Water Conservation

Value Engineering For Water Conservation

Sun Microsystems is not a big water consumer, the overwhelming percentage of water usage is for use in lavatories, cafeterias and landscaping. Nonetheless, Sun practices both common sense and value engineering in its water conservation efforts. Value engineering is a means of identifying cost-effective and environmentally beneficial improvement opportunities.

Newark, CA

• The campus is outfitted with automatic valves on all of the urinals and lavatory sinks.
• The campus was awarded a water conservation award from Alameda County for our landscape water use.  The Alameda County Water District Designated Landscape Partnership 2003 Water Conservation Business of the Year Award was given to the campus in May 2004.
• The landscaping contractor manages the timers for all the exterior irrigation and resets the watering cycles based on seasonal needs to ensure we do not over water or under water our landscaping. The timers are turned off in the winter months for additional conservation.

Broomfield, CO

• The campus is participating in a voluntary water conservation program initiated by the City and County governments to limite watering to only 3 days per week
• The campus utilizes reclaimed water for irrigation.
• Watering of irrigated areas is only done at night to minimize evaporation.
• The campus irrigation is computer controlled and that measures rainfall, solar radiation gain and humidity - and then adjusts watering output only as needed.
• Aeration of sod areas is periodically done to allow full penetration of surface water.
• Several areas that had intense solar loading that needed additional water were converted to waterless landscaping.
• The campus was designed with "native vegetation areas" where local, droughrt resistant plans are installed.
• Major breaks or leaks are automatically shutoff via the computerized system and an alarm is generated so repairs are made promptly.
• Smaller leaks that are reported by night security are secured and repaired as soon as possible, usually within a day.
• Irrigation system checks are made to repair breaks and adjust heads to minimize over spray proactively.
• C&W is investigating if irrigation water can be used in the condenser water system without damaging the cooling system. This would be a conservation method for domestic water with associated possible cost savings.

Santa Clara, CA

• Reclaimed water is used for irrigation. This water is purchased from the South Bay Water Treatment Facility. The water is reclaimed domestic sewer water that has been through a tertiary treatment process. The water is used for irrigation throughout the south bay area as an alternative to being flushed into the San Francisco Bay where is dilutes the salt content of the water and is posing a threat to the saltwater marsh areas that surround the bay.
• Valley Crest Landscaping manages the “Clocks” or timers for all the exterior irrigation and resets the watering cycles based on seasonal needs to ensure we do not over water or under water our landscaping. The “Clocks” are turned off in the winter months for addition conservation.

San Jose, CA

• Low flow heads and/or drip irrigation systems feed landscaping at the buildings.
• Native plants are utilized where possible. These plants require less water and therefore enhance the conservation effort.

Austin, TX

• The sprinkler system is equipped with rain sensors
• A new wireless adapter was installed on the timers that enables a   sprinkler inspector to start a zone remotely from the location.  This reduces the amount of time the system needs to run to verify correct operation.
• The city of Austin mandates water rationing during the summer for water conservation. The site complies with all mandates.
• The campus has low-use flush valves on all of the water closets and urinals.
• Spring actuated faucet valves on the sinks reduce the amount of water used in the bathrooms.

  Portland, OR

• Low volume shower heads and other low flow fixtures are used through out the facility

Burlington, MA

• Faucet aerators and low flow showerheads are used through out the campus.
• Low consumption diapragms for urinals and toilets have been installed.
• The landscape irrigation system is tied into an automatic system utilizing information from a rain gauge to set the watering schedule.
• Every summer the campus complies with the town's water ban on lawn irrigation.