Establishing a hierarchy of water conservation actions in residential buildings using multicriteria analysis

Abstract

Among possible building water conservation measures, the rational use of water must be pointed out, including the installation of saving devices, adoption of individual measurement, increasing user awareness, and the use of alternative water sources such as rain water and greywater reuse. This article presents a case study carried out in a standard building in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. Initially an evaluation on the applicability of those measures was undertaken. Then, some priorities were established, considering their benefits and risks in terms of promoting the sustainability of water resources in buildings. The establishment of such priorities is very important as a supporting tool for planning building water conservation actions. The aim of this article is to present an application of a Decision Support System (DSS) for establishing priorities for building water conservation actions, aiming to save water. The DSS used was Multicriteria Analysis, specifically the ELECTRE III Method, which established a hierarchy of water conservation actions.