In a world of increasing population and decreasing water supplies, conservation of water will be critical to ensure the continued health and prosperity of nations.
Experts in water conservation, efficiency and behavioral sciences will be gathering later this month at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory to address how behavior-changing technologies can play a role in addressing projected shortfalls in water supply.
The workshop will run April 29-30, 2015 at Argonne and will bring together numerous experts to join with commercial developers and others who can contribute to the design, development and dissemination of behavior-impacting technologies that reduce water consumption for buildings.
“Conservation of water through behavioral change is an important topic that merits further exploration, and we are excited to be hosting the discussion,” said Todd Levin, energy systems engineer at Argonne. “Water scarcity is a huge issue globally and requires a multi-faceted approach to address the problem. We believe innovative technologies that address behavior should be a part of that effort.”
Levin said topics to be discussed include new or existing technologies that can help modify behavior of people in usage of water. One example might be a shower head that visually represents the amount of water being used through a series of color-coded lights, thereby allowing a user to make more informed decisions about how much water to use.
The workshop will address existing technologies that can be used, as well as future research necessary to address the issue. The agenda will include presentations from thought leaders in these fields and discussion of experts on necessary steps.
Anyone interested in attending the workshop should contact Levin at tlevin@anl.gov or Robert Horner at rhorner@anl.gov. More information is available at www.regonline.com/savingwater.
The workshop is being sponsored by the Building Technologies Office within DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.