4th EWTS

The following are the 2014 International Emerging Technology Symposium Presentations discussing emerging trends, practices and products (clicking the title will download a PDF PowerPoint):

Water and Energy Nexus Research: What Are We Waiting For? | Mary Ann Dickinson, President and CEO, Alliance for Water Efficiency
Water is needed to produce energy ‐‐ and energy is needed to pump, treat, move, and heat water. These linkages are profound. Our ability to achieve energy and water security as well as successful carbon reduction will only occur if we manage this connection between water and energy well. As part of good management, it is important to document what we know and understand about the relationship between water and energy.

The Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) and its partner the American Council for an Energy‐Efficient Economy (ACEEE) investigated the issue of existing water-energy nexus research. Our report Water‐Energy Nexus Research: Recommendations for Future Opportunities assesses the research conducted to date and identifies priority research areas to enhance integrated resource management and to support overall efficiencies. The report shines a light on where deeper understanding is most needed, and is intended to advise Congress, the Department of Energy, funders and researchers on meaningful progress toward a holistic approach to efficiency.

Regulatory Barriers to Implementing Legionella Controls | Dr. Joe Cotruvo, Principal, Joe Cotruvo and Associates LLC

Three Emerging Technologies That Save Water and Energy | H.W. (Bill) Hoffman, P.E. – President: H.W. (Bill) Hoffman & Associates, LLC
Three technologies and techniques that hold promise to save both water and energy include:
1. Eliminate tempering water requirements for small flows over 140oF;
2. Combined heat and power for commercial and institutional
applications; and
3. Combined irrigation efficiency and stormwater management – KEEP IT WHERE IT FALLS

Making the Business Case for Increased Use of Thermal Insulation on Domestic Hot Water Systems | Ron King and Chris Crall, Past President & Consultant National Insulation Association
Before regulators, code officials, designers, owners and others will consider the advantage of expanding the scope of pipe insulation, the impact on energy efficiency, conservation of water and the business case and economics, must be determined and supported by industry. This National Institute of Building Sciences Consultative Council Energy & Water Topical Committee has formed a task force to determine the impact of thermal insulation on both energy and water use on portable hot water, and other similar distribution systems, and to examine the business case and return on investment of that opportunity.

Thermal insulation is routinely used to improve the thermal efficiency of domestic hot water delivery systems in residential and commercial buildings. Although specific requirements vary, all major building energy codes currently require, to some extent, pipe insulation on domestic hot water piping. Cost justification for DHW piping insulation has historically been based on the energy savings associated with reduced heat loss from piping systems. Often overlooked is the contribution of thermal insulation to conserving water.While the energy and water savings associated with DHW piping insulation will depend in part on the behavioral patterns of users, developing the business case will attempt to quantify the potential energy and water savings associated with typical hot water usage events.

Panel Discussion – Emerging Issues and Solutions on Waste Water
• Silvano Ferrazzo, Director of Business Development, Green Turtle America, Ltd.
• Casey Furlong, Environmental Specialist, InSinkErator
• Hiram Tanner, Manager for the District of Columbia’s Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water)
• Adam Krantz, Managing Director, Government & Public Affairs, The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA)
• David Powling, Family Care R&E Technical Leader, Kimberly Clark Corporation

Comparing the Energy Requirements of Hot Water Circulation System Control Strategies | Gary Klein, Affiliated International Management, LLC
Circulation systems for service water heating are installed in buildings where the distance from the water heater to the plumbing fixtures and appliances is large and there is a desire to reduce the waste of water and time waiting for the hot water to arrive. Most of these systems have a circulation pump to move the water around the loop. Assuming the same floor plan and location of the circulation loop relative to the plumbing fixtures and appliances, once the loop is full of heated water, the waste of water and time will be the same, regardless of the controls for the loop. The energy required to ensure that hot water is in the supply portion of the loop depends on how the controls change the run time of the circulation pump.

The strategies that are being compared include no circulation, continuous circulation, timer controlled, temperature controlled, time and temperature controlled, demand initiated, and controls that are able to learn the hot water use patterns. The loop is being monitored with recording data loggers that monitor the flow rate and temperature drop through the loop. The electrical energy for the pump is also being monitored and will be reported.

Emerging Opportunities for Heat Metering | James Critchfield, Director, Clean Energy Initiatives, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The accurate accounting of thermal energy plays an important role in project finance, state compliance and incentive markets and in the cash flows between project developers and off-takers. The United States currently lacks consensus standards on heat metering, which has the potential to limit policy support for heating and cooling technologies. The presentation will provide examples on where lack of standardization is hindering market development and describe a collaborative pathway forward for industry to develop heat-metering
standards.

Potable Water Hygiene System – A Novel Approach for Drinking Water Installations | Dr. Roland Blumenthal, Kemper Building Technology
Since the Legionella outbreak in Philadelphia in 1976, the danger of bacteria in potable water systems has become greatly publicized.  After years of research the reasons for the growth of bacteria in potable water systems have been identified to be mainly stagnation and wrong temperatures in hot and cold water.

