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The nation faces tremendous costs required to maintain and improve its water and wastewater infrastructure. Effective management of water delivery and treatment systems would benefit from a regular national water demand data collection effort that captures consumption by economic sector as well as by end use. A water demand survey would provide the data necessary to better understand water demand trends, and ultimately to assess implications for water infrastructure needs and the U.S. economy. This report summarizes current publicly available water demand information and recommends data parameters for a national water demand survey.

Dominik Gonnissen,1 Ying Qu,1,2 Klaus Langer,3 Cengiz Öztürk,4 Yuliang Zhao,2 Chunying Chen,2 Guiscard Seebohm,5 Martina Düfer,6 Harald Fuchs,1 Hans-Joachim Galla,7 Kristina Riehemann11Center for Nanotechnology, Institute of Physics, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; 2National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 3Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy, University of Münster, Münster, 4chemicell GmbH, Berlin, 5Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Institute for Genetics of Heart Diseases, University Hospital Münster, 6Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, 7Department of Cell Biology/Biophysics, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Münster, Münster, GermanyAbstract: Within the last years, progress has been made in the knowledge of the properties of medically used nanoparticles and their toxic effects, but still, little is known about their influence on cellular processes of immune cells. The aim of our comparative study was to present the influence of two different nanoparticle types on subcellular processes of primary monocytes and the leukemic monocyte cell line MM6. We used core-shell starch-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) and matrix poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles for our experiments. In addition to typical biocompatibility testing like the detection of necrosis or secretion of interleukins (ILs), we investigated the impact of these nanoparticles on the actin cytoskeleton and the two voltage-gated potassium channels Kv1.3 and Kv7.1. Induction of necrosis was not seen for PLGA nanoparticles and SPIONs in primary monocytes and MM6 cells. Likewise, no alteration in secretion of IL-1β and IL-10 was detected under the same experimental conditions. In contrast, IL-6 secretion was exclusively downregulated in primary monocytes after contact with both nanoparticles. Two-electrode voltage clamp experiments revealed that both nanoparticles reduce currents of the aforementioned potassium channels. The two nanoparticles differed significantly in their impact on the actin cytoskeleton, demonstrated via atomic force microscopy elasticity measurement and phalloidin staining. While SPIONs led to the disruption of the respective cytoskeleton, PLGA did not show any influence in both experimental setups. The difference in the effects on ion channels and the actin cytoskeleton suggests that nanoparticles affect these subcellular components via different pathways. Our data indicate that the alteration of the cytoskeleton and the effect on ion channels are new parameters that describe the influence of nanoparticles on cells. The results are highly relevant for medical application and further evaluation of nanomaterial biosafety. Keywords: actin cytoskeleton, cell elasticity, AFM, ion channels, patch clamp, TEVC

The nation faces tremendous costs required to maintain and improve its water and wastewater infrastructure. Effective management of water delivery and treatment systems would benefit from a regular national water demand data collection effort that captures consumption by economic sector as well as by end use. A water demand survey would provide the data necessary to better understand water demand trends, and ultimately to assess implications for water infrastructure needs and the U.S. economy. This report summarizes current publicly available water demand information and recommends data parameters for a national water demand survey.

Servers’ field energy use remains poorly understood, given heterogeneous computing loads, configurable hardware and software, and operation over a wide range of management practices. This paper explores various characteristics of 1- and 2-socket volume servers that affect energy consumption, and quantifies the difference in power demand between higher-performing SPEC and ENERGY STAR servers and our best understanding of a typical server operating today. We first establish general characteristics of the U.S. installed base of volume servers from existing IDC data and the literature, before presenting information on server hardware configurations from data collection events at a major online retail website. We then compare cumulative distribution functions of server idle power across three separate datasets and explain the differences between them via examination of the hardware characteristics to which power draw is mostsensitive. We find that idle server power demand is significantly higher than ENERGY STAR benchmarks and the industry-released energy use documented in SPEC, and that SPEC server configurations—and likely theassociated power-scaling trends—are atypical of volume servers. Next, we examine recent trends in server power draw among high-performing servers across their full load range to consider how representative these trends are of all volume servers before inputting weighted average idle power load values into a recently published model of national server energy use. Finally, we present results from two surveys of IT managers (n=216) and IT vendors (n=178) that illustrate the prevalence of more-efficient equipment and operational practices in server rooms and closets; these findings highlight opportunities to improve the energy efficiency of the U.S. server stock.

