Water consumption in dormitories: Insight from an analysis in the USA

Abstract

Worldwide depletion of resources has brought many sustainability issues to the forefront including the consumption of water use for indoor purposes. Based on various studies, the third largest consumption of water occurs in buildings, mainly for flushing and personal hygiene. The United States Department of Energy and European Commission places domestic indoor water use at more than 250 L per person per day. This chapter examines the water consumption in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and non-LEED-certified dormitories. LEED is a sustainability rating system providing guidance on incorporating sustainable design strategies in the design of buildings. LEED offers various rating levels including certified, silver, gold, and platinum out of a possible 100 base points. The varying levels are associated with target points achieved. Three LEED and six non-LEED dormitories, located in the northeast, serving over 2,000 students, were selected for this comparative study. Different categorization of dormitories by varied agencies and the inconsistency in water-use studies make isolating water consumption in dormitories problematic. Considering the fact that the International and Uniform Plumbing Codes do not require to calculate the water consumption in buildings, and engineers’ calculations have been used to create baseline water use for the nine dormitories. The perception of water consumption behavior of occupants has also been investigated through users’ surveys. Finally, a comparison among the design evaluation, actual water consumption and subjectively evaluated consumption allows highlighting water consumption in dormitories.