Abstract:
This work discusses the certification of a water-efficient building by collecting actual and simulated operation data in response to the building's occupancy disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic. Actual operation data is delivered across a twelve-month certification period for the Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design, a 3,437.4 m2 (37,000 ft2) academic building on the Georgia Institute of Technology's Atlanta campus. Simulated operation data is delivered for the same twelve-month certification period, to estimate the building's performance under more realistic occupancy conditions. The ability to simulate the building's operation, demonstrated in this work, was needed to substantiate the building's performance, overcome the uncertainty introduced by its disrupted certification period, and grant confidence in its certification. Actual and simulated operation scenario data are gathered by a combination of physical measurements, and physics-based and data-driven models, discussed in this work. The actual and simulated operating scenarios estimate the building to supply and responsibly infiltrate nearly 19 times and 15 times more water than it uses, respectively, over its certification period. Β© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
