Co-creating Water Efficiency with Water Customers

Complex issues surround supply, demand and use of water in buildings and the lack of evidence hampers design and optimal solution implementation. One challenge is the lack of a coherent understanding of water use, as influenced by the water user. The need for this evidence base has resulted in disparate studies and results. This chapter argues for a difference approach to knowledge creation based on the co-creation approach. The primary evidence gap centres on water-in-use, but co-creation techniques can involve individuals/households creating value through adopting and customising technological innovation to suit their needs, and promote knowledge exchange with customers personalising and redefining their interaction with water. It also argues that acknowledging water users in an active and creative vein empowers them to contribute knowledge (to the evidence base) and solutions for water-use efficiency. The chapter concludes by presenting information systems and technologies as a simple, adaptable and effective way to implement co-creation with water. A toolkit developed for co-creation with water users was then introduced, highlighting key benefits of such systems to improve current knowledge of water-use efficiency in buildings.