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April 24, 2025 Leading the Charge: Cordia’s Commitment to Water Conservation and Sustainability

Written By Chris Freeman, Environmental Manager

The Importance of Water Conservation in the U.S.

Water conservation is more critical than ever in the United States, especially in the Desert Southwest, where arid conditions and limited water resources pose major challenges. As climate change intensifies droughts and increases the frequency of water scarcity events, implementing effective conservation strategies is essential for long-term sustainability.

While the Southwest faces chronic water issues, other regions such as the Midwest and Northeast have also experienced unexpected droughts in recent years. Additionally, rising municipal water rates across the country further underscore the need for both resource management and cost-saving efforts.

Cordia’s Water Conservation & Sustainability Initiative

As part of its unwavering commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability, Cordia has launched an ambitious Water Conservation Sustainability Initiative. This program is designed to significantly reduce water consumption and city water costs across the Cordia fleet, positioning the company as a leader in water conservation within the district energy sector.

To support this initiative, Cordia has outlined several strategic actions:

  • Establishing baseline water consumption metrics for each facility and setting clear KPIs and targets.
  • Evaluating and selecting cutting-edge water conservation technologies.
  • Allocating budget resources for conservation projects and identifying priority sites for implementation, with plans to scale successful solutions across the fleet.

Water-Saving Innovations in Action

Cordia has already taken major steps to drive water conservation, including:

  • Energy Center San Diego: Installation of Capture H2O technology, increasing cycles of concentration and significantly lowering total water use.
  • Energy Center San Francisco: Capturing and reusing groundwater drainage from the BART subway system, drastically reducing reliance on costly municipal water.
  • Phoenix: Leveraging air quality permit flexibility and installing water softeners to enable higher cycles of concentration, conserving millions of gallons annually.
  • Pittsburgh Northshore & San Francisco: Drilling wells and utilizing non-potable water to further cut back on city water use.
  • Fleetwide Distribution System Upgrades: Enhancing condensate return and minimizing boiler and chilled water makeup.

Additional innovative approaches underway include using condenser water from cooling towers to quench boiler blowdown, automating cooling tower operations at unmanned sites, and replacing traditional filters with cyclone separators.

Progress and Future Outlook

Cordia’s efforts have already yielded impressive results. In 2023 alone, water consumption was reduced by 37 million gallons compared to the previous year. In 2024, five new water conservation projects delivered an additional 41.5 million gallons in savings. Looking ahead, several more initiatives are poised to match or exceed these achievements in 2025.