August/September 2008
Water Efficiency
C O N T E N T S
ED Corner: Chapter Progress and Five Year Anniversary Celebration
LEED 2009: Regional Credits
The Business of Green: Take Control of Your Lighting Costs
Materials & Resources: What You Need to Know About Environmentally Friendly Paint
Water Efficiency :Reduce Potable Water Through Grey Water Systems
Walking the Talk: FSC Certification for Chapter LEED Study Guide
Regional Update: Metro Denver Branch Leadership
VISION
Promote responsibility for Colorado's environmental legacy.
MISSION
Advance and promote sustainable planning, design, construction and operation of the built environment through education, improving industry guidelines, policy advocacy, and information and resource sharing.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Tom Hootman, President
RNL Design
Dana Kose, Vice Chair
M.A. Mortenson
Megan Christensen, Secretary
Bovis Lend Lease
Jim Bradburn, Treasurer
RMH Group
Mike Lowell, Advocacy Chair
US GSA
Bobby Molinari, Membership Chair
Hyatt Select
Josh Radoff, Director At Large
YRG Consultants
Sue McFaddin, Director At Large Seven Generations
Ted Caulkins , Education Chair
Silvertip Integrated Engineering
Daniele Loffreda, Communications Chair
Plateau Enviro Associates
Conor Merrigan, EGB Chair
C2 Sustainable Development Consultants
Deb Kleinman
Executive Director
Colorado Building Green is the official newsletter of the U.S. Green Building Council – Colorado Chapter, and is published bi-monthly. If you are interested in submiting a story, ideas or other information for publication, please contact the editor at dgloffreda@msn.com
Water Conservation Through Residential Greywater Reuse
Build a secure water future for Colorado
By Michael Vail, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Water Legacy
So why isn’t everyone doing this? It all sounds so simple but it isn’t. Colorado, as we all know, has very complicated water laws and the misperception and vague language in some regulations makes acceptance of these systems a long and tedious process the public is not interested in taking on. Local governments and building departments also are confused and not inclined to approve use for builders.
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The State Engineers Office, The State Health and the State of Colorado Chief Legal Counsel are all in agreement that the type of greywater reuse proposed does not violate any existing laws. These same state authorities also agree that the decision for use approval is in the hands of each and every city and county in the State. This requires every city and county to make a legal decision they are not inclined to make due to the vague language in laws. They want to put it back to the State for a formal decision. Old rules need to be brought up to date to take into consideration new building science and support the general public's call to become more sustainable. A rare opportunity exists right now to give choice. Give choice to the residents of Colorado to save water by developing a bill to address to need to give cities, counties and home owners the choice to conserve water to the best of their ability through onsite greywater reuse.
"The State Engineers Office, The State Health and the State of Colorado Chief Legal Counsel are all in agreement that the type of greywater reuse proposed does not violate any existing laws." |
Public interest in sustainability of our natural resources is growing. Water conservation in the state of Colorado is vital to our future. Over the past four years I have met with home owners, developers, builders, design engineers, water boards, city, state, regional government officials, and health departments. All of these meetings have created a central theme that needs to be dealt with: “How do we embrace residential greywater reuse for flushing toilets?”
I ask you as leaders in our state’s water future to develop policies that give the citizens of Colorado the choice to conserve water through residential greywater reuse for flushing toilets. The public is aware of their personal responsibility to conserve for the future, but they can’t act without having a choice, or knowledge that this issue even exists.
Together we can help build a secure water future for Colorado by intelligently and safely reusing on site residential greywater.