EPA—A Leader in Water Conservation, Reducing Its Flow One Laboratory at a Time
Dexter Johnson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Roy Sieber, Eastern Research Group, Inc.
As the demand on our water supply increases and droughts become more commonplace, the need for large-scale water conservation efforts is clear. Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management, called federal agencies to action, requiring them to reduce their water use intensity 2 percent annually through FY 2015 from a FY 2007 baseline. EPA has a long history of successful water conservation, reducing its water use by more than 11 percent between 2000 and 2007. In response to this most recent call to action, EPA redoubled its efforts and updated its water conservation strategy. As a result, EPA achieved an additional 6 percent reduction in 2008, the first year under the new strategy. Through the efforts of EPA's Sustainable Facilities Practices Branch, laboratory facility managers, and environmental management system coordinators, the Agency was able to successfully complete projects targeted at reducing its water use and to employ best management practices Agencywide to achieve noteworthy water savings.
This session will discuss three case studies detailing water conservation success at EPA laboratories. Though the Agency already had a mature water conservation program, these three projects were implemented in FY 2008 to continuously achieve even more water savings.
- Interested in a low-cost, high-savings project for your facility? Find out how EPA saved 1 million gallons annually through its Agency-wide faucet aerator retrofit program.
- Updating a laboratory in a humid climate? Learn how two laboratories in Athens, Georgia, installed air handler condensate recovery systems to provide make-up water for their cooling towers.
- Want to make irrigation and other outdoor water use a smaller part of a facility's water footprint? EPA will share its outdoor water conservation success, discussing how irrigation system audits and system repair and redesign saved up to 2 million gallons annually, reducing outdoor water use by more than 25 percent at each of five facilities.
With seven years to go on its pathway to savings through 2015, what strategies will the Agency use next? This presentation will identify projects and programs in progress and future goals. Come to this session to learn about a water conservation program that works.
Biographies:
Dexter Johnson is the water manager for EPA's Sustainable Facilities Practices Branch and the environmental management systems (EMS) coordinator for EPA headquarters. He brings 16 years of management experience to EPA and has been spearheading EMS for headquarters for the past two years. Additionally, in coordination with regional facility managers, Mr. Johnson has managed water conservation and efficiency projects at all EPA facilities and laboratories.
Roy Sieber has worked as a consultant in the field of water pollution control and water conservation for more than 25 years. Mr. Sieber provides technical support to federal agencies to help them develop and implement water use efficiency and conservation initiatives. In addition to supporting EPA's Sustainable Facilities Practices Branch with internal water conservation efforts at EPA, he currently is the lead engineer providing technical support to EPA for the development of technical specifications for WaterSense® products. Mr. Sieber is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and has a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering.