Water Conservation/Recycling
The estimated annual rainfall for Columbus, Ohio is38.5" per year with the months of January, Februrary and March being the period that is the driest.
The design Precipitation is:
2/3 X 38.5"=25.67"
The U.S. uses a per capita gallon per day of +/- 125.5 gallons
In my office there 11 people that at 3 flushes per day at 1.6 GPF would use 52.8 GPD which would be 19,277 GPY.
During the driest period a cistern would need to supply 52.8 GPD for about 90 days for a total needed of 4752 gallons, so rounding off, a 5000 gallon cistern would be needed.
In my office there 11 people that at 3 flushes per day at 1.6 GPF would use 52.8 GPD which would be 19,277 GPY.
During the driest period a cistern would need to supply 52.8 GPD for about 90 days for a total needed of 4752 gallons, so rounding off, a 5000 gallon cistern would be needed.
The cistern volume would be 4752 gal / 7.48 cubic foot = 635.29 cubic foot cistern.
The stragtergy would be to have a cistern located in the basement that would collect the rain water from the roof. That water would be filtered and pumped into the water supply system for use in non-potable requirements in the office.
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The main problem with this stratergy would be in finding a place that would be big enough to place the storage tank.The economic benefit is that water from city services will be cut dramatically therby reducing costs to the city and our office. Environmentally the reduced water usage will mean less water and resources taken out of the environment, which means less impact on the environment.
The psychometric chart can help by giving us probable conditions upon which to base design.
Carbon Footprint
As an architect one can design buildings to be energy efficient and by using products that have a smaller imoact on the environment. They can also use more energy efficient ways of travel whether by using public transprotation when available or by driving more fuel efficient cars.
