ASPE Member Authors Report on Hot Water Delivery for the California Energy Commission

Gary Klein, President of Gary Klein and Associates Inc. and a member of ASPE’s Northern California Chapter, was a primary author of Code Changes and Implications of Residential Low-Flow Hot Water Fixtures, which was prepared for the California Energy Commission earlier this year. ASPE’s Sr. Director of Technical and Regulatory Affairs, Ramiro Mata, participated in the project as a member of the Technical Advisory Committee.

The researchers investigated strategies to improve hot water delivery quality in single-family homes to reduce energy and water waste. They examined a range of improvement strategies including pipe layout optimization, using two water heaters, moving the water heater closer to the fixtures, pipe size reduction, compact architectural design, and lower-flow fixtures. Using the results of single-pipe testing from a 2005 Public Interest Energy Research project, the research team developed a distribution performance model to analyze the multi-pipe distribution networks found in homes. Based on performance assessment results, the study provided design solutions to reduce distribution loss by more than 50 percent and system energy and water consumption by more than 25 percent.

The report can be downloaded at the California Energy Commission’s website.

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