New York City’s

Water Challenge to Universities

August 8, 2018

St. John’s University Manhattan Campus

101 Astor Place

Program Welcome

Erin MoreyDirector, Demand Management and Resilience Policy

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Agenda

1. Program Welcome

• Introductions

• Water Conservation in New York City

2. Water Challenge Program Vision and Overview

• Program Structure

• Program Schedule

3. Monitoring Water Use

• Important Concepts

• Tracking Water Use Online

• Tracking Water Use through a BMS

4. Other Self-Assessment Tools

• EPA’s WaterSense ® WaterUSETM Tool

• Energy Star Portfolio Manager

5. Case Study of Water Monitoring: St. John’s University Utility Tracking System

6. Discussion

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Office of Integrated Water Management

DEP’s Office of Integrated Water Management in the Bureau of Sustainability spearheads

policy development, innovative partnerships, studies, and pilot programs to reduce system

demand, protect critical infrastructure, increase cost efficiency, and promote public awareness.

Vision

• Integrated Water Management is a framework for managing NYC’s watersheds, water

resources, and water facilities in a sustainable, economic, and socially beneficial

manner

• Integrated Water Management leads to increased efficiency and operation of our utility,

enhanced livable communities, resilience against climate change, better land use

practices, and protection of public health

Wastewater

and Resource

Recovery

Climate

Change

Resiliency

Drinking Water

Supply

and Protection

Stormwater

Management

and Water Quality

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Municipal: Retrofit and replace

water fixtures in public facilities

Residential: Replace inefficient

fixtures in multi-family buildings

Non-Residential: Create voluntary

conservation programs and

provide cost sharing incentives

System Optimization: Continue

leak detection, pressure

management and metering

Water Supply Management:

Adopt Water Shortage

Emergency Rules

Wholesale Customers: Develop

and implement demand

management plans for 10

wholesale customers

Water Demand Management Program

NYC’s Demand Management Program has reduced almost 10 MGD since 2013,

with an additional 10 MGD planned by 2022.

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Water Demand Management Program Milestones

Municipal Water Efficiency Program DEP: 4 Commissioner’s Challenges to WWTPs

completed (1.83 MGD savings); Round 5 all-plant

challenge kick off in 2019

DOE: 400 schools retrofitted citywide (3.31 MGD

savings); porcelain reuse projects completed

DPR: 400 spray showers and 9 recreation centers

retrofitted citywide (1.1 MGD savings)

City College of New York: 780 fixtures retrofitted in 10

campus buildings (0.04 MGD savings)

FDNY: 12 firehouses retrofitted citywide; 30,000 gallon

reuse facility installed at Randall’s Island training facility

(0.03 MGD savings)

Wholesale Customers Program Village of Ossining Water Demand Management Plan

implementation underway

Residential Water Efficiency Program TRP: over 12,800 toilets retrofitted citywide (0.51

MGD savings); expanded to 83 NYCHA buildings

in July 2017 and 4,300 HWAP customers in

February 2018

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LEGEND

Retrofitted DOE Facilities (402)

Retrofitted Spray Showers (400)

Retrofitted Firehouses (12)

FDNY Water Recovery Facility (1)

WWTP Challenge Participant (14)

Water Challenge to Hospitals (3)

Water Challenge to Hotels (11)

Water Challenge to Restaurants (18)

Toilet Replacement Program

Participant (1,019)

Completed Water Demand Management Projects

http://nyc.gov/dep/conservation-projects

Water Challenge Program Vision and

Overview

Ben Huff, Water Demand Program Manger

Hannah Doherty, Policy Analyst

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Hotel Challenge

10 participants

4 winners

Vision: Sector-Specific Water Challenges

30,000 gallons/day

11,000,000 gallons/year

Restaurant Challenge

15 participants

8 winners

Hospital Challenge

3 participants

1 winner

26,000 gallons/day

9,000,000 gallons/year

35,000 gallons/day

13,000,000 gallons/year

The goal of the New York City Water Challenge Program is to help Non-Residential water

users achieve and sustain long-term water savings.

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Overview & Goal: Water Challenge to Universities

Identical to previous Challenges, the New York City Water Challenge to

Universities will loosely follow the seven step Water Management framework that

the US EPA endorses on their WaterSense® website:

• Step 1: Making a Commitment

• Step 2: Assessing Facility Water Use

• Step 3: Setting and Communicating Goals

• Step 4: Creating a Water Conservation Campaign

• Step 5: Implementing the Water Conservation Campaign Strategies

• Step 6: Evaluating Progress

• Step 7: Recognizing Achievement

The 5% Challenge Goal: To meet the reduction goal, participants in the

University Challenge must reduce their water usage by at least 5% from their

baseline consumption. The baseline is two years of water usage prior to the start

of the Challenge.

