Advancing on the Promises of Techno-ecological Nature-based Solutions: A Framework for Green Technology in Water Supply & Treatment

This paper proposes a framework to enable an accurate and transparent description of the “green” attributes of technology, including green infrastructure, in the water industry. This framework is built on the four attributes of water industry technology that impact greenness: natural resource-basis,energy consumption, waste production,footprint. The framework differentiates technology “greenness” by relatively examining key attributes that may cause environmental impacts across the technology’s life cycle and can contribute to the development of more comprehensive techno-ecological NbS by providing a clear and accurate description of the “green” attributes of technology options for the water industry.