Europe has tackled the issue via legislation that recommends temperature ranges of less than 68°F (e.g. UK) or 77°F (e.g. Germany) in CWS and greater than 122°F (e.g. UK) or 131°F (e.g. Germany) in HWS and stipulates the avoidance of stagnation. Without sufficient water flow stagnation can result in cold water temperature increase and hot water temperature decrease. The resulting temperature will be in the range of 77°F and 122°F which is the ideal temperature for supporting bacteria growth.

The standard operating procedures initially practiced by building owners were to open & close all taps on a regular recorded basis but this proved to be error-prone due to system and human failure. Automatic systems are now developed and in operation in hundreds of hospitals, hotels, universities, and other facilities like offshore platforms throughout Europe, which consist of an ideal pipework that makes use of loops interconnected by innovative valves. In CWS, usage of only one faucet automatically induces water flow throughout the entire upstream pipework. Temperature sensitive flow control valves are used in HWS to maintain the correct temperature. The entire system optionally can be extended with automatically operating flushing valves and a computer system that initiates water flows throughout the building and provides records of all flow, flush, and temperature data.

WaterSense Flushes Out Concerns With High‐Efficiency Commercial Plumbing | Stephanie Tanner, Lead Engineer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense and Robert Pickering, Environmental Engineer, Eastern Research Group Inc.
The EPA estimates that if existing flushometer‐valve toilets flushing at 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf) or greater were replaced with high‐efficiency models, 56 billion gallons of water could be saved annually; therefore, WaterSense is planning to develop a specification to label commercial flushometer‐valve toilets that use 1.28 gpf or less.

This presentation will outline the potential criteria and requirements that WaterSense is considering for its specification to ensure sustained water savings and advanced performance of flushometer‐valve toilets. For instance, WaterSense wants to capitalize on improvements to flushometer‐valve toilet technology, which have the potential to reduce water use by at least 20 percent over the current federal standard of 1.6 gpf.

In addition, the presentation will detail the issues that WaterSense still needs to resolve to ensure flushometer valve toilets can withstand the loads of the commercial restroom and sustain their water savings over the long term. Some of these topics include: aftermarket adjustability of flushometer valves; parts interchangeability that may affect flush volume; testing media used in performance testing; and testing protocol for ensuring superior performance.

Lastly, WaterSense will discuss potential areas of additional research such as how combinations of flushometer valves and toilet fixtures will perform under more stringent performance requirements. Participants in this discussion will learn more about key issues involved in developing performance criteria for high‐efficiency flushometer‐valve toilets and help bring WaterSense one step closer to assisting commercial facilities with water‐efficient fixtures that ensure plumbing system performance.

Assessment of Plumbing Code Enforcement in the United States | Kyle Konda – UNC Water Institute
Ensuring plumbing safety is an important public function, and usually involves government adoption and enforcement of a plumbing code. As with any such code, the degree to which safety is maintained depends not only on the content of the code but more importantly on enforcement and compliance. In the United States, the responsibility for plumbing regulation falls to state governments, who delegate this responsibility to local governments to various extents. Using data collected from coding of relevant state statutes and codes, a typology of state plumbing regulation types is created. Using data collected from a national sample of local governments, wide variation in the degree to which plumbing codes are actually enforced, the strategies employed by code officials, and perceived compliance levels are found.

Bio-aerosols in Building Drainage and Plumbing Systems: Cross Contamination, Monitoring and Prevention | Dr. Michael Gormley, Institute for Building and Urban Design, The School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland
The building drainage system is not only a means of conveying waste away from a building as safely and as efficiently as possible, it is one of the main ways in which we maintain good public health.  Fixture trap seals provide much of this protection, however they are vulnerable to phenomena such as evaporation and air pressure fluctuations, and can be compromised to the extent where no seal exists. The consequences can be severe, as evidenced by the link between infection spread and defective trap seals during the 2002/2003 SARS outbreak in South East Asia.

While defective water traps provide potential routes for infection spread, innovative sonar-like techniques allow the seal of an entire system to be monitored in seconds. This technique, developed at Heriot-Watt University, was validated in a number of ‘live’ buildings, including a complex hospital building. This technique is now well understood – the potential for cross contamination due to pathogen-laden bio-aerosols is less so. Current research using drainage flows from water dosed with Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas spp. – tracks the transmission of pathogens on naturally occurring and mechanically induced air currents, under defective water seal conditions. Previous relevant research investigated Norovirus in hospital building drainage using DNA techniques (RT-PCR) and is reported here also. Taken together, this research represents the cutting-edge of public health engineering, combining innovative engineering solutions with microbiology and fluid mechanics to more fully understand potential hazards to human health in our built environment.

