Water and Energy - Draft Report of the GWRC Research ... - IWA

GWRC Water & Energy - Draft report
scrutiny (i.e., a given water treatment or wastewater treatment or
storm water management alternative) define the global
inventory.
• Performance evaluation: Best practices, metrics, and indices
have been developed to help utilities evaluate ongoing
performance, through comparisons with themselves and other
utilities.
• Impact assessment: Impact assessment methods are used to
convert the inventory inputs/outputs into environmental (i.e.,
GHG emissions), social (i.e., damages to human health) or
economic impacts. Some methods or tools used for impact
assessment include: life cycle assessment, least cost planning,
embodied energy assessment, ecological footprint identification,
conjoint analysis, social modelling, net present value analysis,
least cost planning, life cycle costing, externalities valuation, etc.
The attached figure, “Convention for integrated performance
evaluation” helps to illustrate this.
There is a need to identify and evaluate the models and methods
used by urban water utilities to inventory process inputs and outputs,
to evaluate performance, and to assess economic, environmental and
social impacts and risks of urban water energy management
decisions. The models and methods help utilities define the
consumption of resources and the discharge of contaminants relative
to urban water management, and to evaluate the impacts. There is a
need to compare and contrast the models and methods and identify
the gaps for the purpose of refining, synthesizing, harmonizing, or
developing new models and methods.
Objectives Review the state of the science of the urban water utilities (drinking
water, wastewater, reuse, and storm water) to manage energy
consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This will include a
review of process-specific models, performance indicators, and
impact and risk assessment methods; synthesis of the methods and
models generally used and accepted for evaluation of energy
consumption and greenhouse gas emissions; description of how the
methods and models are used for decision making and risk
evaluation; identification of gaps and research needs for refinement
and harmonization, or development of more robust models and
methods; provision of a framework for proceeding with research
Deliverables
projects to meet the research needs.
Provide a final report that summarizes existing process models,
performance indicators, metrics, and indices, and impact assessment
methods and tools, including a comparison and analysis. Summarize
how the tools are currently used for energy management decision
support and risk assessment. Develop a framework for harmonizing
existing models, indicators, methods, and tools leading to a
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