Jerry Yudelson's keynote presentation to Coneybeare Cleantech Leaders conference in Irvine, California, May 14, 2015. Outlines how to immediately reduce water use in California's cities.

1. ©2015JerryYudelson
Water Wizardry:
Real & Immediate Solutions
To California’s Drought
JERRY YUDELSON • APRIL 2015

2. ©2015JerryYudelson
Key Take-Aways
Water concerns are now
the next big (green) thing
International experience
and technology can be
adapted for U.S. use
Major opportunities &
challenges: building
owners, tech innovators,
businesses, contractors,
project designers, etc.

3. ©2015JerryYudelson
Why Water Concerns?
Water: 21st Century oil
Freshwater supply limited
Population/urban growth:
large water footprint
Climate change & water
Major droughts more
frequent
Water conservation &
reuse are vital

4. ©2015JerryYudelson
Water Is the Oil of the 21st Century
Resource conflicts will intensify
Existing water sources fully allocated
Next urban/rural battleground
Water scarcities in the US increase
Businesses may wind up “high and dry”

5. ©2015JerryYudelson
Water is the Oil of the 21st Century

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Freshwater is
inherently limited
No more water since
Adam & Eve
Usable freshwater a tiny
fraction
Much is too polluted to
drink
Aquifer depletion for
water supply widespread

7. ©2015JerryYudelson
Cool Water:
Blue Is The New Green
JERRY YUDELSON • YUDELSON ASSOCIATES • TUCSON, ARIZONA
Our Watery Planet

8. ©2015JerryYudelson
Freshwater is Really Limited

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Water Footprint of “Stuff”- “Virtual Water”

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Impacts of Climate Change
Much of world supplied in summer with snowmelt
Changes in climate = smaller snowpack, larger
spring runoff, greater flooding, reduced summer
stream flows, higher evapotranspiration, reduced
agricultural productivity, more droughts, etc.
Water pricing to get conservation will be huge issue

11. ©2015JerryYudelson
Water/Energy Nexus
Hydropower still important
Water supply  energy use
Energy supply  water use
By mid-2020’s: Not enough
water for energy, or enough
energy for water!
Lake Lanier, Atlanta, GA, 2007

12. ©2015JerryYudelson
Major Droughts Since 2006
In the U.S.
Atlanta
South Texas (Austin/San
Antonio)
California
Murray-Darling, Australia’s Largest River
In Australia
Every major city
Murray-Darling basin

13. ©2015JerryYudelson
Water Conservation
vs. Water Efficiency
Conservation means less
total use
Efficiency does not
guarantee conservation
Behavior modification
equally important
Some water conservation:
unintended consequences

14. ©2015JerryYudelson
Water Conservation
vs. Water Efficiency
A better idea

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Water Conservation Requires Good Pricing

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Australia
20 million people
Most live near the coasts
Except for tropics in the north, Oz is quite dry
Biggest drought in 117-year recorded history 2005-2009
o Global warming moved storm tracks south to Antarctica

17. ©2015JerryYudelson
Australia
Coordinated response by
national/state governments
$13 billion plan ($600 per person)
CA needs $24 billion, not $1 billion!
Water restrictions: all urban areas
Product innovations
WELS product ratings mandatory
Product innovations from labeling
Rainforest in Tasmania, Australia

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Australia
Plumbing industry front
and center
Large water utilities
begin to recycle water
Public is cooperative
Desalination seen as
viable option & acted
on
Water-free urinals

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Australia: Extreme Examples
“Sewer mining”
One Bligh Street in Sydney
– 30 Story LEED Platinum
Makeup water for cooling
towers/toilet flushing
Take water from city
sewer, treat on site,
reuse, return
Onsite blackwater
treatment gaining
adherents

20. ©2015JerryYudelson
Australia: Lessons Learned
In a crisis, everything’s on the table
Easier to do big things politically
System favors (big) long-term solutions
Don’t neglect public participation
New technology can be mandated in crisis
Exotic solutions can be tried and evaluated
Murray-Darling — Australia’s Largest River

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Blue/Green Issues
Water shortages/droughts will re-occur forever
Financial incentive programs work, but slowly
Green certification programs promote water
conservation, but not fast enough
Rising costs for water supply & sewage treatment
will induce conservation over time
Stakeholder concerns; political/regulatory changes

22. ©2015JerryYudelson
Inhibiting Forces
Water is still cheap
High-water-use lifestyles preferred
Unintended consequences to reduced
water use (drain lines & public health)
Codes – need to change for water reuse
Develop “whole systems thinking”

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What Should the
Public Sector Do?
Promote conservation
Price for reduced use
Incentivize retrofits
Regulate new buildings
Educate the public
Provide technical help
Develop new supplies
o Water reuse
o Desalination

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Business Risk: Water Use vs. Climate Change

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Near-Term Business Opportunities
Building-level retrofits
Need financing at times
Building systems
Rainwater harvesting
Graywater reuse
Building applications
Cooling towers
Dual plumbing systems
Integrated systems
Match quality to end-
use requirements

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Longer-term Possibilities
“Low-water system design” &
water audits
Household fixture retrofits –
massive scale
NEWater reuse/direct
recycling systems (Singapore)
New sub-specialties:
o Fully integrating The Cloud:
daily water use, irrigation &
immediate leak detection
o Monitoring, sub-metering &
reporting via SaaS platforms

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Where Does This Leave Investors?
A very dynamic (and profitable) future
Water shortages now, growing and permanent
New laws/regulations
Increasing block rate structures raise prices, reduce use
Mandates/restrictions coming
Favor distributed design/build/operate systems
Larger questions:
Should we abandon centralized model?
Should we still flush toilets with potable water?
Do we need testing and certification for new tech?
Can we take advantage of the current crisis to change?

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Where Does This
Leave Business?
A very dynamic future:
opportunities/challenges
Learn new technologies,
systems, approaches
Develop new products
Address consumer
concerns about water use
Address larger questions
of supply security/cost

30. ©2015JerryYudelson
What Can Leading
Businesses Do?
Supply chain vetting for
water-sustainable raw
materials (cotton)
Supply-chain vetting for
reduced water use in
production of goods
Reduce water use in
operations
Help consumers
conserve water via
education

31. ©2015JerryYudelson
Tips for Business
Facility remote audits
Benchmark & learn from
peers
Reduce, reuse, recycle
Adopt Cloud technology
for monitoring water use
Educate associates
Cut landscape water use

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The Future is Green (and Blue), But…
If you want to score, run to
where the ball is headed,
not where it is now.
Water woes – permanent!
Ask yourself: how green
(and blue) will the built
environment be in 2020?
2025?
Will you pay penalties for
lack of attention to water?
Germany Wins FIFA World Cup 2014

34. ©2015JerryYudelson
Water: Dry Run
Urban water crises
can be prevented,
through concerted
actions; in this
book, we show you
what to do, how to
do it, wherever you
are.

35. ©2015JerryYudelson
THANK YOU!

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VIDEO

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DISCUSSION