April 22, 2013 -
Green Buildings
Energy is essentially ubiquitous and is an essential resource of economic growth, and businesses have grown accustomed to competing for energy. Water is another essential resource, also essentially ubiquitous, however, not necessarily viewed as a resource for which businesses need to compete.
Increasing incidents of climate change resulting in water scarcity, such as droughts, floods and "100 Year" storms occurring annually, are causing businesses and governments to view freshwater as the scarce and precious resource which it is, and which warrants serious attention to its proper management.
When the relationship between energy and water is viewed as interdependent, and coupled with factors such as increasing food or transportation requirements, one can easily conclude that a constraint on either resource limits the other, and this supply/demand dynamic poses risks for virtually all businesses and governments.
For further information on the subject, please refer to resources such as: (i) "Electric Water," authored by Chris Snow, (ii) Sullivan & Worcester whitepaper: Intersection Between Water Scarcity and Renewable Energy, (iii) Riverkeepers.org, and (iv) Deloitte whitepaper: "No water no energy."
Nadine Cino LEED AP, is a regular contributor to the greater purpose of generating SustainAble action, and is CEO and co-inventor of the Tyga-Box System, New York, N.Y.