Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 119–127

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Energy and Buildings

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Reducing energy use for water supply to China’s high-rises

Kate Smith, Shuming Liu ∗ , Yi Liu, Ying Liu, Yipeng Wu
School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Pumping water in high-rise buildings has been overlooked in energy calculations for urban water supply,
Received 1 June 2016 despite being a major contributor. Using data for two commonly used pumping systems and extrapolating
Received in revised form results to a megacity in China, we show that over one third of energy for water supply is associated
12 September 2016
with around one tenth of a city’s population. Buildings can achieve a 45% reduction in pumping energy
Accepted 16 November 2016
by replacing traditional break tank systems with pressurized booster systems. The latter capitalize on
Available online 18 November 2016
pressure supplied by the water distribution network, whereas the former lose energy by storing water at
atmospheric pressure. Electricity saved by replacing 25% of break tank systems with pressurized booster
Keywords:
Climate change
systems is 11% of high-rise pumping energy in the case city and reduces annual emissions by 8600 tCO2 e.
Energy consumption Controlled replacement represents a realistic way of reducing emissions associated with water supply as
Greenhouse gas China’s urban population grows and living density increases.
Pumping © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Water supply

1. Introduction paper identifies the significant contribution of pumping in high-

rise residential buildings to electricity use for urban water supply
China aims to reduce CO2 emissions per unit GDP by 60–65% and proposes a practical method to increase efficiency.
between 2005 and 2030, according to targets submitted in the Ignoring the effect of building height on electricity consumption
lead up to the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference [1]. could jeopardize China’s steps towards CO2 emissions reductions.
Electricity use is a major contributor to CO2 emissions in China as But lack of research on electricity use for pumping in high-rise
around 80% of electricity is generated using coal [2,3]. buildings compromises policy development in this area. The impor-
To achieve emissions reductions, China must identify and coun- tance of energy use in the water sector is often overlooked [9], and
teract trends that lead to increased electricity use. In 2014, China the topic of energy use for domestic water pumping in buildings
unveiled a plan to increase urbanization to 60% by 2020, which is has so far received limited attention, both in China and in other
likely to cause a rise in urban water demand and living density, countries. This is evident in recent reviews on building energy esti-
both factors that have the potential to increase electricity use in mation, prediction and efficiency [10–16] and studies of energy
the urban water supply sector. Water demand in China’s cities rose use for urban water supply in China [17–22], which fail to explic-
33% between 2001 and 2011 [4,5] and the number of households itly consider energy use for water supply pumping systems within
living in buildings of 7 stories or above more than doubled between buildings. Research on high-rise water supply in Taiwan and Hong
2000 and 2010 [6]. Floors 7 and above require in-building pump- Kong has been based on theoretical pump equations [23] or on mea-
ing systems in China, which add to energy use for water supply. sured data from buildings with only one type of pumping system
The country is expected to see a further 25 cities break the 1 mil- [24].
lion mark by 2025 compared with 2012 [7,8]. China is thus faced This paper is the first to quantify electricity use for two types
with the challenge of urbanising while simultaneously stabilising of pumping system used to supply domestic water within resi-
or reducing electricity use for urban water supply. Accomplishing dential high-rises in China. The information will be used for two
this feat would remove urban water supply from the list of sectors purposes. First, to estimate the contribution of high-rise pumping
compromising China’s ability to reduce emissions by 2030. This to the water supply process at building level, city level and country
level. Second, to identify how much electricity can realistically be
saved through practical application of the most efficient pumping
system. A megacity of over 15 million people was selected as a case
∗ Corresponding author.
study for city-level estimation.
E-mail addresses: skt15@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn (K. Smith),
shumingliu@tsinghua.edu.cn (S. Liu), yi.liu@tsinghua.edu.cn (Y. Liu),
ying-liu15@mails.tsinghua.edu (Y. Liu), wu-yp14@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn (Y. Wu).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.11.033
0378-7788/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
120 K. Smith et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 119–127

Fig. 1. Two common pumping systems for water supply to high-rises in China. (a) The booster pump and break tank (BPBT) system consists of a variable speed pump and a
large break tank. (b) The entirely pressurized booster (EPB) system consists of a variable speed pump and a small pressurized tank. Both systems connect to the city mains,
as labelled in the diagram. Water flows from the mains through the tank located at basement level, before it is pumped within the building and delivered to the consumer.
Arrows in the pipes show the direction of flow of the water.

