Water Conservation

Sterilizers and Autoclave Retrofits

UW Conservation Project Development Team (CPDT) representatives met with Mike Piatt with the Steris Corporation. Mr. Piatt is the Steris technician and technical support person for this area. The CPDT provided Mr. Piatt with our survey list of sterilizers and autoclaves. He is currently reviewing this equipment and will be providing the CPDT with an estimate for installing water conserving retrofit kits on our sterilizers and autoclaves. Steris will advise us of any additional equipment they find. They will perform all of the retrofit installations and resolve all scheduling and shut down details with the respective department clients.

Tentatively, we forecast an installation cost of $50,000 - $70,000. If Steris finds more equipment this figure could approach $100,000. Based on the original identified 38 equipment items we forecast a savings of $166,000 per year in avoided water and sewer costs. Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) may also provide a financial incentive rebate of up to 50% of the total project cost.

Balmer Hall Water Conservation Pilot

Seattle Public Utilities consultant Roger VanGelder has concluded his testing of several brands of low capacity flush toilets at Balmer Hall. He produced a report of his findings and has recommended three models for future campus installations. Plant Services plumbers will replace 20 additional toilets in the remaining lavatories with ultra-low-flush units. Total water consumption will again be measured to determine the ultra-low flush toilets impact on water consumption.

Low-Flush Capacity Toilets

Since Congress enacted the Energy Policy and Conservation Act in 1992 which included mandated installation of 1.6 gallons per flush toilets, otherwise known as ultra-low-flush (ULF), there has been a lot of controversy about them. Proponents of the Act maintain that UFL toilets are very effective in conserving water. Opponents of the Act, however, argue that UFL toilets are not doing a satisfactory job of flushing and want to return to the 3.5 gallon toilet. Presently, there is a re-introduced bill, H.R. 623, before Congress to repeal the mandate of ULF toilets. Overflowing toilets and the need for double flushing to properly dispose of solid waste were the most common consumer complaints. A study by the University of Arizona’s Water Resources Research Center, funded by the City of Phoenix and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, studied ULF toilets in households that participated in Tucson Water’s toilet rebate program during 1991-92. This study focused on the performance of ULF toilets seven to eight years after installation. The study found that, with respect to these household toilets, more than half (57%) had no detectable problem with their functioning. The data, however, also indicated 43% of the toilets exhibited one or more water-wasting problems. The toilet’s inner workings, in other words, its flush type, determine effectiveness of operation or water use. The researchers emphasize that their results do not suggest that efforts to mandate low flush toilets are misguided. Instead they say design flaws or improper replacement of parts usually account for the excessive water use.

The CPDT believes that retrofitting campus toilets with ULF units is a viable water conservation opportunity. We believe the new generation of commercial water conserving toilet designs has improved and SPU’s testing at Balmer provided the data results we wanted prior to moving forward with our plans to retrofit other campus buildings.

Water-free Urinals

Three water free urinals have been installed in Lander Hall. This is the first site to have a McDry waterless urinal. The McDry fixture does not use a cartridge and we are very interested in how it will perform. Gerberding Hall will have a Falcon water-free unit installed on the third floor in the near future. There are now over 100 water-free urinals installed on campus. To date, the CPDT has not received much negative feedback about water-free urinals. There have been some complaints about odor, but this problem has generally been attributed to improper maintenance.

Custodial Services has done an outstanding job getting up to speed in short order with maintaining these units. They have done an excellent job of training their staff. Our hats are off to them!

McMahon Kitchen Refrigeration Conversion (new)

The McMahon Kitchen refrigeration conversion is awaiting the arrival of material and will be installed as a component of the current public works construction contract. The project is estimated at $89,339. The predicted amount of water to be saved is 4,079,933 gallons per year. This equates to an annual avoided combined rate savings of $38,352. Assuming a 50% financial incentive rebate from Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), the simple payback period calculates out to 1.16 years.

BB High-rise Cooling Tower Replacement

The BB High-rise cooling tower and associated plumbing has been installed. It is in operation and undergoing final shakedown and testing. The projected incentive rebate from SPU is 50% of the project total or $72,624.

Vacuum Producers

John Leaden accompanied Doug Smith, Smith Services N.W., to the BB High Rise and

I-Wing to inspect the vacuum producers located there. Doug is an installer for Rogers Machinery and is developing a proposal to replace the vacuum producers. It may be that water-cooled units can be replaced with air-cooled vacuum producers which would save a significant amount of water.

Other SPU Anticipated Incentives

The Chiller 7 Addition is anticipating a SPU financial incentive of $61,000.

The Grounds Shop has submitted a Water Smart Financial Incentive request to SPU for the irrigation work associated with the Suzzallo 1963 Addition Remodel. The irrigation work totaled $17,000 for labor and materials.

Electricity Conservation

Art Building Occupancy Sensor Pilot

The schematic estimate from Design Services for the Art Building Occupancy Pilot Project has been completed and delivered. A budget has been approved to proceed with the final design. The purpose of this pilot project is to determine the potential energy savings and probable payback periods for consideration of similar future projects. The project is tentatively scheduled to start Winter Quarter.

H&FS Vending Miser Installations

The installation of 200 Vending Miser occupancy sensors designed to automatically power down cold drink vending machines is completed. Vending Misers may save 40% in electricity consumption. It is anticipated that the University will realize a savings of approximately $20,000 annually from this project.

Schmitz Hall HVAC (Adjustable Speed Drives)

The Schmitz Hall HVAC project is awaiting the delivery of the adjustable frequency drives.

Elevator Solid State Drive Retrofits

Pre-project electrical load consumption monitoring continues for the elevator solid state drive retrofits.

Lighting Retrofits / Lighting Reduction

Burke Museum is being re-evaluated as a lighting retrofit candidate. Initially, it was audited but passed by as a project. Burke Museum, Allen Library and Fluke Hall will be combined together as a project for presentation to Seattle City Light. Audits are being finalized.

EZ Conserve Surveyor

Surveyor, a software program that allows organizations to remotely manage the power settings of their networked PCs to achieve electricity savings, was evaluated by UW Computing and Communications (C&C). C&C recommended to not move forward with piloting this software at this time.

Other Anticipated SCL Incentives

The UWMC Ambulatory Surgery Pavilion is expected to be completed in September 2003. This project anticipates a Seattle City Light incentive of $143,000.