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Sustainability in Government

Water

The Australian Government includes many agencies whose activities involve the consumption of water, whether in office buildings, on landscaped areas, in parks and protected areas or on Defence sites.

Water efficiency guide: office and public buildings

The Australian Government, with the governments of Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, has developed a new guide for improving the water efficiency of office buildings and public buildings. This guide contains case studies from water efficient buildings, and provides practical guidance on how to reduce water use and water wastage. The guide covers both technical and behavioural opportunities.

National water intensity benchmarks

National water intensity benchmarks have been developed for office buildings and public buildings. These benchmarks identify what are average, better and best practice water intensities for these building types. Water intensity refers to the water consumed per square metre of space. Similar work has been conducted in the United Kingdom public estate as part of the Water Mark programme . The benchmarks provide guidance to building owners, managers and tenants on how their buildings measure up against similar sites nationwide, and are now available at Water benchmarks for offices and public buildings .

The benchmarks for office buildings and public buildings are contained in the Water efficiency guide: office and public buildings.

New benchmarks are being developed for hospital water use, and benchmarking is planned for water use in schools.

Leading by example

A number of agencies have already taken steps to reduce their water use:

The Royal Australian Mint  made excellent progress on water efficiency in the 2002-03 financial year. Following a voluntary agreement reached with water provider ActewAGL to reduce water use by 15%, the Mint implemented a range of measures to reuse water from both the production process and the irrigation of grounds. The end result was a reduction of 50% in water use from the previous financial year.

The Department of Defence  has recently launched a Sustainable Water Management Strategy. The intended outcomes of the strategy are to:

The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) has implemented a range of water efficiency initiatives at its main site, the John Gorton Building in Canberra, including: