I want actual materials, numbers, data sheets, and all the manufacturers to sing from the same song sheet.”
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