Find out more about one building that has come up woth numerous ways to save and recycle water.
RALEIGH -- Last week, we highlighted how the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission puts some environmentally-friendly practices to work. But did you know that they use the bathrooms and even condensation to help the grounds?
The facility sees about 1,500 visitors a month, and when they make a pit stop at the building, they use waterless urinals. The touch-free devices are said to save an average of 40,000 gallons of fresh water per urinal a year.
Condensation from the building’s heating and air conditioning system is also used to irrigate the grounds.
Condensation from the building’s heating and air conditioning system is used to irrigate the grounds.
When you implement going green efforts into your home or office building, it will cost slightly more.
"In the end, it's well worth the investment,” said facilities mechanical engineer Kevin Ball. “We invest 5 percent more initially then the payback is usually a non-tangible asset such as how much is it worth to save a tree? No one can really put a price on that."
The North Carolina High Performance Buildings program selected the wildlife resources building as part of a pilot program. One thing Ball says he hopes to implement within the next year or two is a rain water collection system.
During the summer, it would catch water that primarily comes off the parking structure. They could save it underground then use it later in the year when conditions are really dry.