Defender Goes Green

In a socio-economic climate promoting “green” building products and “sustainability”, Defender^® is the earth-friendly solution for pristine pool water. Advantages include saving millions of gallons of water and waste; delivering superior pool water quality; saving on costly mechanical room space; and saving chemicals, fuel costs and energy. From Australia to Dubai and numerous US locations, aquatic professionals have selected and specified Defender^®.

WHAT IS THE LEED SYSTEM?

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design

Developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) in 2000, a Green Building Rating System-has become the National Standard certifying design, construction & operations of green buildings.Projects (not products) are evaluated in five (5) areas:

• Sustainable Sites
• Water Efficiency
• Energy & Atmosphere
• Materials & Resources
• Indoor Environmental Quality
• Extra credit may earned for Innovation & Design

Number of credits earned determines the level of LEED Certification (four levels).

LEED projects are now in all 50 states and 41 countries.

Project types: New construction, Existing Buildings, Commercial Interiors, Core & Shell, Schools, Homes & Neighborhoods, Retail (Healthcare coming soon)

As of September 2007, there were 8,847 LEED registered projects in the US.

For more information on LEED, visit the U.S. Green Building Council at www.usgbc.org.

“The Defender system was key to achieving over 1 million gallons of annual water savings for the LEED Platinum East Portland Community Center Aquatics Addition. And, its proven record for ease of maintenance was reassuring to our whole project team.”
— Eric Ridenour, LEED AP ND, NCARBAssociate, Project Architect, Urban Designer

Some Defender^® success stories:

Cherokee County Aquatic Center
Cherokee County, GA.

“Cherokee County Aquatic Center immediately saved $135,000.00 off their Sewerage Permit Tab by selecting a Defender Filter over a Sand Filter. By upgrading to Defender, the new filter paid for itself before it was even installed! Now we are looking forward to enjoying the additional Water, Waste, and Energy Savings once the pool is commissioned, because as we know Defender eliminates over 90% of the backwash water associated with Sand Filter operation.”
— Bill Echols, AIA, Director of Capital Projects

Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park
Poseidon’s Rage Surf Pool
Wisconsin Dells, WI

Grant awarded for the installation and use of energy efficient equipment. Awarded by Franklin Energy and Focus on Energy in the amount of $7956.00.

The grant was approved as a result of an efficient design associated with Defender^® Filter Recirculation System. Due to the minimum amount of make-up water required to replace water lost to filter backwash, water heaters were not required to maintain pool water temperatures. The design of the Defender^® Filter significantly reduced the motor horsepower required saving valuable energy dollars. Defender^® Filter saved over 4.3 million gallons in this US largest surf pool in its first season.

Washtenaw Community College
Health & Fitness Center
Ann Arbor, MI

LEED registered building

Neptune-Benson’s Defender^® Filters are used for the two pools at the 70,000 sq.ft. Health & Fitness Center at Washtenaw Community College, a LEED registered project opened 9/1/07.

Read more about LEED here

WhiteWater World
Div. of DreamWorld
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

“One of the most water efficient water parks in the world.”
- Environmental Resources Management Australia (ERM)

Uses nine (9) Neptune-Benson Defender^® Filter systems. Reduces annual waste by 98.7%. Saves over 22 million liters of water annually as compared to traditional sand filtration systems. The park’s science education lesson on Renewable Environment includes activities to discover why the use of Defender^® Regenerative Media Filtration Systems is “the most important water saving strategy employed by WhiteWater World”.