Energy and Buildings, Vol.158, 1683-1693, 2018
Predicting water consumption from energy data: Modeling the residential energy and water nexus in the integrated urban metabolism analysis tool (IUMAT)
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. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:lumat;Water energy nexus;Hot water modeling;Residential energy and water;Urban water consumption