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Program Structure: Water Challenge to Universities

1. Tracking Water Use. DEP will track all water usage through Automatic Meter

Readers (AMR) and provide participants with monthly reports.

2. Water Reduction Strategy. Participants will be encouraged to develop a

Water Conservation Campaign, mapping out a strategy to meet the Challenge

goal.

3. Regular Workshops. DEP will convene quarterly workshops to provide

updates on the Challenge and encourage the exchange of ideas, as well as

support new initiatives and/or to resolve issues as they arise.

4. One-on-One Meetings. As needed.

5. Promotion and Recognition. DEP will provide promotion and recognition of

the Challenge participants including press and news releases, and information

posted on DEP’s website.

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Water Usage Among Challenge Participants

Water Challenge Participants use roughly 790,000 gallons per day and 290,000,000

gallons per year

5% reduction 40,000 gallons/day; 14,000,000 gallon/year

79,000 gallons/day; 29,000,000 gallon/year10% reduction

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Program Structure: Tracking Use and Workshops

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DEP provides monthly summaries

of your water consumption• Compares your current water

consumption with previous years

• Compares your water use per square

foot with other challenge participants

Example report from the

Restaurant Water Challenge

DEP convenes quarterly workshops

• Water conservation organizations

• Technology groups

• DEP’s Water-Energy Nexus Tool

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Benefits of Participation

• Builds off of your Carbon Challenge

successes and opens a new

opportunity for sustainability

• Helps you earn AASHE STARS points

• Contributes to immediate and long

term cost savings

Water Reduction Goals

• 5% reduction Winner

• 7.5% reduction Silver Winner

• 10% reduction Gold Winner

DEP will promote and recognize

participants and winners through:

• Award events

• News releases and posts on DEP’s

website and social media platforms

Program Structure: Recognition and Benefits

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Hotel Water Conservation Challenge Closing Event with Assistant

Commissioner of DEP’s Bureau of Environmental Planning and

Analysis

Award Icon from Restaurant Water Conservation Challenge

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Program Timeline

Benchmarking Period: August 1, 2018 – July 31, 2020

Tentative Schedule for First Year, 2018-2019

– August 8: Kick off Meeting

– October (Campus Sustainability Month): Workshop #1 – Water Conservation on

Campuses, Guest Speakers: AWE and EPA WaterSense

– January: Workshop #2 – How to Build a Water Conservation Campaign; Messaging

– April: Workshop #3 – Academic Year Recap; Share Water Conservation Campaign

Plans

– July: Workshop #4 – Smart Metering/ BMS integration

Tentative Schedule for Second Year, 2019-2020

– October: Second Year Check-in Meeting; Water/Energy Nexus Tool

– January: Workshop #5 – Industry Specialist

– April: Workshop #6 – Academic Year Recap; Lessons Learned

– July: Two-Year Wrap-up Meeting – Recognize Winners; Share Lessons Learned

Monitoring Water Use

Michael T. Roach

Bureau of Customer Services

Technical Services Division

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Goals

• Important concepts

• Tracking water use online

• Tracking water use through a BMS

• Cooling tower wastewater allowances

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Important Concepts

• Units of Measurement

• Water meters register use in cubic foot units

• 1 CF = 7.48 gallons

• 100 CF (HCF) = 748 gallons

• HCF are billing units

• Who are DEP Customers?

• DEP can only have a business relationship with a property

owner, not a tenant

• Where do I find information?

• Most DEP billing rules are contained in the Water and

Wastewater Rate Schedule available online

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• 97% of water meters in

New York are read by an

Automated Meter

Reading (AMR) system

• Grey battery-powered

Meter Transmission

Units (“MTU”) are wired

to each meter and

mounted on the building

exterior

• Meters 2” and larger are

read hourly, smaller

meters are read four

times a day

Automated Meter Reading (AMR)

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• Encrypted reads are

transmitted four times

daily to a network of

rooftop data collectors

• The box in the center is

the complete Data

Collection Unit (DCU)

Data Collectors (DCU)

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The Benefits of My DEP Account

Did you know that My DEP Account allows you to:

• Save money by monitoring and managing your daily water use

• Quickly detect costly leaks

• View and pay your bill online

• Go green and sign up for paperless billing

• Track the status of a billing dispute

• View your payment history

* DEP’s 2% discount has been extended until June 30, 2012. Please check www.nyc.gov/dep for more information

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How to Access your My DEP Account

Visit nyc.gov/dep and click the blue “My DEP Account and Online Bill Pay”

button located in the top right corner of the page

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How to Create your My DEP Account

Log in to your My DEP Account by entering your User ID and Password

New to My DEP Account? Just click the “Register Now” link and follow the

instructions

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Detect Costly Leaks

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Monthly Consumption

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Daily Consumption

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Issues Affecting Measurement I