2. Material and methods where Ep = pumping energy required per cubic meter of water
(kWh/m3 ); E = total electricity used by the pumping system dur-
2.1. Calculating energy intensity ing metering period (kWh); and Q = total flow passing through the
pumping system during the same period (m3 ).
Two common pumping systems for water supply to high-rises For each set, the lift required by the pumping system was cal-
in China were chosen for this study. These were the booster pump culated using Eq. (2). The pumping system was assumed to provide
and break tank (BPBT) system and the entirely pressurized booster water with sufficient lift to reach the top floor. Thus, lift is a func-
(EPB) system, which are shown in Fig. 1. The main difference tion of the highest story supplied by the pump (f). It was assumed
between these two systems is the tank component. In the BPBT the average height of one story was 2.8 m [25,26]. The number
system, water coming from the city mains is stored in a large break 10 incorporates the head required at the top story according to
tank at atmospheric pressure. The EPB system eliminates the break national standards [27]. Site observation and inquiry revealed that
tank between the mains and the first booster pump. Instead, water basements were generally 4 to 5 m below ground, so the num-
from the central distribution system enters a small, pressurized ber 4.5 is used in Eq. (2) to represent the average lift required to
tank before being pumped directly to the consumer. Water arriv- get water from the basement (where the pumps were located) to
ing from the central distribution system should have at least 28 m ground level. Eq. (2) does not account for the extra head required to
of head (i.e. energy), which is lost when the water is stored in a overcome friction during the transfer of water within the building,
break tank. In the EPB system, water is pressurized at all times, because this head loss due to friction is generally not significant
which avoids loss of energy. when compared to total head required.
Pump electricity consumption and flow data was collected from
10 high-rise residential buildings located in different residen- h = 2.8f + 10 + 4.5 (2)
tial communities (xiǎo qū) in three major Chinese cities. The 10
where h = lift provided to water leaving the pumping system (m);
buildings are represented by 14 datasets. Sets 1–9 correspond to
and f = highest story to which water must be lifted.
buildings with entirely pressurized booster (EPB) systems and sets
Pumping energy per cubic meter per meter lift was calculated
10–14 to buildings with booster pump and break tank (BPBT) sys-
for each set using equation (3).
tems. Sets 5 and 10 correspond to the same building before and after
a change from BPBT to EPB system and the same is true for sets 9 Ei = Ep /h (3)
and 11. The average cost of changing the system was 380 000 yuan
and the changes took place during the first half of 2014. Sets 7 and where Ei = pumping energy per cubic meter of water per meter lift
8 refer to the lower and higher stories of the same building and the for Set i (kWh/m3 m); i = 1, 2,. . .., 14; Ep = pumping energy required
same is true for sets 13 and 14. Buildings range from 10 stories to per cubic meter of water (kWh/m3 ); and h = lift provided to water
34 stories. All flow data was collected using flow meters attached leaving the pumping system (m).
to the pumping system. Cumulative flow data was automatically The average energy per cubic meter per meter for an EPB system
recorded per second or per minute. Cumulative electricity con- was calculated according to Eq. (4). Eq. (5) gives average energy use
sumption was logged per second or per minute using an automatic for a BPBT system.
electricity meter, or was calculated using readings from a standard 9
electricity meter attached to the pump taken at the start and end of E
i=1 i
Epres = (4)
the flow metering period. The flow and electricity metering period 9
extended for an average of 7 days. 14
Pumping energy per cubic meter for each set was calculated E
i=10 i
Ebreak = (5)
using the total flow and total electricity use over the metering 5
period.
where Epres = average pumping energy per cubic meter per meter
lift for EPB system (kWh/m3 m); Ei = pumping energy per cubic
Ep = E/Q (1) meter of water per meter lift for Set i (kWh/m3 m); and
 K. Smith et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 119–127 121

