Learn more about water, the Living Building Challenge, and the latest trends in green building, at this year’s Living Future 2021: Inclusion + Unity conference, April 20-23.

The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) is proud to announce the release of our newest report for the green building community, A Decision-Maker’s Guide to Cost-Effective Residential Potable Water Reduction in Seattle, WA.

This guide is designed to be used by developers (affordable housing and market-rate), designers, builders, and homeowners in Seattle who are interested in reducing potable water use at a variety of residential scales (single-family houses, 30-unit buildings, and 100-unit buildings). In order to create the greatest positive environmental, health, and economic benefits, it is critical that these decision-makers and implementers are able to identify the best strategies to use on their projects within the wide variety of options and opportunities available to them. 

This guide aids in this decision-making process by: 

  • Exploring three different project scales and presenting the most appropriate and cost-effective potable water reduction strategies for each. 
  • Presenting complex decision criteria that can be used by project teams contemplating these systems in an easy-to-digest matrix for each residential building scale. 
  • Providing case studies and lessons learned from multiple residential projects from the point of view of the owners, engineers, architects, and maintenance providers. 

The guide can be downloaded for free on ILFI’s website.

For those hoping to engage more deeply with the findings from the report, ILFI is also offering a free two-hour webinar on Thursday, March 25 from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. PST. The live virtual event will feature a summary of the key findings, case study presentations by project team members of projects included in the guide, as well as the opportunity to delve into scale-specific potable water reduction strategies in small breakout groups.

This guide and the accompanying event was made possible thanks to funding generously provided by the Loom Foundation, Sustainable Path Foundation, and the City of Seattle.

Written By

Molly Freed

Molly manages the Institute’s policy program initiatives by identifying policy barriers and providing resources, research, toolkits, education, and advocacy to remove these obstacles. She also works directly with project teams, specifically those pursuing Volume Certification, in order to provide technical services.