The incorporation of the study into water consumption in energy audits in schools

Abstract

The approach of energy audits usually disregards the study of water as it considers that the supply does not involve energy consumption within the building. This paper aims to make visible both the energy footprint involved in ensuring safe water for human consumption and the collection and treatment of waste water. Furthermore, a methodology for conducting an energy audit is shown for the study of water consumption and applies it to a school to verify whether the measures proposed to reduce the consumption of water and the energy associated to it are viable. A school is chosen for three reasons. It is medium sized so the results can be extrapolated to other buildings. It presents a relevant water consumption due to the number of users, but without it being as high as a swimming pool might be. Finally it does not have a water heating system (there are no showers in the gym) so it only studies the energy consumption associated with drinking water without incorporating the effects of energy consumption for water heating.