Ebreak = average pumping energy per cubic meter per meter lift for The method of extrapolation can be summarized as follows: (1)
BPBT system (kWh/m3 m). Building types in the case city with the potential to be 8 or more
stories were identified. (2) For these types, the area of residential
2.2. Calculating energy use in buildings for two pumping systems buildings as a percentage of total building area was estimated. (3)
This percentage was applied to other data to find the number of res-
Total daily energy required to pump water to floors 7 and above idential buildings 8–10, 11–15, 16–19, 20–29 or 30 or more stories.
within buildings of f stories was calculated for the two different (4) The final category of the data (30 or more stories) did not have
pumping systems according to Eqs. (6) and (7). It was assumed an upper limit, so it was assumed no residential buildings were
all water leaves the pump with the maximum required pressure taller than 40 stories. In reality, some buildings in the case city are
within the building (i.e. the pressure required by the top floor). higher than 40 stories, but 40 was chosen as a reasonable limit. (5)
Thus, h was calculated according to Eq. (2). The number of residential buildings of each height was calculated
(e.g. 17 stories) using the assumption that buildings are distributed
Epres,f = V≥7,f × h × Epres (6) evenly within a height category (i.e. 16–19 stories). (6) The total
Ebreak,f = V≥7,f × h × Ebreak (7) number of residential buildings with 10 or more stories was calcu-
lated. (7) This value was used to calculate the number of residential
where Epres,f = total daily pumping energy required within f-story buildings of each height as a percentage of the total number of
residential buildings assuming the EPB system is used (kWh/day); residential buildings of 10 or more stories (N%f ). (8) Households
V≥7,f = volume of water required by floors 7 and above in f-story living in buildings of 7–9 stories were split evenly between the
residential buildings (m3 /day); h = lift provided to water leaving three building heights. (9) Households in buildings of 10 or more
the pumping system (m); Epres = average pumping energy per cubic stories were distributed according to the distribution of buildings
meter per meter lift for an EPB system (kWh/m3 ·m); Ebreak,f = total with 10 or more stories (N%f ). (10) Values for Steps (8) and (9) were
daily pumping energy required within f-story residential buildings extrapolated to the entire population (from 10%). (11) The number
assuming the BPBT system is used (kWh/day); and Ebreak = average of people in each type of building (e.g. 10-story building) was cal-
pumping energy per cubic meter per meter lift for the BPBT system culated by multiplying the number of households in the buildings
(kWh/m3 m). by the average household size (2.52) sourced from the case city’s
Total daily energy required to pump water to floors 7 and above census data for city (shì) areas [28]. (12) Daily per capita domestic
within all residential buildings in the case city was calculated for water use for 2010 was obtained by taking the average of 2009 and
the two different pumping systems according to Eqs. (8) and (9). 2011 values calculated using data from China’s Urban Water Sup-
ply Yearbooks [5,31]. (13) The total daily volume of water used in

40
residential buildings of each height (e.g. 16 stories) was estimated
Epres,tot = Epres,f (8)
by multiplying the number of people in buildings of each height by
f =7
daily per capita domestic water use. (14) It was assumed this water