A Reliable and Inexpensive way to Produce Clean Drinking Water As Well As Processing Wastewater| Dr. Markus J. Lenger, CEO, CSO and Co-Founder, CleanBlu
Addressing the clear need for a sustainable, reliable and inexpensive way to produce clean drinking water as well as processing wastewater is now essential in order to sustain depleting global supplies. CleanBlu’s unique technology is based on its advanced, award-winning grease remediation and recycling technology. Using CleanBlu’s patented and scalable approach wastewater can now be treated for as little as 0.1 cents per gallon. CleanBlu systems can be employed in a wide range of water processing applications anywhere from municipal to personal to full-scale industrial purposes. Using less than 50 watts of power, even larger systems can easily be powered by a small array of solar panels or wind generators. CleanBlu systems are entirely networked and remote monitored via their own smartphone app allowing control of hundreds of treatment plants from a single smartphone.

CleanBlu technology not only redefines ease of installation and use but also it’s unheard of cost point, sophisticated control and live monitoring make it the ideal choice for low cost water processing not only in developing and third worlds but also an excellent pretreatment option for overtaxed water processing infrastructure.

CleanBlu is proud to introduce this global effort bringing sophisticated and inexpensive water treatment to the needy and also to streamline and optimize water and waste processing for industrialized nations.

Panel Discussion – Legionella – Risk and Mitigation
• Ron George, President, Plumb-Tech Design & Consulting Services LLC
• Joe Cotruvo – Principle, Joseph Cotruvo & Associates LLC
• Tim Keane – Consultant, Legionella Risk Management, Inc.
• Dr. Janet Stout – PhD, Special Pathogens Laboratory
• Dr. Jamie Bartram, Director, The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina

Panel Discussion – The IETS – Where Technology Meets Policy
• Andrew Sawyers, Director Office of Wastewater Management, US Environmental Protection Agency
• Eric Mucklow, AIA CPHC, Lead Architect, Sustainable Technologies, US Army Corps of Engineers
• Kim Glas, Deputy Assistant Secretary, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
• Brian Gilligan, PE, LEED-AP, (BD+C) Sustainability Program Manager, General Services Administration

Harvest the Storm | Michael Gauthier, Highland Tank and Manufacturing

How to Maximize Water Savings in On-Site Water Reuse Systems | John R. Bauer, President, Wahaso – Water Harvesting Solutions

Solid Transport in Near Horizontal Drain Lines: Mechanisms and Modeling Under Low Water Usage Criteria | Dr. Michael Gormley, Institute for Building and Urban Design, The School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt
The goals of water conservation and the reduction in carbon emissions due to water and wastewater processing are commendable ones. In unfavorable economic conditions the costs associated with providing potable water are not insignificant and requires minimization for domestic and commercial consumers alike. The provision of good clean water and effective sanitation systems is central to the societal need for good public health.

While these goals are noble, the drive towards reducing the water volume used by one of the largest water consuming fixtures, the WC, provides particular challenges which, should at least be evaluated in a methodical engineering and scientific manner. The move towards ultra-low flush volumes raises concerns that drains may become clogged due to insufficient water availability to maintain self-cleansing velocities.

The modeling of discrete solids in near horizontal drains provides a method by which these challenges can be evaluated in a holistic way. A numerical model has the capability of simulating flows in pipes of different diameter set to different gradients and can also simulate a range of solid types and variables.

This paper compares numerical techniques to physical models over many years of research and shows the significance of flush volume and solid specific gravity in determining the maximum travel distance possible. An evaluation of solid transport hydrodynamics also reveals that as the gradient reduces a change in mechanism occurs, which, counter-intuitively, may assist in extending the maximum travel distance and counteract the more negative effects of reducing water flows as a whole.

Innovative Technologies in Commercial Foodservice | Don Fisher, President/CEO of Fisher-Nickel, Inc.
Green is the buzz in foodservice. And if energy efficiency had a color, it would be green—it saves the environment and it saves cash! Not surprisingly, the motivating force for sustainability in the restaurant business is the potential energy and water savings. A restaurant is a utility hog—per square foot, foodservice consumes more energy and water than any other commercial operation. Fortunately, energy efficiency translates to increased performance—the less energy wasted the more energy available for cooking food product.

Don Fisher will present a medley of innovative technologies that are emerging within the restaurant and commercial foodservice sector. Featured technologies will include optimized kitchen exhaust hoods and demand controlled ventilation, high performance cooking equipment and burner design, and waste heat recovery strategies.  Innovative equipment that reduce both water and energy use in the commercial kitchen such as a new generation of ultra-low-flow pre-rinse spay valves and Energy Star dish machines will be highlighted. In conclusion, the responsiveness of codes and standards will be key to transforming this building sector.

This 2014 symposium was a highly anticipated reprise of the 2008, 2010 and 2012 symposiums. To view video excerpts from past symposiums, click here to search YouTube.

“This symposium represents an exciting opportunity to highlight how our industry creates and adapts to emerging technologies through the use of a vital emerging technology,” said IAPMO Executive Director GP Russ Chaney. “The event promises to be tremendously informative, as we trust a great many unique organizations will seize the opportunity by providing their most highly-qualified experts as presenters and panelists.”