SAVING MONEY AND WATER - AN OVERVIEW
- What we do
Sherwood Forest Energy provides companies with an Engineered Solution to control rapidly rising water costs by retrofitting your current water usage fixtures using a unique Variable Flow Technology.
We do not practice water conservation. While a water conservation initiate does reduce consumption and cost, it often does so at the expense of operational performance. In contrast, we base our technology on the premise of water efficiency, a philosophy that emphasizes operational performance. Through the efficient use of water we guarantee you will reduce your water costs, improve your bottom line and satisfy your customers.
Through a five step process we begin by conducting an in-depth needs analysis, and complete the project with helping you track your savings.
- Efficiency vs. Conservation:
The Sherwood Forest Energy (SFE) water conservation program is an engineering solution, not a product solution. During project implementation, our engineers touch every toilet, sink and shower in your facility to establish the highest level of efficiency. Again, the approach emphasizes conservation from efficiency. Efficiency makes the difference.
There is a difference between conservation and efficiency. An example of water conservation is fixture replacement, which involves the replacing existing appliances with new ultra low flow fixtures. On the surface, this approach should conserve water. Unfortunately, there are shortcomings to fixture replacement. In most cases, waste systems in existing buildings are not compatible with the ultra low fixtures. The significantly reduced flow associated with these fixtures often leads to plugging and double flushing, thus reducing water savings and increasing maintenance expense and customer dissatisfaction.
As a result of these water conservation strategies, many building owners and managers have negative impressions of water conservation. Again, water conservation is the curtailment of water use and doing less with less water. This often results in poor performance. Instead, SFE leverages engineering and improved technology to deliver better service with less water over time. That is water efficiency it is the essence of our approach.
- Savings examples:
SFE provides comprehensive, engineering analysis of facility domestic water systems. In doing so, we identify water (and energy) efficiency opportunities. Consider the example of a toilet. There are literally thousands of different types of toilets and no two operate exactly alike. However, these toilets do share a common trait: most if not all perform very well, by design within the building system at 2.5 to 3.0 gallons per flush (gpf). It is also true that most toilets currently use between 3.5 to 5.0 gpf. The difference between what is needed and what is actually used is unnecessary water consumption. We use our Variable Flow Technology to eliminate only unnecessary water consumption. This is how we reduce consumption and still maintain operational performance. The same philosophy translates to other forms of domestic consumption: sinks, urinals, showers, etc.
Our clients consistently enjoy reduction in water bills by 30% to 50% in facilities such as hospitals, schools, nursing homes, office buildings and apartments. Conservative savings for multi-family housing equal $75 to $100 per unit per year. This savings, on an 8 cap rate, adds approximately $1 million dollars of asset value per 1000 units.
Contact Sherwood Forest Energy at 763-477-5432 to schedule a cost-free engineering needs analysis.