40 use could be distributed evenly through the building, e.g. floor 2 in
Ebreak,tot = Ebreak,f (9) a 20-story building would use as much water as floor 18. (14) The
f =7
volume of water supplied to floors 7 and above in buildings of 7 or
more stories was calculated by subtracting water used by floors 1
where Epres,tot = total energy required per day to pump water within to 6 within each type of building. More detail on extrapolation is
all residential buildings of 7 or more stories assuming an EPB sys- provided in Supplementary information (SI) method.
tem is used (kWh/day); Epres,f = total daily pumping energy required
within f-story residential buildings assuming EPB system is used 2.4. Extrapolating to country level
(kWh/day); Ebreak,tot = total energy required per day to pump water
within all residential buildings of 7 or more stories assuming a BPBT The method used to calculate pumping energy for the case city
system is used (kWh/day); and Ebreak,f = total daily pumping energy was applied to all provinces, autonomous regions and municipal-
required within f-story residential buildings assuming a BPBT sys- ities in China to give a country-level estimate. In each case, it was
tem is used (kWh/day). assumed that pumping in buildings was only required to deliver
water to floors 7 and above. Population data for each province,
2.3. Extrapolating to city level region and municipality was sourced from China’s 2010 census [6].
The census contained a short survey that covered almost the entire
A megacity of over 15 million people in China was selected population of China and a long survey that covered a 10% random
as a case study to estimate city-wide energy use for pumping of sample of the country’s population. Data on the number of house-
water within residential buildings. Statistical yearbook and cen- holds residing in buildings of 1 story, 2–3 stories, 4–6 stories, 7–9
sus data from 2010 was used to determine the number of people stories and 10 or more stories in urban areas was for a 10% ran-
living in buildings of 7 stories or over in this city in 2010 [28,29]. dom sample of the population. Household size for urban areas was
Buildings 6 stories or under were not included because centrally sourced from full population data. All population data was for cities
distributed water should have enough pressure to reach the sixth (shì), meaning that any locations ending in ‘xiàn’ for county were
floor [30]. Census data contained the number of households resid- not included. When extrapolated from the 10% sample, the total
ing in buildings of 1 story, 2–3 stories, 4–6 stories, 7–9 stories and population of city (shì) areas was 336 million people, which dif-
10 or more stories for the case city [28]. This data was for a 10% fered from the full census value for city areas of 404 million people.
random sample of the population and only included households in In this study, the number of people living above 6 stories and the
the city (shì) area. Counties (xiàn) governed by the case city are not entire population were both extrapolated from the 10% random
included. Statistical yearbook data on the total number of buildings sample data for consistency of comparison.
of 8 or more stories and the total area occupied by residential and A thorough search through statistical yearbooks and census data
non-residential buildings was used to provide an estimate of the did not reveal building height distribution data on any cities or
distribution of residential buildings of 10 or more stories, which provinces in China other than the case city. Thus, it was assumed
could then be used to calculate the spread of households across people living on floors 10 and over could be distributed accord-
these buildings [29]. ing to the building height distribution in the case city, with 40
122 K. Smith et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 119–127

stories being the maximum building height. For example, it was The difference in energy efficiency between the two pumping
assumed 52% of households living on floors 10 and over could be systems can be linked to the tank component. The EPB system
distributed between floors 11 and 15, and 5% between floors 30 and saves energy because it capitalizes on pressure already supplied by
40 [29]. The 2010 daily per capita water use for domestic purposes the urban water distribution network. Water entering the build-
was calculated for each province, region and municipality by taking ing from the water distribution system should have at least 28 m of
the average of 2009 and 2011 values from water supply yearbooks head according to Chinese national regulations [30]. This pressure is
[5,31]. In three cases, only one of these two values was available and lost in the BPBT system, which stores all water coming from the city
this was used instead of an average. As with city-level analysis, it mains in a large break tank at atmospheric pressure, before pump-
was assumed water use within any building was evenly distributed ing it to consumers using a variable speed pump. Break tanks can
throughout the floors. When comparing building pumping energy increase system resilience by taking water from the mains during
with total energy required to source, treat and centrally distribute, low consumption periods and storing it for periods of peak demand
it was assumed all residents of city (shì) areas used water that was within the building [33], but this wastes energy. The EPB system
centrally supplied at an energy intensity of 0.29 kWh/m3 (see Smith eliminates the break tank between the mains and the first booster
et al. [21] for more details on the scope of this value). According to pump. Instead, water from the central distribution system enters
data for city (shì) areas sourced from Urban Water Supply Year- a small pressurized tank before being pumped directly to the con-
books, the population served by urban water supply in China was sumer. Water is pressurized almost all the time and the system’s
around 300 million in 2010, or 90% of the total urban population variable speed pump simply adds to pressure already provided by
(336 million) used in this study [5,31]. the water distribution system. Maintaining pressure avoids loss
Total pumping energies for the cases of the EPB (Epres,tot ) and of energy and leads to overall energy savings as detailed in the
BPBT (Ebreak,tot ) pumping systems were calculated at provincial, following section.
regional and municipal level using the method applied to the case
city, then these values were summed to give the national value. 3.2. Building level
Total population, total daily water use for domestic purposes and
total number of people living above 6 stories were also calculated at The major energy savings that result from a change to the EPB
national level by summing values calculated at provincial, regional system are shown graphically in Fig. 2. Cumulative electricity and
or municipal level. flow data were collected from a pumping station supplying a build-
ing complex with maximum height of 17 stories (Building no. 5
in Table 1). Electricity use for a flow of 668 m3 decreased by 52%
3. Results and discussion from 699 kWh to 336 kWh when the original BPBT system was
replaced with an EPB system. Based on electricity cost savings, the
3.1. Energy efficiency of high-rise pumping systems time needed to make back the cost of changing pumping systems
is significant. But it is important to note that changing to the EPB
A number of different pumping configurations can be used to system often leads to an improvement in water quality because
lift water within high-rise buildings. Many involve break tanks, water is constantly pressurized in this system and the risk of bac-
which are often used to store water at atmospheric pressure terial growth is reduced. It is difficult to attach a monetary value
in tall buildings [32]. The BPBT system selected for inclusion in to this improvement. Changing to the EPB system may also lead
this study had an average pumping energy intensity per meter to maintenance-related cost savings. Break tanks in the BPBT sys-
lift of 0.019 ± 0.005 kWh/m3 m. The second system, the EPB sys- tems are much larger than pressurized tanks in the EPB systems,
tem, used around 45% less energy on average than the BPBT meaning cleaning can be more costly.
system (0.010 ± 0.001 kWh/m3 m). These values are the result of Within the overall water supply process, electricity for pumping
averaging energy intensities for 14 datasets collected from 10 build- water within a 20-story building using a BPBT system accounts for
ings that are shown in Table 1. As described in Section 2, Epres around 80% of total electricity used. Fig. 3 shows the breakdown of
(0.010 ± 0.001 kWh/m3 m) is the average of Ei (see final column electricity use for sourcing and treating, distribution within the city
of Table 1) across Sets 1 to 9 and Ebreak (0.019 ± 0.005 kWh/m3 m) mains, and pumping within a building. The figure uses the example
is the average of Ei across Sets 10 to 14. Sample-based standard of a 20-story building, with head (h) as calculated in Eq. (2), elec-
deviations are given to reveal variability within the sample. tricity use for EPB and BPBT pumping as specified in Section 3.1 and

