Green Building Design: Water Quality Considerations

Green buildings that include water conservation measures are becoming more prevalent. However, there may be unintended consequences to water quality associated with these buildings, including those associated with high water age. This project identified a number of concerns that are important to consider in green building design to protect public health and water quality including loss of residual disinfectant, corrosion, taste and odor issues, microbial regrowth, and opportunistic pathogens such as Legionella. Examples are provided where these issues have occurred in the past and three field site case studies were also developed. Recommendations to reduce issues with high water age were developed in a fact sheet (4383b) for specific stakeholders including water utilities, building and home owners, plumbing system designers, plumber, building occupants, code organizations, and green building organizations and device manufacturers. Published in 2015.