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This online calculator allows you to calculate how much condensate can be captured from an air conditioning system. Click on image to enlarge.Back in 2008 when I wrote a series of articles for Environmental Building News on water (all three can be accessed with this link), one of those articles, Alternative Water Sources: Supply-Side Solutions for Green Buildings, examined various ways of harvesting water and included an in-depth look at collecting air conditioner condensate.
Here's an excerpt from that article on how that condensate is generated:
Cooling systems rely on evaporator coils through which refrigerant fluid changes from liquid to vapor, cooling the coils in the process. Air blowing past the coils cools off as it goes by, and moisture from the air condenses on the coils. Condensate drains carry away the water, usually into the sewer. Instead of wasting it, more and more buildings, especially in parts of the country with hot, humid summers, are capturing that condensate for reuse.
The city of San Antonio, Texas, has actively pursued this practice. It makes so much sense there because of the large cooling load and high humidity. The downtown Rivercenter Mall in San Antonio collects about 250 gallons of condensate per day, which is used to replenish the cooling tower losses, and the San Antonio Public Library collects about 1,400 gallons on condensate per day, which is used for irrigation. A six-month payback was calculated on the condensate-recovery system at the Rivercenter Mall.
When we ran that EBN article, we also provided an online calculator to assist designers or building owners estimate how much air-conditioner condensate could be recovered. Eddie Wilcut and Elliot Fry, of the San Antonio Water System (SAWS), developed the spreadsheet, and then Kelly Lucas on our staff "webified" it.
Users brought to our attention some problems with the condensate calculator, however, so we took it off our site.
I'm pleased to report that the BuildingGreen Condensate Calculator is back up, following some refinements by the SAWS team and Kelly's work to incorporate those changes into the online version.
Have a look, and take it for a test drive. Feedback will be very welcome; use the comments field.
Alex also writes the weekly blogs on BuildingGreen.com: Alex's Cool Product of the Week, which profiles an interesting new green building product each week, and Energy Solutions. You can sign up to receive notices of these blogs by e-mail--enter your e-mail address in the upper right corner of any blog page.
Alex is founder of BuildingGreen, LLC and executive editor of Environmental Building News. To keep up with his latest articles and musings, you can sign up for his Twitter feed.
Posted by Alex Wilson on September 25, 2010
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Alex Wilson is founder and executive editor of BuildingGreen, Inc., and coeditor of GreenSpec. For more than 30 years, Alex has been the most trusted voice on energy efficiency and environmentally responsible design and construction. Since launching Environmental Building News (EBN) in 1992, he’s built a reputation, resources, and staff to serve the companies for whom sustainable design is a core value.
Brent Ehrlich is BuildingGreen’s products editor, conducts research and writes product and category insights for the company’s GreenSpec product directory. He also contributes product reviews and feature articles for Environmental Building News, and is a contributing editor to McGraw-Hill’s GreenSource magazine.
Jennifer Atlee is research director at BuildingGreen, responsible for guiding the in-depth independent research that is the hallmark of all BuildingGreen resources. With her broad knowledge in sustainability, analytical acumen, and passion for improving the standards used to assess the sustainability of products, processes, and organizations, Jennifer brings strong direction to the research process behind GreenSpec’s product-screening decisions, and technical rigor to BuildingGreen’s custom research projects.
Tristan Roberts is Editorial Director at BuildingGreen, Inc., a position that requires broad knowledge about sustainable design, deep understanding of products, and mastery of all things LEED. Tristan Roberts brings that to Environmental Building News, GreenSpec, and LEEDuser, a plug-in tool supported by the U.S. Green Building Council to provide credit-by-credit advice for LEED projects.
Peter Yost brings more than 25 years' experience in building, researching, teaching, writing, and consulting on high-performance homes to his role as director of residential services for BuildingGreen. He has been called upon to provide his building-science expertise to the nation’s leading homebuilding programs, including NAHB’s Green Building Standard, USGBC's LEED for Homes, EPA’s WaterSense, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America.
Paula Melton, BuildingGreen’s managing editor, brings a dynamic style, critical mind, and sharp wit to the many feature articles, blog posts, and product reviews she writes for GreenSpec, BuildingGreen.com, Environmental Building News, and other BuildingGreen-supported websites.
Nadav Malin is president of BuildingGreen, where he oversees the company’s industry-leading information and community-building resources and consulting services. He also convenes and facilitates gatherings of industry leaders, and lends his technical expertise and vision to GreenSource magazine. Nadav was the founding chair of the Materials & Resources Technical Advisory Group for LEED.
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Excellent information, thanks Peter
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Peter,
Excellent information to a very misunderstood/overlooked discipline in construction.
You could have added information concerning the need to...
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The calculator isn't somethin
Appears to be a good tool. Wh
This is a very impressive too
This is more a question than