• Building water distribution – Down Feed Systems

o Most large buildings use a “down feed” system in which water enters the

building and is pumped to a roof tank.

o Water flows down from the roof tank to end users

o The meter is never directly measuring water end use, but rather the

frequency the roof tank is filled and that volume of water

o Daily consumption, or average hourly consumption is about as granular as

you can get with a down feed system

o Multiple tank refills overnight when there should be little or no use is still an

indication of possible leaks or excess use

o Meter resolution is not critical

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Issues Affecting Measurement II

• Meter Resolution

o Small service meters (under 1.5”) measure in 1 CF units

o Larger meters usually measure in 10 CF or even 100 CF units

o Some, but not all larger meters are now available with 1 CF output

resolution

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Hourly Consumption 100 HCF Resolution

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Hourly Use with 1 CF Resolution Meter

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Tracking Water Use with a BMS

• Instrumentation industry has been slow in developing

interfaces to water meters that use absolute encoder

registers

• Some meter manufacturers offer models with dual output

(Separate DEP AMR and pulse outputs)

• Meter Interface Boxes are being tested by DEP: Separate

data to DEP AMR box and BMS ModBus connection or

pulse

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Meter Interface Boxes

• Ethermeter by SCADAMetrics

• Smart Meter Master by Meter Master (F.S. Brainard)

• Connects to meter and DEP MTU box

o Ethermeter: Modbus and pulse output

o Smart Meter Master: pulse, 4-20 ma, 0-10 v, other outputs

• Requires permit from DEP

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Meter Interface Boxes

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Smart Meter Master Ethermeter

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• Metron Spectrum Meters

with Innov8 register:

o Optional pulse output

o Radio output for 5

minute data logging

o Optional 4-20 ma

output

o Owner must purchase

register for these

additional outputs

Metron Innov8

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• “Advanced turbine”

technology

• Available to owner with

dual output register

• AMR and pulse

• Cubic foot remote reads

for all sizes

Sensus OMNI T2 and C2

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Cooling Tower Wastewater Allowances

• Buildings with large evaporative cooling towers may

qualify for a sewer discount (“wastewater allowance”) on

the makeup water for the cooling tower

• Conditions:

oApplication form must be filed and a renewal application

must be submitted every two years ahead of the

expiration of the current wastewater allowance

oMeters must be up-to-date, i.e. the “master” DEP meter

cannot be outdated

oAll meters must have AMR boxes (MTU’s) – DEP installs

oThe account must be current

oCooling tower meter is owner’s responsibility

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Cooling Tower Wastewater Allowances

• Owner considerations

oMeters run slow (“under register”) as they age

oTo maximize the wastewater allowance the owner

should replace the CT make-up meter every 5-7 years

• Application Form

oDEP website: nyc.gov/dep

oCustomer Assistance > Customer Forms

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Sub-Meters

• Very useful for monitoring possible excess water use:

o Boiler makeup

o Cooling tower makeup

o Food service and restaurant spaces

o Pools

o Laundries

o Any single-pass water-cooled equipment (generally illegal at this point)

• Required prospectively under the Administrative (Plumbing) Code for:

o Commercial cooking or laundry facility

o Commercial gym or spa

o Makeup to cooling tower or swimming pool

Other Self-Assessment Tools

Ben HuffWater Demand Program Manager

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EPA WaterSense® Water USETM Tool

https://www.epa.gov/watersense/commercial-buildings

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EPA WaterSense® Water USETM Tool

• WaterUSETM Tool

o MS Excel Workbook –

navigate to the WaterUSE

Tool tabs relevant to your

facility.

o After entering all applicable

information, click the “Show

Me Results” button at the

bottom of each tab.

o Based on inputs, the tool with

identify potential projects, best

management practices and

savings potential for that

specific water use area.

• EPA also provides a guide

(WaterUSE Tool Water

Assessment Worksheets) and

even a video demonstrating how

to use the tool.

http://www.epa.gov/watersense/commercial/challenge_tools.html

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Energy Star Portfolio Manager

• Energy Star Portfolio manager is a tool that can be used by the Universities,

or may already be in use to benchmark buildings.

• Benchmarking Water Use required as part of Local Law 84 (NYC

Benchmarking Law) and Local Law 133 (Expanded Building List Covered by

Local Law 84)

• DEP has an in staff person that can help any Universities with questions

related to Energy Star Portfolio Manager, his information is below:

Nigel Williams

Phone: 718-595-6808

NiWilliams@dep.nyc.gov

St. John’s University Utility Tracking

System

Steve LaicoSearchlight Consulting

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Discussion

• Why did you decide to join the Challenge and what are you interested in

getting out of the Challenge?

• How has your institution been approaching water consumption?

• How easy do you think it would be for your university to get students

involved?

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Thank you!

@nycwater

#nycwaterchallenge

waterchallenge@dep.nyc.gov