The
term project I am choosing to work on will be to research and
formulate primary and secondary systems that will be employing usage
sensors and supporting conservation systems for water consumption in
residential buildings. Water is an integral part of our daily lives
and is often overlooked as a resource because it is always available
and clean when it is needed. This normality may soon change as the
population continues to rise and put strain on the already
deteriorating water treatment and distribution systems while the
amount of investment remains has reduced or remained unchanged. The
costs associated with delivering clean and healthy water to American
cities will most certainly rise do to major infrastructure
investments needed in the water treatment sector. According
to ASCE’s “Failure to Act – The Current Infrastructure
Investment on America’s Economic Future”, the funding gap for
fresh/waste water is expected to be $84 billion by 2020. The funding
gap is the largest among the biggest sectors of infrastructure
(Surface transportation, water/waste water, electricity, airports and
inland waterways and marine ports) with a funding gap of 60% of the
total amount needed.
The system that I plan to research and implement relates to Intelligent Buildings in that it utilizes sensors to record the amount of water being consumed for different uses in the building. The system will analyze three types of water resources, solar heated hot water, re-cycled grey water and normal treated water. The system will measure the temperature of the solar water heater product to know if it needs to be heated by other means. Sensors such as Ph-level, bio-mass, chemicals and minerals will be used to determine the quality of the used water to determine if it can be used for grey water or if it has to be sent to a treatment plant. The main concept of the Intelligent Building water system is the capacity to analyze water usage patterns and be able to store or reuse different types of water to avoid paying for clean treated water for every consumer demand. The technology would be intelligent enough to, with the support of external tanks, store clean treated water during off-peak treatment times for use during the next day. An innovative feature of the system would be point of use fixtures that would show the users the current state of the system. This feature would allow for goal setting to reduce consumption levels as well as act as positive reinforcement for lowering operating costs. The usage patterns and goals could be set for different time periods, such as weeks or months. The interaction with the users could be simple graphs or color changes on the fixtures themselves that convey information such as conservation and water reuse.
The challenges that are relevant to a project like this are the costs associated with such new technology and systems. The amount of rework for the distributing pipes within the residence could prove to be expensive and not worth the investment in a new system. Other challenges with the type of system that I am proposing is the accuracy and quality of the sensors to be used within the grey water reuse system. Even though this water will not be used for human consumption, it is still important the sensors are accurate and not releasing water that is not safe for humans to be in contact with, for uses such as cleaning, flushing and others. Another way the grey water could be used would be a closed loop radiant heating/cooling system. I am also agreeing with the challenge that a couple of people have mentioned such as in Gabrielle's blog post, that information relevant to intelligent buildings is hard to find because the idea is very new. I believe that most of the information that is available is all about "green building" techniques. The way that we must approach intelligent buildings to use the available technologies, which some may well be "green", but be truly innovative in developing whole systems and interactive portions of said systems.
The system that I plan to research and implement relates to Intelligent Buildings in that it utilizes sensors to record the amount of water being consumed for different uses in the building. The system will analyze three types of water resources, solar heated hot water, re-cycled grey water and normal treated water. The system will measure the temperature of the solar water heater product to know if it needs to be heated by other means. Sensors such as Ph-level, bio-mass, chemicals and minerals will be used to determine the quality of the used water to determine if it can be used for grey water or if it has to be sent to a treatment plant. The main concept of the Intelligent Building water system is the capacity to analyze water usage patterns and be able to store or reuse different types of water to avoid paying for clean treated water for every consumer demand. The technology would be intelligent enough to, with the support of external tanks, store clean treated water during off-peak treatment times for use during the next day. An innovative feature of the system would be point of use fixtures that would show the users the current state of the system. This feature would allow for goal setting to reduce consumption levels as well as act as positive reinforcement for lowering operating costs. The usage patterns and goals could be set for different time periods, such as weeks or months. The interaction with the users could be simple graphs or color changes on the fixtures themselves that convey information such as conservation and water reuse.
The challenges that are relevant to a project like this are the costs associated with such new technology and systems. The amount of rework for the distributing pipes within the residence could prove to be expensive and not worth the investment in a new system. Other challenges with the type of system that I am proposing is the accuracy and quality of the sensors to be used within the grey water reuse system. Even though this water will not be used for human consumption, it is still important the sensors are accurate and not releasing water that is not safe for humans to be in contact with, for uses such as cleaning, flushing and others. Another way the grey water could be used would be a closed loop radiant heating/cooling system. I am also agreeing with the challenge that a couple of people have mentioned such as in Gabrielle's blog post, that information relevant to intelligent buildings is hard to find because the idea is very new. I believe that most of the information that is available is all about "green building" techniques. The way that we must approach intelligent buildings to use the available technologies, which some may well be "green", but be truly innovative in developing whole systems and interactive portions of said systems.
[1] Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Airports, Inland Waterways and Marine Ports Infastructure.
Publication. Economic Development Research Group/ASCE, 2012. Web. 4
Feb. 2013.
<http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Failure_to_Act/Failure%20To%20Act%20Ports%20Economic%20Report.pdf>.
Comment left on:
http://ae-510-ay12-13.blogspot.com/2013/02/project-intelligent-andor-green.html
Comment left on:
http://ae-510-ay12-13.blogspot.com/2013/02/project-intelligent-andor-green.html
No comments:
Post a Comment