Living Lab
Integrated Water and Heat Recovery in the Neighborhood
IWIQ
The IWIQ living laboratory (“Integrated Water and Heat Recovery in the Neighborhood”) is testing, under real-world conditions, how graywater recycling and heat recovery can be implemented and scaled up in existing buildings. The technological innovation lies in treating slightly nutrient-rich graywater (from bathrooms, kitchens, and washing machines) to produce high-quality process water that can be used for toilet flushing, washing machines, or irrigation, among other things. This can reduce drinking water consumption by up to 60%.
At the same time, the heat contained in the graywater is recovered via heat exchangers and heat pumps, which can cover up to 60% of the energy demand for hot water and, in the future, also supply local heating networks. What is innovative is the integration of this system solution into existing buildings during energy-efficient retrofits—using Building Information Modeling and new installation concepts for a secondary piping network. This is complemented by data-driven operational optimization and process expansion of the treatment system, as well as a learning hub that ensures the participation of housing companies, government agencies, tradespeople, and the public, thereby enabling the transfer of this model to other neighborhoods.
Berlin as a testing ground for a socio-ecological transformation of economic life—the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy, and Public Enterprises (SenWiEnBe) is pursuing this idea through a pilot program to support business-oriented real-world laboratories. The program aims to provide financial support for testing innovative and complex system solutions under real-world conditions. Priority will be given to initiatives that demonstrate high potential for value creation and knowledge transfer and that facilitate regulatory and administrative learning. Of the 56 projects submitted, three were selected for funding. During a three-year implementation phase, the ideas from research will now be transferred to practice, tested, and scaled up (project duration: June 2025 to October 2028).
Contact & Consortium:
Research Group for Building Systems Engineering, TU Berlin
Concept sketch for the living laboratory, Source: tu.berlin/civilsystems/forschung
State of the art (dark blue) and innovation at the living laboratory for graywater recycling with integrated heat recovery (light blue), Source: https://kompetenzwasser.de/de/forschung/projekte/iwiq
Thematic Approaches:
#Circular Economy #Construction Transformation #Architecture
Spatial Approaches:
#Buildings #Neighborhood #Charlottenburg Campus
Project Website – Research Group on Building Systems Engineering – TU Berlin
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