Quantifying the Water-Energy Nexus at the Building Project Scale
Online Tool / June 1, 2017 / Building Innovation, New Construction / Water-Energy Nexus
NBI has laid the groundwork to connect the water-energy nexus at the power plant with the energy consumed at the building level. With the support of existing research and funding from the Edwards Mother Earth Foundation, NBI has created a calculation tool to estimate the watershed impacts of building electricity use and compare it to onsite water consumption (toilets, faucets, etc.). Users provide basic inputs for a baseline and proposed building to visualize the potential savings for each category. By quantifying the water cost of energy consumption and creating a tool to calculate those costs at a building level, we have created an opportunity to evaluate the impact of buildings at a large scale, which can connect energy and water conservation efforts, particularly in areas with historical or anticipated water constraints.