Integrating Sustainability Into Your Water Program: Do the Right Thing RIGHT NOW

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Integrating Sustainability Into Your Water
ProgramDo the Right Thing RIGHT NOW!

• Dawn Lesley, P.E.May 2, 2008

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Sustainability is a Hot Topic!

• References to sustainability nearly every day on
  TV, newspapers, radio, magazines
• If you Google sustainability
• 22,000,000 hits!
• Topic of conversation at all levels -
  Presidential debates, corporate boardrooms,
  legislatures, county commissions, city councils
  individuals

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Sustainability is Becoming Mainstream in Business!

• Corporate Americas Sustainability Initiatives
• Wal-Mart
• DuPont
• GE
• United Technologies
• Goldman Sachs
• Intel
• Bank of America
• UPS
• 2008 Super Bowl

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What is Sustainability?

• According to the Brundtland Commission of the
  United Nations
• Sustainable development is development that
  meets the needs of the present without
  compromising the ability of future generations to
  meet their own needs.

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What Sustainability Actions have Big Business
Taken?

• Wal-Mart committed to reduce its electricity
  usage by 30, increase its truck fleet efficiency
  by 35 in 3 years and double it in 10 years
• DuPont reduced their GHG to 72 below Kyoto
  targets and saved 3 Billion while expanding
  their business 30
• UTC (in the DOW 30) reduced their energy use by
  19, their water use by 49, their air emissions
  by 44, while doubling their sales from 24
  Billion to 48 Billion

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Sustainability is Being Pursued by Governmental
Agencies

• 811 U.S. Mayors have signed on to the U.S. Mayors
  Climate Protection Agreement representing over 78
  million people

Sonoma County Water Agency has committed to
carbon free water by 2015
Seattle City Light became the first major
electric utility to achieve zero net greenhouse
gases
Poseidon Resources committed to make their
Carlsbad desal plant carbon neutral
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What are they All Doing?

• Investing in energy efficiency optimizing
  processes
• Using renewable resources such as wind, solar,
  biomass, geothermal and hydro
• Conducting a GHG Inventory and Climate Action
  Plan to reduce carbon emissions
• Selling former waste streams for profit
• Deploying new technology such as video
  conferencing or document scanning storage
• Using sustainable or green construction materials
  techniques

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What are the Benefits of Doing All This?

• Improve operational efficiency and reduce
  operating cost
• Increase profitability and revenue
• Help increase political and regulatory certainty
  and reduce risk
• Improve their public image and brand value
• Meet public and political expectations
• Increase employee recruitment, retention,
  productivity and morale

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World Population Growth Through History
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Capacity vs. DemandEcological Footprint

• Ref Mathis Wackernagel, et. al., Tracking the
  ecological overshoot of the human economy, Proc
  Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Jul 999(14)9266-71

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Drivers for Sustainability

• Regulatory e.g., CA AB 32, Green Building
  ordinances
• Financial e.g., unstable energy costs
• Public Relations rising public concern
• Conscience (Legacy Thinking) Baby Boomers
  getting ready to retire

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Triple Bottom Line

• Economic
• Environmental
• Social

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Why Strategize?

• It is better to ride the wave than to plan to be
  swamped!

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Talking about Sustainability

• Do not fear labels this term is coming at
  everyone from multiple directions
• Questions to ask
• What does Sustainability mean to you / the
  agency?
• Are we under pressure to do Sustainability?
• No one has all the answers offer a partnership

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What can you do without a Project Number?
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Building Momentum

• Small, successful steps are effective
• If you dont measure it, it doesnt exist
  baseline ASAP
• Track what you do, find multiple ways to measure
  success
• Education/awareness
• tell your employees
• tell your boss
• tell City Council
• tell your customers
• tell the world

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Saving

• Money
• Water
• Chemicals
• Energy
• Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
• Face

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Where Do You Have Influence?

• Buildings
• Fleet / Heavy Equipment
• Chemicals / Operations
• Office Practices / Admin
• Contracting

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Got Buildings?
U.S. Building Impacts
12 Water Use
30 Greenhouse Gas Emissions
65 Waste Output
70 Electricity Consumption
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Buildings

• Electricity reduction motion sensors, vending
  machine timers, compact fluorescent lights (CFLs)
• Energy reduction GHG reduction CFLs save 75
  of the electricity and ALSO save 300 lb
  CO2/yr-bulb
• Recycling Building-wide recycling programs
  reduce landfilled material. State of Ohio
  agencies recycled 3,012 tons of material in
  FY03, saving the State 361,000 in disposal
  fees.

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Fleets Heavy Equipment

• Switch to E10, E85, Biodiesel blends Portland
  Water Bureau
• New vehicle purchases hybrid electric cars
  King County, WA

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King County, WAHybrid Vehicle Calculation
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Plant Operations

• Energy audit
• Scheduling energy-intensive operations (e.g.,
  filterbackwashes) to off-peak hours
• Switching to premium-efficiency motors
• Pump maintenance
• Utility bill analysis
• Water conservation in ops maintenance

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Administrative Changes

• Reduce car and airplane trips
• Use NetMeeting to bring people together
  virtually
• Reduce paper use
• Default settings Computers, Printers, Copiers
• Electronic communication can save paper . . . IF
  you go the additional step of encouraging people
  to NOT print their emails
• Replace cleaning supplies with non-toxic or
  less-toxic alternatives
• City of Santa Monica

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Saving Paper Saving Money

• There are many hidden costs to paper.
• Citigroup has estimated that 2 per ream paper
  costs as much as 62 per ream when you consider
  the costs of paper storage, printing, copying,
  recycling, disposal, and postage.
• Public Service Electric and Gas Company saved 100
  tons of paper and 320,000 through the use of
  electronic communications.
• Penn State University has documented a savings of
  123,000 per year just by changing default
  printer margins to 0.75 inches

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In Upcoming Contracts

• Require electronic submittals
• Public Service Electric Gas Co.
• Require recyclable proposals, limit proposal
  length, prohibit standard marketing brochures
  
• Require responsible salvage/reuse/recycling of
  demolition construction materials
• City of Oakland, CA

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Building Momentum

• Small, successful steps are effective
• If you dont measure it, it doesnt exist
  baseline ASAP
• Track what you do, find multiple ways to measure
  success
• Education/awareness
• tell your employees
• tell your boss
• tell City Council
• tell your customers
• tell the world

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Interesting things can happen just by being at
the right place at the right time!

• Unwittingly, Harold stepped out of the jungle
  and into headhunter folklore forever.

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We have the responsibility, the tools and the
will, and there will never be a better time than
now.
K/J Sustainability Policy, adopted July 2006
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Questions?