Design for Water

Marine Education Center at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, Miss. by Lake|Flato Architects in collaboration with Unabridged Architecture, a 2020 COTE Top Ten Award Recipient

Framework for Design Excellence: Design for Water

Good design conserves and improves the quality of water as a precious resource.

How does the project use water wisely, addressing efficiency and consumption while matching water quality to appropriate use?
How can the project’s water systems maintain function during emergencies or disruptions?
How does the project handle rainfall and stormwater responsibly?
How does the project contribute to a healthy regional watershed?

Focus topics

indoor water efficiency
outdoor water use reduction
process water reuse
capture/reuse of greywater and/or blackwater
rainwater/stormwater use and management
net zero water building (NZWB)

High impact

Best practices

Resources

Projects

If you can do only one (or a few) thing(s):

Establish a stakeholder map of the watershed your project is located within—understand who is impacted by project-related water-use decisions (see Design for Equitable Communities).
Develop a water budget analysis to determine the water resource available to the project, how much water is needed, and how the water system can work to minimize the usage of potable water, while balancing the needs of both outdoor and indoor water resources as a unified system.
Benchmark indoor water use and use this baseline to set percent-reduction goals to target.
Reduce or eliminate outdoor water use (irrigation reduction/elimination).
Manage stormwater runoff with the goals of increasing on-site infiltration and improving water quality downstream.

Additional information

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is published and distributed with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

AIA does not sponsor or endorse any enterprise, whether public or private, operated for profit. Further, no AIA officer, director, committee member, or employee, or any of its component organizations in his or her official capacity, is permitted to approve, sponsor, endorse, or do anything that may be deemed or construed to be an approval, sponsorship, or endorsement of any material of construction or any method or manner of handling, using, distributing, or dealing in any material or product.

Image credits