Energy & Net Zero
Sustainability should be integral to the design of public sector developments. But that doesn’t mean adding green technology for the sake of it
The issue of sustainability tends to be high up the list of priorities when commencing a new development – even more so if a public sector client is involved.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) indicator assessment Use of freshwater resources shows that while water is generally abundant in Europe, water scarcity and droughts continue to affect some regions, especially those that are densely populated and have high demands for water from agriculture and tourism during the summer.
The water exploitation index plus (WEI+) of European River Basin Districts is the percentage of total freshwater used compared to the renewable freshwater resources available. The EEA indicator shows that around 20 river basin districts, mainly in the Mediterranean, face structural water stress issues (WEI > 20 %). These include Cyprus, Malta, Crete, the Balearic Islands and Sicily. The situation is even worse in summer. The average WEI for the summers 2002-2012 were 81 % and 55 % for Cyprus and Segura, Spain respectively which suggests severe water stress and clearly unsustainable resource use.
