Development of a Fuzzy Indicator of Water Efficiency in Buildings

To assess water efficiency in buildings, suitable indicators that can normalise data are needed to deeply evaluate buildings with different characteristics and support decision-making. This paper shows the development of a fuzzy indicator of water efficiency for dealing with different scenarios in school buildings. A sample of 82 school buildings was evaluated through different categories of variables, including the spaces in the building, water appliances and occupancy conditions. Particular indicators for five clusters were found and the fuzzy indicator normalised variables from all observations. Such an indicator allows water efficiency evaluation to generate useful results for any type of building, which can be compared to benchmarks and compose a water efficiency database. The most common school configuration presented low efficiency, which raises a question about the type of building used in public schools and their implications on water conservation. Results can support suitable initiatives for water conservation as inefficient buildings are actually at different levels of efficiency.