Increasing water and energy efficiency in university buildings: a case study

Rodrigues, Francisco; Silva-Afonso, Armando; Pinto, André Susano; Macedo, Joaquim; Santos, António Silva; Pimentel-Rodrigues, Carla

doi:10.1007/s11356-019-04990-w

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our results concur with those of Rodrigues et al (2019), who reported on average a 27% reduction in water consumption in a university building by applying low-cost measures such as the reduction in flow and volume in appliances, for which the overall payback period was seven months. These authors also highlighted the reduction in energy consumption resulting from savings in water consumption, which was estimated at 1.93 kWh/m 3 , reaching almost 0.5% of the building’s energy consumption.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…These numbers are about 11% and approximately 35% of total UDC consumption (Table 5). The ratio of consumption in taps to consumption in TFV plus cisterns was 0.31, which compares well with that of 0.21 reported by Rodrigues et al (2019) for a single building. The rest of the consumption is distributed between the university canteens (17%), the maintenance of sports areas and activities (26 %) and the laboratories (11%).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 85%

“…However, it was very low compared to the average value of 76 m 3 /student-year for a sample of 23 US universities (Casarejos et al , 2017). Depending on the starting point, savings in water consumption in universities range from 20% to 70% (Bonnet et al , 2002; Marinho et al , 2014; Rodrigues et al , 2019), with the best figures in the range of 5–25 m 3 /user-year (Bonnet et al , 2002; Marinho et al , 2014; Gu et al , 2019). In the case of the UDC, there was also a sharp decline in previous years, as total consumption in 2005 was 100,938 m 3 (data not shown), indicating an overall reduction of 40% in the period of 2005–2018.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

SOSTAUGA project: reduction of water consumption and evaluation of potential uses for endogenous resources

Torrijos

Soto

Dopico

2020

IJSHE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose The University of A Coruña (UDC) elaborated the SOSTAUGA project, aiming to reach a higher sustainable level of its water management. SOSTAUGA defined four priority points of action: the restoration of the natural courses on the campus; the adoption of an ecological sanitation model; the sustainable management of urban runoff; and the reduction of water consumption in university facilities and activities. This paper aims to present the methodology, the actions and the results related to the reduction of water consumption and the potential for the use of endogenous resources. Design/methodology/approach The agents involved were the senior management of the centres, the committees of the Green Campus, the scholarship students and the Office for the Environment. Several actions have been experienced: audit of water consumption in sanitary services; flow reduction in washbasin taps by means of valve adjustment (and repair of the valves when necessary); replacement of tap aerators with other more eco-efficient ones; replacement of faucets; introduction of dual-flush (DF) in cisterns; and information to users (eco-label). Findings Water audit reached 68% of the total number of washbasins and tanks in the UDC. Efficient aerator installation covered 16% of taps and valve adjustment covered the further 33.5% and provided flow reduction of 42%. Another 20% of valve units required repair. The current situation in toilets combines tankless flush valves and cisterns with single flush mechanisms. The introduction of DF mechanisms was assessed and proposed. The cost of these actions was very low, as evidenced by the investment return period while showing a high potential for user awareness. Originality/value Both from the environmental (water saving) and from the economic and social points of view, this study shows that similar projects aimed at the efficient and rational use of water are applicable to the universities and other public and private schools, with potentially positive results on sustainability and people awareness.

show abstract

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

SOSTAUGA project: reduction of water consumption and evaluation of potential uses for endogenous resources

Torrijos

Soto

Dopico

2020

IJSHE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Considering the obtained results for the water consumption, the flow rates of these water devices were adjusted to the reference values of class "A" water efficiency (the highest efficiency) of the Portuguese labeling system [29]. Nevertheless, when used in public buildings, their application is not very strict for health reasons, to ensure the proper functioning of drainage systems and adequate levels of user comfort [7]. Therefore, when possible, suggestions for more efficient devices were proposed to achieve higher water efficiency.…”

Section: Water Efficiency Determinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, water potabilization processes, the delivery of water to consumers, and the treatment of wastewater use significant amounts of energy, contributing to increasing CO 2 and other greenhouse gas emissions [1,5,6]. Therefore, in the face of this scenario, it is important to implement water sustainability, promoting water use efficiency by reducing water consumption through the adoption of efficient products or devices (e.g., taps and showers), reducing waste and losses, and by reusing and recycling water [7]. Public indoor swimmingpool facilities use large amounts of water and, consequently, energy, because of their particular characteristics: (1) the relatively high temperature and humidity levels in the pool room; (2) the evaporation caused by pool usage; (3) the use of warm water for pools and showers; and (4) the requirement of a water treatment system [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Water Efficiency in a Municipal Indoor Swimming-Pool Complex: A Case Study

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aimed to determine the water demand of a municipal swimming pool complex to propose water use efficiency measures. Concomitantly, the possibility of recycling and reusing the water from filter backwashing was evaluated. The pools consumed 25.6% of water, the filter backwashing 24.5%, and the showers 34.7%. Despite the current impossibility of reducing water consumption in pools and filter backwashing, it is feasible to promote more efficient use of water through reducing water consumption by adopting simple water-saving initiatives for showers, taps, and flushing cisterns. These were organized into three distinct scenarios: (a) flushing cistern volume adjustment and the replacement of washbasin and kitchen taps; (b) flushing cistern volume adjustment and shower replacement and (c) flushing cistern volume adjustment, shower, washbasin, and kitchen taps replacement. Under scenarios 1, 2, and 3, the water consumption reduction was 8.0, 13.2, and 20.4%, respectively. The initial investment for scenario 1 was €2290.5, €859.0 for scenario 2 and €3149.5 for scenario 3; the annual water bill reduction was €7115.4, €11,518.1, and €17,655.9, respectively. Therefore, the turnover of the investment was four (scenario 1), one (scenario 2), and three months (scenario 3). The filter washings attained the required standard for irrigation after being subjected to 15 h of sedimentation.

show abstract

The Need for Self-Sufficiency and Integrated Water and Energy Management

Silva

Osório

et al. 2021

Handbook of Smart Energy Systems

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Increasing water and energy efficiency in university buildings: a case study

Cited by 12 publications

References 13 publications

SOSTAUGA project: reduction of water consumption and evaluation of potential uses for endogenous resources

SOSTAUGA project: reduction of water consumption and evaluation of potential uses for endogenous resources

Improving Water Efficiency in a Municipal Indoor Swimming-Pool Complex: A Case Study

The Need for Self-Sufficiency and Integrated Water and Energy Management

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About