Date of Award:
5-2012
Document Type:
Thesis
Degree Name:
Master of Science (MS)
Department:
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Committee Chair(s)
David E. Rosenberg
Committee
David E. Rosenberg
Committee
Laurie S. McNeill
Committee
Mac McKee
Committee
Gerald Sehlke
Abstract
The thesis develops an integrated approach to model heterogeneous household water and energy end-uses and their linkages. The approach considers variations in behavioral and technological water-and-energy-use factors that affect indoor residential water- and energy-use in the U.S. Here, we use a recent, large, national, disaggregated household dataset of potable hot and cold water end-uses collected from eleven cities. We also use national energy data to estimate heterogeneous energy-uses for household water appliances including toilets, showers, faucets, clothes-washers, and dishwashers. First, probability distributions of water- and energy-use factors are identified, correlated, and compared among study sites. Then Monte Carlo simulations are used to calculate probability distributions for estimated households’ water-and-energy-uses. Finally, linear regressions are used to find the relative effects of water and energy factors on household energy-use. Results show that water and energy distributions among households are heavily skewed, with the largest 14.6% of the users consuming 30.5% and 33.1% of water and energy, respectively. Water heater dispense temperature followed by faucet flowrate have the highest relative effect on household energy-use and should be targeted to reduce household energy use. The approach improves prior homogenous and deterministic water-energy models and can help utilities select and size cost-effective collaborative water and energy conservation actions.
Checksum
356fd816a444a4656af6d8e3458a4795
Recommended Citation
Abdallah, Adel M., "Heterogeneous Water and Energy End-Uses and Implications for Residential Water and Energy Conservation and Management" (2012). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 1313.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1313
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Comments
This work made publicly available electronically on September 18, 2012.