Green buildings are growing increasingly popular in the U.S., which means that engineers and designers need to find more sustainable water heating solutions. 

One of the newer building trends that is having a profound impact on the U.S. construction industry is the popularity of green buildings. Buildings account for massive amounts of energy consumption, be it a single family home or a manufacturing plant. For this reason, more and more companies have been looking to construct new, greener facilities in efforts to both improve sustainability and cut down on overhead costs.

Facilities managers, architects and engineers can severely limit energy consumption within the home based on the kinds of solutions they put in place. When considering the construction of a new sustainable facility, one of the most important places where improvements can be made is in water heating. Between 14 and 18 cents of every utility dollar goes toward water heating costs, making it one of the biggest places to save.

Growth of sustainable building
Sustainable buildings are fast becoming popular within the construction industry, as efforts in the U.S. and around the world look to decrease carbon emissions. A recent report from McGraw-Hill Construction found that 51 percent of the construction firms polled noted that over 60 percent of their projects will be green focused by 2015. This marks major progress within the field, as last year, only 28 percent of firms planned to do so.

"By promoting greater efficiencies for energy and water, green buildings lower building costs while conserving the earth's precious resources," said John Mandyck, the chief sustainability officer at ETC Climate, Controls and Security. "This powerful combination of built-in payback with environmental stewardship creates a new value proposition that is accelerating green building in all regions of the globe."

Implementing water solutions
Water management is going to be key going forward within the industry, which is why tankless water solutions can be so vital. Electric tankless water heaters are not only 90 percent smaller than conventional water tanks, they are also much more efficient.

While most tanked water heater solutions achieve 65 percent thermal energy efficiency at best, tankless water heaters can achieve 99 percent thermal energy efficiency. Further, tankless water heaters warm water on demand, so one does not need to wait for the water to heat up.

Coupled with other energy conservation strategies, tankless water heater solutions can be an integral part of future sustainable building projects.