Role of Engineering in Sustainable Water Management

Assignment Task

Water shortages are becoming increasingly common as a result of climate change. Research and industry are looking for solutions to use other sources of water instead of expensive drinking water. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly important to reduce water consumption in buildings. Such solutions will become increasingly important for new buildings in the future. The challenge here is great, whereas in existing buildings it is comparatively more difficult, for example, to install different water systems that utilize precious drinking water on the one hand and rainwater on the other. In new buildings, there is usually no existing water distribution system that needs to be extensively modified.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze which solutions and concepts can be used to make new buildings and their properties water-self-sufficient. For this purpose, a comprehensive literature analysis is to be carried out, in particular international best practices are to be identified and analyzed for their application solutions. In addition, at least five experts are to be interviewed and their comments will be included in the analysis. The investigation (literature analysis and expert interviews) must consider both technical solutions and organizational aspects such as the consumption behavior of residents or political boundary conditions. Due to the complexity of the topic and the need to look at the task from different perspectives, the various aspects and criteria are recorded and evaluated using a multi-level analysis. As a result of the work, a catalog of criteria and an evaluation structure will be developed to support the design of new buildings with water-self-sufficient structures.

The Master's candidate will essentially work on the following points to achieve the objective:

1. international literature analysis on the state of science and technology of water self-sufficient buildings and properties

2. identification, description and evaluation of at least 20 best practices

3. derivation and description of possible criteria from the literature analysis that are suitable for analyzing and evaluating new buildings with regard to the aspect of water self-sufficiency

4. Interview 5 experts from the fields of architecture, building services engineering, the property industry, politics and science in the form of a semi-structured interview, including a detailed description of the methods and presentation of the theoretical background of semi-structured interviews.

5. Summarizing the research results with the aim of

• The definition of criteria according to the system of multi-level analysis
• The definition of corresponding main categories, subcategories and criteria
• Adapting the standardized evaluation structure of the multi-level analysis for the task.

6. Evaluation of the results, also with regard to

• possible obstacles and challenges in implementing the proposed solutions and possible strategies for overcoming them
• consideration of social and societal aspects, e.g. impact on student life or acceptance (by stakeholders) of the proposed measures

7. To develop a catalogue of criteria as well as an evaluation structure that supports the redesign of new buildings with water self-sufficient structures.

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