Commissioning Of
Plumbing Systems |
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Today even plumbing systems are getting to the
integrated building system action and are taking on
complexities previously unknown. Most of the new
plumbing system designs are a result of the desire for
sustainable buildings, particularly with respect to
water conservation, waste water reduction, and
energy/carbon footprint savings.
The United States Green Building Council’s
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
program requires that a building’s domestic hot
water system(s) be commissioned as a prerequisite for
certification. The LEED rating system has also been
directly responsible for many of the innovative
plumbing systems currently being designed and installed
in buildings. These include, but are not limited
to:
• Rain water collection and use
for flushing toilets, irrigation, and other non-potable
applications;
• Gray water collection for
flushing toilets, irrigation, and other non-potable
applications;
• Solar water domestic water
heating;
• Waste energy recovery for
domestic water preheat; e.g., transferring heat from
chiller condensers, boiler blow-down, boiler exhaust
stacks, etc.;
• Irrigation system flow and
pressure monitors;
• Sub-metering water
consumption;
• Time-of-day scheduling of
domestic water distribution; and
• Composting toilets.
Each of the above systems, partially because of their
unique nature and partially because of their inherent
controls complexity, are excellent candidates for the
commissioning process.
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