Net-Zero Water Use Drives Design of Sustainability Center

At the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), the concept of the water cycle has guided the design of the building. Supplying 100% of the facility’s potable water needs, rainwater is harvested from the high-albedo roofs, stored in a below-ground cistern, filtered, disinfected on-site, and distributed through the building for potable water applications.

Designers at Perkins+Will specified a solar aquatics biofiltration system to treat and reuse 100% of the building’s wastewater within the facility. Water collected from fixtures throughout the building is treated and then reused within the building for irrigation and toilet flushing, creating a closed-loop water cycle.

The solar aquatics system mimics the purification processes of naturally occurring water systems in close proximity to human inhabitation, such as streams and wetlands.

Low-flow and low-flush plumbing fixtures and drought-resistant native landscaping reduce water demand, and planted roof surfaces and water retention ponds mitigate stormwater runoff.

The projected potable water consumption from off-site sources is zero, which the building team calls “a 100% improvement from the reference building.” The solar aquatic system is located in an isolated glass-walled room in the building’s southwest corner, for all on the campus to see. This highly visible corner is adjacent to the University of British Columbia’s so-called Sustainability Street, engaging pedestrians with the systems and ideas behind water savings.