Hot water savings from water-efficient lavatory fittings lead to reductions in water heating energy consumption, and ultimately to decreases in carbon emissions. This paper characterizes existing and proposed approaches used to estimate hot water savings and carbon emissions reductions stemming from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense program. Also described are refinements that improve the accuracy of residential hot water use percentage estimates of lavatory fittings. The authors conclude that (1) hot water percentages for showers and faucets calculated using up-to-date, publicly available national data are consistent with those found by regional studies and household-level models of water use; (2) the accuracy of heating energy savings estimates attributable to WaterSense-labeled lavatory products, as well as associated emissions reductions, can be refined by modifying the existing energy factor/uniform energy factor (EF/UEF)-based estimation approach with available data. The refined approach accounts for more nuanced conditions than the EF/UED-based approach but depends on data not always available; and (3) the approaches described and intermediate outputs can be generalized for other water conservation programs or estimating purposes.

This paper seeks to inform an improved understanding of the energy tradeoff associated with on-site manufacturing water reuse in the United States from a lifecycle perspective, in part by developing an analytical framework for understanding when this tradeoff for reuse is beneficial. We survey the literature to assess the current state of reuse and its motives and barriers in the United States, before synthesizing information from publicly available EPA data on contaminants in US manufacturing wastewaters and technologies for treating them. Using the available data, we derive a set of “ubiquitous contaminants” among the top ten in terms of mass discharged in more than half of US manufacturing subsectors (NAICS 31–33) according to EPA permit data. We also present information on proven treatment trains and their energy requirements. We then compare water quality requirements for specific contaminants in reclaimed water to those characteristic of wastewater streams currently being discharged from manufacturing plants into surface waters to highlight sectors with reuse opportunities that could require little cost to realize, such as primary metals and, to a lesser extent, petroleum and coal products. We conclude by highlighting data limitations that need to be rectified before applying the framework more broadly and discussing how these data gaps could be filled. Better understanding the relationship between energy and water in the context of on-site manufacturing water reuse would allow manufacturers to improve resiliency by reducing regulatory, physical, and reputational risks while lessening their footprint on local watersheds.

An expanding body of research is defining drivers, benefits, and challenges of adopting ISO 50001 energy management systems. The Clean Energy Ministerial's Energy Management Leadership Awards program requires ISO 50001-certified organizations to develop case studies of their implementation experience. 72 recent case studies spanning multiple economic sectors provide a unique global look at implementation from certified organizations' perspectives. This dataset was investigated through content analysis of phrases related to motivations and goals, the role of management and the organization, benefits achieved, keys to success, and challenges. This paper presents findings from this quantitative analysis of “codes” assigned to phrases that capture their meaning. While organizations adopted ISO 50001 for different motives and saw myriad benefits beyond energy savings and associated greenhouse gas emissions reductions, commonalities exist. The most frequently identified drivers are existing values and goals, environmental sustainability, and government incentives or regulations. Findings also include: obtaining and sustaining top management support is critical; top benefits mentioned are cost savings, productivity, and operational improvements; and the primary barrier is lacking a culture of energy management. Policymakers and others looking to accelerate ISO 50001 uptake can use these findings to highlight benefits and incentives that will resonate with corporate decisionmakers worldwide.