Table 1
Details of datasets used to calculate average pumping energy for both systems.

Set no. i Building no. Pump type Stories supplied Head h (m) Metering period Total flow Q (m3 ) Total pumping Ep (kWh/m3 ) Ei (kWh/m3 ·m)
(days) energy E (kWh)

1 1 EPB 6–24 82.0 7 323 248 0.77 0.009

2 2 EPB 7–24 82.0 4 178 162 0.91 0.011
3 3 EPB 6–24 82.0 11 422 400 0.95 0.012
4 4 EPB 6–20 70.5 7 217 163 0.75 0.011
5 5 EPB 1–17 62.1 6 693 347 0.50 0.008
6 6 EPB 9–13 50.9 7 143 70 0.49 0.010
7 7 EPB 3–8 36.9 7 157 62 0.39 0.011
8 7 EPB 9–13 50.9 7 117 58 0.50 0.010
9 8 EPB 3–15 56.5 13 1007 670 0.67 0.012
10 5 BPBT 1–17 62.1 6 668 699 1.05 0.017
11 8 BPBT 3–15 56.5 13 1064 1151 1.08 0.019
12 9 BPBT 1–10 42.5 11 885 482 0.54 0.013
13 10 BPBT 5–15 56.5 3 364 553 1.52 0.027
14 10 BPBT 16–34 109.7 1 178 334 1.88 0.017

Sets 1–9 are for entirely pressurized booster (EPB) systems. Sets 10–14 are for booster pump and break tank (BPBT) systems. Sets 5 and 10 correspond to the same building
before and after a change from BPBT to EPB system and the same is true for sets 9 and 11. Sets 7 and 8 refer to the lower and higher stories of building 7. Sets 13 and 14 are
the lower and higher stories of building 10. No. = number.
 K. Smith et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 119–127 123

800

700

600

Electricity use (kWh)

500

400
EPB system
300 BPBT system
200

100

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Flow (m3)

Fig. 2. The effect of changing pumping systems. Electricity use vs flow before and after a change from a booster pump and break tank (BPBT) system to an entirely pressurized
booster (EPB) system within a 17-story building.

