Dive® – A new wave of water efficiency solutions

Water scarcity is a global concern and Water crisis is in the Top 5 Global Risks in terms of impact identified by the World Economic Forum, and in the Top 10 Risks in terms of likelihood.

All businesses will have to deal with the effects of water constraints, and early adopters will not only benefit from the costs avoided with the water consumption reduction but will also bypass the increased prices of related technologies and services when water crisis become an even more common reality.

Water consumption in real estate assets varies significantly from one asset to another, influenced by differences in location; climate; building systems; presence of water features and external landscaped areas; tenant mix; visitor behaviour and operational procedures, and detangling these factors is a complex task.

Sonae Sierra began looking for a tool that offered the level of rigour and detail required to unpick the individual contribution of all factors contributing to assets’ water consumption and calculate the cost/benefit of different potential improvement measures.

Sonae Sierra developed Dive®, a tool which allows to assess a building’s real water consumption against a theoretical optimal simulation, thereby identifying technical and management-level improvement measures. This model has been built to consider the different climatic and geographical settings; water-consuming systems, fixtures and fittings; occupancy patterns and visitor behaviour that a building might have. It can identify the least efficient systems and operational routines, as well as quantify the environmental and financial benefits of the improvement measures.

By comparing the optimal water consumption (assessed by the tool), with the real one, and comparing assets within a portfolio, clients gain valuable data that can be used to inform and shape decision-making, allowing them to assess the assets towards which the efforts should be driven.

Dive® has huge potential to improve water efficiency and reduce costs for Sonae Sierra’s clients, creating financial, reputational, social and environmental value.

• Dive® is a comprehensive water management and improvement programme that can either be provided as a complete turn-key service, or as standalone services for our clients.
• Between 2014 and 2019, we implemented €115,000 worth of water efficiency measures identified by Dive®, avoiding annually around €428,000 in costs and the consumption of 105,000 m³.