Logo image
Predicting water consumption from energy data: Modeling the residential energy and water nexus in the integrated urban metabolism analysis tool (IUMAT)
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Predicting water consumption from energy data: Modeling the residential energy and water nexus in the integrated urban metabolism analysis tool (IUMAT)

Nariman Mostafavi, Fernanda Gándara and Simi Hoque
Energy and buildings, v 158, pp 1683-1693
01 Jan 2018
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.12.005View
Accepted (AM)Open Access (Publisher-Specific) Open

Abstract

Hot water modeling Iumat Residential energy and water Urban water consumption Water energy nexus
•Residential energy use data can be used as a proxy for water consumption.•Water heater characteristics are critical in calculating energy and water use.•Renewable water heater industry needs more federal and utility incentive programs. This paper describes a method for residential water use modeling predicated on metered energy data. Actual measured hot water volumes for major indoor consumption are used to verify and adjust the outputs in gallons of hot water consumption based on climate variables, water heater technical features, and set-point and intake temperatures. Three independent datasets for residential energy (RECS 2009), water heater efficiency (Air-conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute-AHRI), and end-use domestic water (Residential End Uses of Water, Version 2-REU II) are applied to identify specific demographic, built environment and geographic factors that relate patterns of energy demand to water consumption. The proposed model acts within the broader Integrated Urban Metabolism Analysis Tool (IUMAT), a system-based analytical framework for evaluating the environmental performance of the built environment. The method described in this paper offers an alternative approach to residential water consumption modeling by implementing volume of hot water consumption as a proxy for indoor water use. It provides utilities with the potential to parse and prioritize energy and water conservation measures.

Metrics

6 Record Views
17 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#6 Clean Water and Sanitation

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Construction & Building Technology
Energy & Fuels
Engineering, Civil
Logo image