Benchmarking Nonresidential Water Use Efficiency Using Parcel-Level Data
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 142, Issue 3
Abstract
Past studies of commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII) water use efficiency have been limited to simple normalization benchmarking measures. Simple normalization ratios (e.g., water use per employee) account for only one driver of water use and are often misleading because of the predominantly skewed nature of water use intensities. In order to improve on benchmarking systems to assess the water use efficiency of CII customers, this paper explores two popular methods used in the energy efficiency field: ordinary least squares (OLS) and data envelopment analysis (DEA). Parcel-level data from Austin, Texas, is used to demonstrate the methods, where a data-driven approach is employed to include average water use, building area, building value, year built, parcel area, and number of employees as measures of input, and annual sales as the economic measure of output.
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Acknowledgments
The authors appreciate the support from the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship. The sponsor has not reviewed or endorsed the contents of this paper and only the authors are responsible for its contents. The cooperation from Austin Water in providing access to their customer-level databases is also appreciated.
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Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 142 • Issue 3 • March 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 15, 2014
Accepted: Sep 3, 2015
Published online: Nov 6, 2015
Published in print: Mar 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Apr 6, 2016
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