Innovation in Water and Energy Conservation on the Watsonville Area Recycling Project: A Case Study

Pauline Souza, AIA, LEED AP, WRNS Studio
Johhn Weale, Rumsey Engineers

The building community is becoming experienced in energy and material efficiency, but the importance of water efficiency and how water conservation equates to energy conservation requires further investigation. Our presentation will focus on the Watsonville Area Recycling Project to explore issues and trends in water and energy conservation and their correlative planning and design solutions. We will discuss successful strategies, lessons learned, and areas for future research.

Located on the edge of the Pajaro Valley, the 16,000 square foot Watsonville Area Recycling Project will serve three city and county water departments to facilitate collaboration on issues of water management, watershed protection and water quality. The facility will hold a 4,000 square foot Water Quality Laboratory, offices, and exhibition/education space. The building, its systems, and its site will serve to educate the public through exhibition and guided tours on issues of water, energy management, and air quality.

One of the project's primary objectives is to provide conservation and protection of a degraded aquifer through efficient use of water in the landscape; maximal use of recycled plant water rather than potable water; and the detaining and treating of all stormwater on-site prior to infiltration. The use of reclaimed water to support heating and cooling systems in the majority of the building represents the first such effort to create free cooling in this type of facility. The decreased need for energy intensive water transport adds to the overall reduction in the building's carbon footprint. Our presentation will focus largely on free cooling capture and the radiant system. This unique solution takes advantage of the free cooling provided by a constant supply of reclaimed water and uses it to pre-cool the water used in the radiant in-slab system. A heat exchanger and heat pump will be used to bring the reclaimed water temperature down to an appropriate temperature for radiant cooling. This method has a double water/energy efficiency benefit. Instead of a cooling tower, energy will be saved and water will not be lost through evaporation; water will not be taken from the farmers, just borrowed. The first cost of the cooling tower is also eliminated. As water is only available for a portion of the year, the pipe routing inside the building will be considered. Due to the levels of water used by toilets annually, repurposing this water will increase efficiency.

This project will likely achieve LEED® Platinum for no premium price. We will examine the practicality and affordability of a design that meets the expectations of a city agency with a fixed budget largely through significant, interrelated water and energy efficiency savings.

Biography:

Pauline Souza, AIA, LEED AP, is an Associate Partner and the Director of Green Services for WRNS Studio. She has 24 years of management and design experience, focused on facilities for the education, transportation, and civic sectors.

Pauline has dedicated her career to the building and advocacy of sustainable design. She is currently serving as the LEED Schools Advocate for the Northern California Chapter of the USGBC (NCC-USGBC); Chair of the Resource Subcommittee for the NCC-USGBC; and Member of the National AIA National Committee on the Environment Communications Committee.

A dedicated leader of the green building community, Pauline is also a regular speaker at conferences and events focused on sustainability. Her recent engagements include the 2007 Stanford University Medical Center Modern Healthcare, Sustainable Design Forum; the 2007 This Way to Sustainability Conference; the 2007 SCUP Pacific Regional Conference; the 2007 CORAC International Conference, Green Panel; and the 2005 USGBC GreenBuild Conference.

At WRNS Studio, Pauline is responsible for implementing sustainable design standards into all of the firm's projects. Her current work includes the Watsonville Area Recycling Project; the LBNL Advanced Light Source User Support Building; the new Pope John Paul II High School in Livermore; and several projects for the Hillsborough City School District.

John Weale joined Rumsey Engineers in 1999. His work includes extensive design and modeling of efficient mechanical systems for critical environments, including data centers, laboratories, and cleanrooms. He also has considerable experience with many other buildings and complex chilled water plants.

A sample of John's past work includes the design of data centers and laboratories, design of efficient school buildings, and the consultation on the mechanical design of a green brewery building. In the high-performance arena, John's work has included the design of two high-efficiency pressurized plenum cleanroom bays, design of a cooling tower expansion for free cooling, a manufacturing building with extensive exhaust and pressurization control requirements, numerous energy audits and a modular 600 – 3000 ton central plant utilizing absorption (waste heat driven) and electrical chillers. Cleanroom energy studies have included the measurement, critique, and retrofit payback analysis of the central plant and make-up air system of class 10, 100 and 1000 cleanroom facilities. Other areas of work have included optimizing exhaust air energy recovery techniques (run around coils, flat plate heat exchangers, enthalpy wheels and heat pipes), efficient fan systems and controls commissioning. John presented a paper commissioned by Lawrence Berkeley National Labs on low pressure drop, low energy use laboratory air handling systems at the Labs21 2002 Annual Conference. Another of John's projects, an upgrade to the Oakland Museum HVAC system to reduce energy use and improve space control, won an award from ASHRAE for technology innovation. John is a graduate of the University of Washington with Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science degrees in mechanical engineering with an emphasis on energy systems.

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