Collaborative Research: Analysis of Decentralized Harvested Rainwater Systems Using the Urban Water Infrastructure Sustainability Evaluation (uWISE) Framework

1235855 (Burian)。美国目前的城市供水基础设施状况不佳，能源密集，资金严重不足，并且由于城市扩张而过度扩张。我们迫切需要规划一条通往未来可持续水基础设施的有效途径，将供水、卫生和雨水管理的理解和相互作用以及这些实践对可持续性指标的影响结合起来。该项目设想，水基础设施的分散化将在创造这种未来可持续和有弹性的城市环境中发挥重要作用。分散的雨水收集（RWH）系统是这个项目的重点。将它们用于冲厕所，不仅可以减少对饮用水的需求，还可以减少雨水径流量。此外，该技术是成熟的，相当容易在新开发项目和现有建筑存量中实施。因此，RWH被定位为朝着分散的城市水管理模式迈出的可行和有希望的第一步。该项目将开发一个新的可扩展的可持续性建模和分析框架，称为城市水利基础设施可持续性评估（uWISE）。uWISE框架将用于分析水基础设施配置，收集的雨水用于冲厕所，并将其与集中式城市水基础设施的替代方案进行比较，以一套强大的可持续性指标。uWISE框架将动态城市流域建模与建筑尺度和流域尺度上的生命周期评估结合起来，并考虑了可扩展性。这个项目的另一个方面是它的发展？期望的价值分析？方法，它使用贝叶斯统计来确定创造可持续成果所需的系统设计参数空间。通过参与跨机构研究活动，将培养两名博士生，其中一人将获得课程开发和大学教学的第一手经验。研究成果将整合到托莱多大学和犹他大学土木工程课程中。合作远程学习环境将用于提供可持续城市水基础设施的新研究生课程，在该课程中，两所大学的学生将利用uWISE和其他项目成果共同完成综合基础设施可持续性项目。研究成果将与当地利益相关者分享，利用我们在俄亥俄州西北部和犹他州的现有合作。研究结果还将通过同行评议的出版物、会议报告以及ASCE、ISI和USGBC向全国推广。具体地说，将整合项目成果，以提高LEED建筑评级体系和可持续基础设施（ISI） EnvisionTM评级体系。

1235855 (Burian). The current urban water infrastructure in the U.S. is in failing condition, energy intensive, largely underfunded, and being over-extended by urban sprawl. There is an urgent need to chart an effective pathway to future sustainable water infrastructure that integrates the understanding and interactions of water supply, sanitation, and stormwater management and implications of these practices on sustainability metrics. This project envisions that decentralization of water infrastructure will play an important role in creating such future sustainable and resilient urban environments. Decentralized rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems are the focus of this project. Their use in toilet flushing has great potential to not only reduce the demand on potable water supply but also reduce stormwater runoff volumes. In addition, the technology is mature and fairly easy to implement in new development and in existing building stock. Thus, RWH is positioned as a feasible and promising first step towards a decentralized urban water management paradigm. This project will develop a new and extensible sustainability modeling and analysis framework, called Urban Water Infrastructure Sustainability Evaluation (uWISE). The uWISE framework will be applied to analyze water infrastructure configurations where harvested rainwater is used to flush toilets and compare it to the centralized urban water infrastructure alternative in terms of a robust set of sustainability metrics. The uWISE framework couples dynamic urban watershed modeling with life cycle assessment at both building and watershed scales with extensibility in mind. Another aspect of this project is its development of the ?desired value analysis? approach, which uses Bayesian statistics to determine the system design parameter space necessary for creating sustainable outcomes. Through involvement in cross-institution research activities, two PhD students will be trained, one of which will gain first-hand experience in curriculum development and college teaching. Research results will be integrated in University of Toledo and University of Utah civil engineering courses. A collaborative distance learning environment will be used to offer a new graduate course in Sustainable Urban Water Infrastructure, in which students from the two universities will work together in completing an integrated infrastructure sustainability project using uWISE and other project results. Research results will be shared with local stakeholders using our existing collaborations within Northwest Ohio and Utah. Results will also be outreached nationally using peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and via ASCE, ISI, and USGBC. Specifically, incorporation of project outcomes to enhance the LEED building rating system and the Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) EnvisionTM rating system will be pursued.