Colorado St University Water Efficiency Plan

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H. Facilities Operations and Facilities Development is currently investigating the feasibility of a central cooling plant compared to the current method of cooling which has a cooling system in each building. The central system has some system efficiency benefits and reduces the number of cooling towers from 30 to 3 or 4. Fewer towers equates to reduced evaporation. The central system would also reduce or eliminate the need for flow-through cooling systems which use city water for cooling and waste directly to the sanitary system (lasers, electron microscopes, walk-in coolers, etc.). I. Facilities Operations currently has three employees scheduled to attend a seminar on water meter maintenance and repair, and water use analysis and loss determination. This training is scheduled for May 1993. 2. The University is in the design stage of a new building (NESB - Natural and Environmental Sciences Building). The specifications for this building require water efficient plumbing fixtures. One exception will be the use of low flow (1.6 gallons per flush) wall hung water closets. There is some controversy over the use of these devices and preliminary investigation indicates unacceptably high O&M costs. Specifically a study conducted by the Center for Environmental Engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology prepared for the Denver Water Department indicates an increase 'in service calls associated with the use of the 1.6 GPF units. Their study indicates an increase in service calls of 41% in mens rooms and a 470% increase in womens rooms. Therefore considering the results of this study the NESB specifications will require the 1.6 GPF units in the mens rooms and standard units in the womens rooms. Facilities Operations will use this building as a test case and collect our own data to determine if there is a noticeable increase in service calls over other areas. The specifications for this building also require the use of electric eyes on the mens urinals.