Fig. 3. Breakdown of electricity use for water supply to a 20-story building. This shows electricity used during each part of the water supply process for (a) booster pump and
break tank (BPBT) system and (b) entirely pressurized booster (EPB) system. The first stage is sourcing and treatment within the drinking water treatment plant; the second
is distribution within the central distribution system; the third is high-rise pumping for the case of a 20-story building. Energy intensity values for sourcing and treatment,
and central distribution are from Beijing Waterworks Group [34].
124 K. Smith et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 119–127

Fig. 4. Electricity savings for different pumping scenarios. Scenario 1 involves 100% coverage by entirely pressurized (EPB) systems in the case city. Scenarios 2, 3 and 4
involve 75%, 50% and 25% replacement of booster pump and break tank (BPBT) systems with EPB systems. All savings are calculated by comparing Scenarios 1–4 with Scenario
5, which is 100% coverage by BPBT systems. Electricity for sourcing, treating and distribution within the water distribution system (WDS) uses figure 0.176 kWh/m3 . In each
case, the volume of water is 248,100 m3 .

electricity use for sourcing, treatment and central distribution for can be used as a case study to identify the proportional electricity
the case of Beijing. This paper is the first to separate these processes savings that are possible when the building is fitted with the most
for a city in China in such a way that the substantial contribution efficient pumping system. Assuming each person uses the national
of high-rise pumping to overall electricity use for water supply is average for 2010 of 117 Liters of water per day within the home
clear. The combined processes of sourcing, treating and distributing [5,31], 74 kWh can be saved per year if water is distributed within
one cubic meter of water within the central water distribution sys- the building using the EPB system, rather than the BPBT system.
tem require a total of 0.30 kWh for Beijing, which makes the city This saving equates to 5% of the household’s total annual electricity
representative of the national average for urban water supply of use and is half the average electricity used for powering televisions
0.29 kWh/m3 [21,34]. Pumping within a 20-story building requires in urban areas [35,36].
1.3 ± 0.4 kWh/m3 for the BPBT system and 0.73 ± 0.08 kWh/m3 for
the EPB system. The use of an EPB system results in a reduction in 3.3. City level
the percentage of total electricity use for water supply that is asso-
ciated with high-rise pumping from 71% to 81%. Pumping energy Pumping energies were extrapolated using building distribution
required for the last 50 m of the distribution process (i.e. the pump- and population data for a Chinese megacity of over 15 million peo-
ing lift in a high-rise building) is between 4 and 7 times greater than ple. SI Table 1 provides building number, population, volume and
the pumping energy required to deliver water to the foot of a build- energy estimates. The total daily energy required to supply water
ing for the case of the 20-story building. This final step is a major to high-rise residential buildings (i.e. 7 stories and over) in the case
energy drain within the urban water supply process in China. city using the BPBT system was 285,900 kWh. This is based on an
Our results differ from a previous study’s attempt to calculate average daily water use of 141 L/cap day for domestic purposes in
energy for water supply within a building as a percentage of total the case city [5,31] and corresponds to emissions of 211 tCO2 e/day
energy for water supply. Cheng [23] provided a theoretical estimate using China’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission factor for electricity
of energy use for water supply within a 6-story building in Taiwan generation for 2011. For details on calculation of this emission fac-
that was fitted with a roof tank pumping system. This study found tor, readers can refer to Smith et al. [22]. Calculations did not include
that energy use in the building constituted 45% of total pumping water used by lower floors (i.e. floors 1–6), whereas many residen-
energy needed to transfer water from treatment plants to con- tial buildings pump to one or more of floors 1–6 in order to stabilize
sumers [23,24]. Our analysis of a 20-story building reveals that the water supply. Thus, the total daily volume of water (248,100 m3 )
percentage of total pumping energy required for distribution that is and BPBT energy requirement (285,900 kWh/day) may be higher in
used within the building can be as much as 87%. Direct comparison reality. The total energy required for pumping using the BPBT sys-
with a 6-story building in mainland China is not practical because tem is 6.5 times the energy needed to supply treated water for floors
regulation does not require buildings 6 stories and under to install 7 and over to these buildings (43,700 kWh/day), using the energy
pumping systems. use for centralized water supply for the case city (0.176 kWh/m3 )
At household level, the influence of a change in building pump- [37].
ing system on electricity use is significant. Chinese households with Different coverage scenarios for both types of pumping systems
access to electricity used an average of 1517 kWh annually in 2013 in the case city can be considered. These are shown in SI Table 2 and
[35]. A 3-person household living in a 20-story residential building are compared to the scenario of full coverage by BPBT systems in
 K. Smith et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 119–127 125

