Kingspan rainwater system for University

University of Huddersfield's new Creative Arts Building features an Envireau rainwater harvesting system from Kingspan Water.

The Kingspan Envireau will collect rainwater water from the GBP14 million building's roof, filter it and then pass it into a below-ground 45,000 litre rainwater holding tank.

The water will then be pumped to a high level header/break tank within the building to service toilet flushing.

Mains water is also delivered to the header/break tank independently of rainwater, to provide back-up if rainwater supplies are exhausted, or if electrical power is interrupted.

As Gerry Quinn, product manager for Envireau notes, rainwater harvesting can not only help conserve water supplies, it can also bring significant cost savings for properties on water metres.

"We estimate the total rainfall in the region is around 800mm, which means that the total annual savings will be around GBP813 per annum - a payback period of seven years," says Quinn.

The Creative Arts building also incorporates solar panels and wind turbines, which, together with the Envireau, is intended to achieve a 'Very Good' BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) rating, one of the higher marks awarded to sustainable buildings.

'We are proud to be one of the first organisations in Huddersfield to be investing in sustainable options like rainwater recycling and renewable energy for our buildings,' said the University's deputy director of estates and facilities, Alan Johnson.

'Consumption of water has been reduced year-on-year against a trend of increases in the Higher Education sector.

This is just the start of sustainable projects for us - and not just new buildings but also in refurbishment of our buildings and in future projects'.

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