As data centers proliferate, their energy intensity deserves close attention. Always-on operations and growing usage for cloud and other backend processes make servers the fundamental driver of data center energy use. Yet servers’ power draw under real-world conditions is poorly understood. This paper explores characteristics of volume servers that affect energy use, quantifying differences in power draw between higher-performing Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) and ENERGY STAR servers and that of a typical server. First, we establish general characteristics of the US installed base, before reporting hardware configurations from a major online retail website. We then compare idle power across three datasets (one unique to this paper) and explain their differences via the hardware characteristics to which power draw is most sensitive. We find idle server power demand to be significantly higher than benchmarks from ENERGY STAR and the industry-released SPEC database, and SPEC server configurations—and likely their power scaling—to be atypical of volume servers. Next, we examine power draw trends among high-performing servers across their load range to consider whether these trends are representative of volume servers, before inputting average idle power load values into a recent national server energy use model. Lastly, results from two surveys of IT professionals illustrate the incidence of more efficient equipment and operational practices in server rooms/closets. Future work should include server power field measurements in data centers of different sizes, accounting for variations in configurations and setting changes post-purchase, as well as investigating the linkage between time and server energy efficiency.

Servers’ field energy use remains poorly understood, given heterogeneous computing loads, configurable hardware and software, and operation over a wide range of management practices. This paper explores various characteristics of 1- and 2-socket volume servers that affect energy consumption, and quantifies the difference in power demand between higher-performing SPEC and ENERGY STAR servers and our best understanding of a typical server operating today. We first establish general characteristics of the U.S. installed base of volume servers from existing IDC data and the literature, before presenting information on server hardware configurations from data collection events at a major online retail website. We then compare cumulative distribution functions of server idle power across three separate datasets and explain the differences between them via examination of the hardware characteristics to which power draw is mostsensitive. We find that idle server power demand is significantly higher than ENERGY STAR benchmarks and the industry-released energy use documented in SPEC, and that SPEC server configurations—and likely theassociated power-scaling trends—are atypical of volume servers. Next, we examine recent trends in server power draw among high-performing servers across their full load range to consider how representative these trends are of all volume servers before inputting weighted average idle power load values into a recently published model of national server energy use. Finally, we present results from two surveys of IT managers (n=216) and IT vendors (n=178) that illustrate the prevalence of more-efficient equipment and operational practices in server rooms and closets; these findings highlight opportunities to improve the energy efficiency of the U.S. server stock.

This report describes the analytical models Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) developed to estimate impacts of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) WaterSense® labeling program. The models assess national impacts for WaterSense labeled toilets, faucets, faucet aerators, showerheads, flushing urinals, commercial pre-rinse spray valves, and weather or soil moisture sensor-based irrigation controllers (WBICs) by analyzing national inputs for water use in residential and commercial/institutional (CI) markets. For irrigation controllers, LBNL’s methodology also incorporates a scenario that evaluates impacts in three key large states that are considered to be the principal market for “smart” irrigation controllers: California, Florida, and Texas. The models estimate impacts for the water savings attributable to the program and the net present value (NPV) of the lifetime water savings from more efficient products.

The formation of organic nitrates and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) were monitored during the NO3 + limonene reaction in the atmosphere simulation chamber SAPHIR at Research Center Jülich. The 24-h run began in a purged, dry, particle-free chamber and comprised two injections of limonene and oxidants, such that the first experiment measured SOA yield in the absence of seed aerosol, and the second experiment yields in the presence of 10 μg m−3 seed organic aerosol. After each injection, two separate increases in aerosol mass were observed, corresponding to sequential oxidation of the two limonene double bonds. Analysis of the measured NO3, limonene, product nitrate concentrations, and aerosol properties provides mechanistic insight and constrains rate constants, branching ratios and vapor pressures of the products. The organic nitrate yield from NO3 + limonene is ≈30%. The SOA mass yield was observed to be 25–40%. The first injection is reproduced by a kinetic model. PMF analysis of the aerosol composition suggests that much of the aerosol mass results from combined oxidation by both O3 and NO3, e.g., oxidation of NO3 + limonene products by O3. Further, later aerosol nitrate mass seems to derive from heterogeneous uptake of NO3 onto unreacted aerosol alkene.

The yields of organic nitrates and of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particle formation were measured for the reaction NO3+β-pinene under dry and humid conditions in the atmosphere simulation chamber SAPHIR at Research Center Jülich. These experiments were conducted at low concentrations of NO3 (NO3+N2O5