which large amounts of water can be stored in a break tank. Control

devices at nodes where EPB systems are installed prevent pressure
from falling below a set value. The installation of a large number of
EPB systems throughout the water distribution system could cause
pressure at other nodes to fall below the allowed minimum dur-
ing peak times. Thus, EPB systems can create strain on the water
distribution system if their use is not regulated.
This disadvantage can be controlled by existing regulation in
China that specifies where EPB systems can be used [38]. According
to the regulation, installation of this system is restricted to build-
ings with sufficient existing nodal pressure and where the branch
pipe diameter is above a set threshold.
With these regulations in place, it is realistic to aim for a scenario
in which EPB systems are used to pump water in 25% of residential
high-rise buildings in the case city. This could be achieved without
putting stress on the water distribution system and compromising
pressure at other nodes. The daily electricity savings from replac-
ing 25% of BPBT systems with EPB systems (31,800 kWh/day) are
shown with respect to other aspects of the city’s water supply
system in Fig. 5. These savings are equivalent to 11% of the elec-
tricity used to pump water in buildings using the BPBT system
(285,900 kWh/day) and around 5% of the total electricity require-
ments for water supply within the case city (669,600 kWh/day).
This illustrates the importance of focusing efforts to reduce energy
Fig. 5. Breakdown of energy use for water supply at city level. Each section of this use on the final 50 m of the water supply process. Replacing 25% of
figure gives the volume (V) and total energy (E). a = savings from changing 25% of
BPBT systems with EPB systems represents an attainable and prac-
booster pump and break tank (BPBT) systems to entirely pressurized (EPB) systems;
b = energy for treating, sourcing and centrally distributing water used by people
tical method of saving energy and reducing emissions within the
living above 6 stories; c = energy for pumping to people living above 6 stories using urban water supply process.
the BPBT system; d = total energy for water supply to people living above 6 stories;
e = total energy for water supply to all residents in the case city. a is 11% of c; b and
c are 20% and 80% of d, respectively; d is 49% of e. 3.4. Country level

The results of this investigation can be expanded to country

Fig. 4. Fig. 4 also contains the energy required for sourcing, treating
level using 2010 census and water use data for urban areas in 31
and centrally distributing the daily water requirement of floors 7
provinces, regions and municipalities of China [5,6,31].
and over (248,100 m3 /day), calculated using the energy use for cen-
The total electricity required per day is 3,728,000 kWh if all
tralized water supply for the case city (0.176 kWh/m3 ) [37]. Energy
water for domestic use pumped to floors 7 and above is provided
for pumping water in buildings is around 3.5 times the energy
using the BPBT system. The total number of people living on floors
required to source, treat and centrally distribute this water within
7 or over was estimated to be 9% of the total urban population,
the case city even when the most energy efficient (EPB) pumping
which is similar to the value obtained for the case city [6]. Total
system is used in all buildings [28].
electricity use for water supply to people living on floors 7 or over
The total amount of water required for domestic use by all
(including sourcing, treatment, central distribution and pumping)
residents (i.e. including those on floors 1–6) in the case city
was 4,832,000 kWh/day, which is 32% of total electricity use for
was 2,179,000 m3 /day, which required 384,000 kWh/day to source,
urban water supply.
treat and centrally distribute. The energy needed to pump water to
If 25% of these systems are converted to EPB systems, the daily
floors 7 stories and over within residential buildings using the BPBT
energy savings would be 414,800 kWh. These savings equate to 2.7%
system (285,900 kWh/day) is around 70% of this amount. Around
of total daily electricity use for water supply to urban areas of China.
1.8 million of the city’s residents live on floors 7 or above. The total
The results obtained in this study are expected to be of benefit
amount of energy required to get water all the way from the source
to decision makers in both water policy and water utilities, and to
to these residents was 329,600 kWh/day, or 49% of total electricity
those involved in water distribution system design and engineer-
use for water supply to the case city. In other words, only 11% of
ing, particularly in China. They are of benefit because they reveal
the city’s population were responsible for almost one half of total
the significance of energy for high-rise pumping in the water supply
daily electricity use for water supply, revealing the significance of
cycle and put forward a practical way to reduce this energy use.
energy required for in-building pumping in the larger scheme of
energy use for urban water supply.
Major positives of the EPB system are its ability to save energy 3.5. Study limitations
and improve water quality when compared with the BPBT system.
These are both related to the almost constant application of pres- It is important to mention the limitations and uncertainty
sure within the system. Water stored at atmospheric pressure in associated with the study. Uncertainty comes mainly from two
break tanks has increased risk of bacterial growth [32]. The disad- components of the study: (1) pumping energies and (2) extrap-
vantage of the EPB system is its potential to reduce pressure within olation to city and country level. Pumping energies for the EPB
the central water distribution system. Flow entering buildings fit- and BPBT systems (kWh/m3 m) were calculated based on a rela-
ted with EPB systems largely mirrors user demand. This leads to tively small sample size (9 sets and 5 sets, respectively). In the case
significant flow variation, including large peaks and troughs. It is of the BPBT system, the standard deviation is 28% of the pump-
generally not possible to adjust the EPB pumping schedule to take ing energy (0.019 ± 0.005 kWh/m3 m). Set 13 was the main outlier,
water from the water distribution system during off-peak times, as with pumping energy much greater than other BPBT sets. A pump
there is little space to store it. This differs from the BPBT system, in that is not well fitted to demand (i.e. flow) within a building will
126 K. Smith et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 119–127

