Google has achieved the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) certification at its Mountain View, Calif., Los Angeles, Calif., and Dublin, Ireland campuses under the AWS Standard. Earning AWS certification for commercial office space demonstrates a company’s commitment to understanding the complex issues and opportunities within the watersheds it operates and to work with local stakeholders to achieve the five outcomes of water stewardship to include: sustainable water balance, good water quality, good water governance, the healthy status of important water-related areas (rivers, marshes, etc.), and safe water access, sanitation and hygiene for everyone (WASH).
Key partners and tools, such as LimnoTech, WWFs Water Risk Filter and WRI’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, enabled Google to rank and prioritize sites based on its water risk. A few ways a site can begin to address water stewardship challenges include creating an on-site water stewardship team, using efficient fixtures, managing stormwater runoff, and collecting air-conditioning condensate and rainwater for irrigation.
As part of Google’s sustainability initiatives, the company recently issued $5.75 billion in sustainability bonds, the largest sustainability or green bond by any company in history.
Source: Environmental Leader