The University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics (UWHC) in Madison, Wis., is designed to earn a U.S. Green Building Council LEED for Healthcare Silver designation and to promote the city’s goal of reducing water use, according to an article on the Consulting-Specifying Engineer website.

From a base design that would have used 17.6 million gal/year, the selection and right-sizing of mechanical systems and facility equipment reduced the total water demand to 11.7 million gal/year, the article said. Of that, more than half of the water will be reused. 

When the building opens in 2015, UWHC will avoid purchasing 12 million gal/year of potable water that the base design would have used. 

Design elements that reduce water use include: 

• Chilled water cooled sterilizers 

• A system of interconnected ponds that receive and naturally filter water from air handling units, roofs, lawn and parking areas 

• A cooling tower and landscape system that use water from the ponds

• Landscape design with minimal irrigation needs

Read the article.