often work at well below the point of maximum efficiency, leading emissions targets. The result is also relevant to other countries with
to higher energy use. This could explain this outlier. relatively dense urban populations.
Uncertainty in EPB and BPBT pumping energies, as represented The second major objective of this study was to provide a prac-
by standard deviation, can be used to give an indication of uncer- tical way to reduce electricity use for pumping within buildings.
tainty in energy calculations at city level. For 100% coverage by Replacing 25% of booster pump and break tank (BPBT) systems
BPBT systems within the case city, energy use for pumping in with entirely pressurized booster (EPB) systems is a realistic way
high-rise buildings is 285,900 kWh/day, with a lower range of to achieve this goal. Savings associated with this change repre-
206,000 kWh/day and an upper range of 365,900 kWh/day (cal- sented a reduction in annual GHG emissions of around 8600 tCO2 e
culated using the BPBT pumping energy standard deviation of at city level, using China’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission fac-
±0.005 kWh/m3 m). For 100% coverage by EPB systems within tor for electricity generation [22]. For context, reduction of US
the case city, energy use for pumping in high-rise buildings is petrol consumption by over 3.5 million liters would be necessary
158,700 kWh/day, with a lower range of 140,200 kWh/day and an to produce equivalent CO2 savings [39]. Electricity savings from the
upper range of 177,100 kWh/day (calculated using the EPB pump- replacement of 25% of BPBT systems were equal to 4.8% of the total
ing energy standard deviation of ±0.001 kWh/m3 m). This means electricity requirements for urban water supply at city level and
the difference between 100% BPBT and 100% EPB coverage could around 2.7% at national level.
be as small as 28,800 kWh/day or as large as 225,700 kWh/day, Replacing BPBT systems with EPB systems relies on favorable
with the mid-range savings (used to create Fig. 4) equal to government policy and represents a relatively untapped area for
127,200 kWh/day. electricity savings in China, where some cities have only recently
There are a number of assumptions that were made in order begun to consider introducing the EPB pumping system.
to extrapolate from building level to city-level. Census data does
not provide the exact numbers of people living in buildings of each Acknowledgements
height. In order to estimate these figures, we made a number of
informed assumptions relating to the types of buildings likely to be The authors would like to thank WAPWAG Company for data
high-rise buildings, the ratio of the number of residential to non- collection and Han Che and Xue Wu for assistance with data col-
residential buildings, the distribution of people within buildings lection and figure design. Funding: This work was supported by
and the number of stories in the tallest building. It was also assumed the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (grant number
that water required by floors 1 to 6 in all buildings was not pumped 2014ZX07406003).
using building pumping systems (i.e. EPB or BPBT system), which is
not always the case in reality. These assumptions were necessary
given the data available and are detailed in SI method. Appendix A. Supplementary data
A further limitation relates to the comparison of energy use by
EPB and BPBT systems. As mentioned in this section, when a pump Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in
is better fitted to the normal demand for water within a build- the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.11.
ing, it is more likely to operate close to its best efficiency point. 033.
Thus, when a pumping system is replaced (e.g. change from BPBT
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