The Sustainability Measures Review Team (SMRT) team has developed water conservation objectives and targets based on the current requirements. NIH campuses have and continue to undergo considerable facility construction and renovations, and as a consequence maintaining an effective water management program is particularly challenging. The long term purpose of the water management program is to optimize water consumption on campus through a combination of water usage policies, best available technologies, operations and maintenance, and campus-wide energy conservation awareness and participation.
The near-term objectives of the water conservation program are to conduct feasibility studies of commonly-employed water conservation measures and, wherever appropriate, implement them. The team will lead the effort in developing a campus-wide water conservation plan that will include addressing the longer-term goals of increasing awareness and designing water conservation measures into building design and renovation. Specific procedures implemented by NIH to reduce water usage can be found on the
Water Use Efficiency and Management page.
Water Conservation Goals:
1. Potable Water Use
- The Energy Act of 2020 requires agencies to install life cycle cost-effective energy and water conservation measures in owned buildings to the maximum extent practicable.
2. Stormwater Discharges
- The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit for the NIH requires stormwater limits for pollutant discharges, in addition to mandatory monitoring and reporting.
NIH Sustainability in Action:
The LEED Platinum renovation to NIH workspace at the 5600 Fishers Lane Building in Maryland included several sustainable innovations for minimizing water consumption:
Low-flow plumbing fixtures, including 1.28 GPM toilets and 0.125 GPM high efficiency urinals.
Hands-free self-generating ecopower system faucets that use less than 0.17 gallons of water per cycle.
Landscaping water is no longer drawn from the building and potable water and cooling towers are separately metered.
Regularly post information on the building information system and building displays to educate employees about water conservation.