Adoção de sistemas prediais de água não potável em edificações cearenses

Abstract

The degradation of the natural environment has made society witness and experience its deleteri ous effects on an unprecedented scale and scope. This has awakened public opinion to the issue of sustainability and provoked governments, universities, companies and society to look for ways to compensate or reduce the impact of their actions. Among the most demanded natural resources, drinking water is crucial for the survival of human beings and, in the current circumstances of scarcity, it should be considered an economic good. In this sense, the construction sector has focused on the rational use of water in buildings with projects for hydrosanitary installations aimed at reducing water consumption, with emphasis on gray and black water reuse systems. However, buildings with water reuse or utilization systems are still uncommon. In this context, the present work aims to understand the mechanisms of adoption of these building systems in the state of Ceará. Based on the theoretical-methodological assumptions of the multilevel perspective of sociotechnical transitions towards sustainability, a qualitative research was carried out, in which 17 in-depth interviews were carried out with civil construction actors in Ceará, such as construction companies and public administration agents, which allowed identifying the involvement of respondents with the research object. The adoption of building systems for the reuse and use of water in the state was described, in which the participants agree that these building systems are present in a small portion of the buildings. As for the advantages, the long-term financial savings are highlighted by reducing the consumption of potable water and the contribution to water security, mainly due to the history of droughts in Ceará. As for the barriers, the high initial cost of current technologies stands out, which can make installation impractical in buildings with low water consumption; cultural aspects, such as the lack of maintenance of the systems by residents; in addition to the lack of tax incentives and government plans that encourage or make it mandatory to reuse water in buildings. In this sense, the present study presented a rich description of the adoption of water reuse and use building systems in Ceará, generating subsidies for the development of actions to stimulate the diffusion of these building systems. Future studies were suggested, such as comparing the adoption process of these systems in Ceará with another state or country, as well as developing solutions to the barriers identified in this work.