Time is up on value engineering out rainwater harvesting

Value engineering is a process in the construction industry that seeks to reduce costs on a project by removing or replacing some elements of the building’s design. Value engineering (often referred to as VE for short) can be done at any point throughout a construction project. Value engineering is a significant barrier for installing water reuse and rainwater harvesting systems in newly constructed buildings. These important water-saving systems are often removed from building projects due to the initial installation cost. Recent inflationary pressures have only increased the number of projects where rainwater harvesting is dropped from the building specification.

Simply removing rainwater harvesting from the building design is not only short-sighted but is also contributing to the impending water crisis. The UK is already facing significant pressures with water supplies being unable to keep up with a growing demand. By 2050, the problem of water scarcity will worsen and there will not be enough water to go around. The buildings being constructed today will likely still be operating by 2050 so it is important to deal with water scarcity now.

It is important to remember that water companies have no legal obligation to provide a water supply to commercial customers in the UK. If water to commercial premises is supplied by a borehole, the Environment Agency can also limit the volume of abstraction if water scarcity continues to be a problem.

This year, we have seen an increase in the number of commercial organisations that need to retrofit systems to their buildings due to being unable to increase the amount of mains water they are using. In most cases, we are already aware of the building as rainwater harvesting was dropped from the construction project due to value engineering. Now, the occupier of the building must spend significantly more capital resources on retrofitting rainwater harvesting which is more costly and complex due to the requirement for dual pipework. Even with retrofit, the collection potential of rainwater is lower as not all roof drainage points can be relocated into a central storage tank.

Historically, high water users have enjoyed lower costs, but many water companies have plans to change their charging structures to end low prices for high water users. Soon, high water users will suffer the consequences of paying much higher water rates. Water in the UK is relatively cheap compared to other countries around the world. This means that water is often undervalued.

Rainwater harvesting has many benefits for end users of buildings and educating them on why rainwater harvesting is so important can help to prevent the technology from being value-engineered out of the project. Here are just some of the benefits of rainwater harvesting;

• Using mains water treated to drinking water standards for toilet flushing, irrigation, and manufacturing processes is such a nonsensical waste. Rainwater harvesting provides a sustainable water supply for these non-potable activities.
• Reduce local flood risk by managing rainwater runoff on-site. Rainwater harvesting releases additional capacity within the combined sewer network ready for when a storm comes. Widespread adoption of rainwater harvesting technologies can also prevent the frequency of combined sewer releases.
• Rainwater harvesting gives more autonomy to building occupiers over their water supplies. Embodied carbon of mains water is classed as a scope 3 emission which is the most difficult type of emission for businesses to offset. Rainwater harvesting is proven to be less carbon intensive than mains water giving opportunities to contribute towards net zero targets.
• Rainwater harvesting also highlights to building users that the company is committed to water conservation.

How Stormsaver can help reduce system costs

Our efficiency graph can also calculate water savings per annum and estimated financial savings on water bills. These could be used to educate the decision-makers on the importance of rainwater harvesting in their new building. Just ask our estimating team to assist. If your project is in an area of water neutrality, then we can also estimate water savings per person per day through rainwater harvesting which will be required for the planning application.

If you are a construction contractor who is concerned about the price of a rainwater harvesting system, talk to us. We may be able to help.

Learn more about rainwater harvesting

Have you got a question about rainwater harvesting? Our team is happy to help. Just get in contact here.