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

1. Integrating Sustainability Into Your Water Program:Do the Right Thing – RIGHT NOW! Dawn Lesley, P.E.May 2, 2008

2. 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

3. Sustainability is Becoming Mainstream in Business! • Corporate America’s Sustainability Initiatives: • Wal-Mart • DuPont • GE • United Technologies • Goldman Sachs • Intel • Bank of America • UPS • 2008 Super Bowl

4. 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.”

6. 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

7. Sustainability is Being Pursued by Governmental Agencies 811U.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

8. 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

9. 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

10. World Population Growth Through History

11. Capacity vs. Demand:“Ecological Footprint” Ref: Mathis Wackernagel, et. al., “Tracking the ecological overshoot of the human economy,” Proc NatlAcadSciU S A. 2002 Jul 9;99(14):9266-71

12. 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

13. Triple Bottom Line • Economic • Environmental • Social

14. Why Strategize? It is better to ride the wave than to plan to be swamped!

15. 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

16. What can you do without a Project Number?

17. Building Momentum • Small, successful steps are effective • If you don’t measure it, it doesn’t 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

18. Saving… • Money • Water • Chemicals • Energy • Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions • Face

19. Where Do You Have Influence? • Buildings • Fleet / Heavy Equipment • Chemicals / Operations • Office Practices / Admin • Contracting

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

21. 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 FY’03, saving the State $361,000 in disposal fees.

22. Fleets & Heavy Equipment • Switch to E10, E85, Biodiesel blends – Portland Water Bureau • New vehicle purchases: hybrid electric cars – King County, WA

23. King County, WAHybrid Vehicle Calculation

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. Building Momentum • Small, successful steps are effective • If you don’t measure it, it doesn’t 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

29. 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.”

30. “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

31. Questions?