In the United States 20 percent of the nation’s energy infrastructure is dedicated to collecting, delivering and treating our water, according to Josiah Cain, a landscape designer at Design Ecology.

While many companies and publications are delivering the message that residents need to turn their lights off more and reduce dependence on the grid, Cain is trying to design architecture that intelligently collects, integrates and recycles water.

Part of the problem is the way our cities are built in the first place. In cities where 75% or more of the ground is paved, storm water can only reach 5% infiltration into the earth, while 55% of the water runs off, Cain explained. In comparison, natural regions experience only 10% in runoff, while 25% of the water is absorbed into the ground. This absorption helps provide flood control and manages the temperature in these areas.

Landscape buffers, tributaries and more gray water systems should be built into urban developments to help cities operate better. This would not only save energy but may save lives. In extreme heat, cities heat up quicker and can reach 7-14 degrees higher than natural areas that surround them, leading to deaths and illness for residents.

Conventional structures don’t manage water well, because they’re based on diverting water in straight lines, Cain said. Water’s natural path is a spiral, forming vortices and meandering pathways. So, part of the design problem Cain is trying to solve, is in the creation of pathways and water collection areas on a property.

Green roofs, walls, and other landscaping elements help collect water and reabsorb it into the landscape. Architects and landscapers are starting to find innovative ways to apply the technology.

In Davis, California, for example, one developer created an aquifer under a residential complex, with vegetated storm drains that help absorb minerals and filter water. Within two years, when other nearby developments flooded, runoff flowed through this complex, and was absorbed within the system.

The element of water ties a building to its infrastructure and landscape, Cain said. Part of his job is to help contractors, civil engineers, and landscapers work together and understand how the water moves from one part of a development to the other.