Canada

The Canadian Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program offers up to 6-8 points for greywater recycling and rainwater harvesting. Developments in greenbelt and infrastructure weak areas are looking at grey water reuse as a way to reduce sewage outflows. Other Municipalities are considering rebate programs and tax incentives for builders to encourage the use of grey water systems to conserve water.

Ontario spends over $220 Million on electricity to pump and treat water per year. Many municipalities including Toronto have announced plans for ongoing water rate increases in the area of 9% for the next nine years. As a result, a typical family of five that presently spends $50 per month on their combined water and sewage charges can expect that to double in only 8 years!

Not surprisingly, marketing a master-planned community as green is becoming very popular throughout North America.

Government Resources:

Environment Canada - Freshwater website

DSIRE - Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (USA)

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Benefits

USA

The U.S. Green Building Council works to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, is starting to address the regulation and evaluation gap, and established the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) ranking system. www.usgbc.org The LEED program and programs like it are helping to drive more sustainable building practices and have lead to increased interest in water re-use and rain-water harvesting.

LEED evaluates new buildings and provides a verifiable means of demonstrating that a building is “green”. Under the LEED certification program, there are four classification levels or ratings: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The levels are based on points awarded for the design, construction, and operation of a building. The Certified level requires a minimum of 26 points; Silver requires 33 points; Gold is 39 points; and Platinum requires 52 points out of the 69 total possible points. Points are awarded for sustainable sites, energy efficiency, material and resources efficiency, environmental quality, and more.

Water usage is also addressed, as there are currently ten points available under the water efficiency category. In addition to the required base points, Brac Systems can earn you up to four additional points. Thus for a builder, reducing water usage within a building can be a quick and easy way to obtain LEED credits, and can be achieved with little additional cost over standard plumbing fixtures and fittings.

Incentives

Current bi-partisan legislation drafted by Colorado's own Mark Udall and Rep. Mike Coffman is called the The Water Accountability Tax Efficiency Reinvestment Act of 2009 - or WATER Act - and is designed to create a tax credit for consumers and businesses who invest in water-saving appliances. The bill would be similar to the Energy Star credit for purchasing energy efficient appliances and would apply to businesses and individuals who purchase WaterSense certified products. Some states, such as Arizona and New Jersey, have recently passed measures to reward greywater recycling and other water conservation efforts, and many other states are expected to follow suit. For more information, visit www.energystar.gov.