- Author
-
Orloski, M. J.
|
Wyly, R. S.
- Title
- Performance Criteria and Plumbing System Design.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
- Report
-
NBS TN 966
August 1978
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
houses; plumbing; design criteria; piping systems; venting; drainage; hydraulic jump; mathematical models; water conservation
- Abstract
- An overview is presented indicating how the performance approach to plumbing system design can be used to extend traditional methods to innovative systems. Identification of the plumbing performance needed in a built system is used to classify current design criteria intended to furnish this level of performance. Some current design criteria may provide a higher level of performance than is actually needed by the user. In other cases, no standard test method, criterion, or evaluation technique exists. Putting existing knowledge into a performance format increases the utility of this knowledge and facilitates identification of needed research to fill the gaps. Some of the mathematical models now used for system design and pipe sizing in plumbing codes are reviewed in the context of performance-oriented research. The results of experimental work in plumbing systems with reduced-size vents (smaller than allowed by codes) are presented as an example of the use of the performance approach, and illustrate a case where performance criteria permit relaxing of vent design practice. Conceivably the re-examination by plumbing designers of traditional design criteria against measured user needs could be beneficially extended to other areas of plumbing design such as water distribution, storm drainage, and plumbing fixtures. Beyond this, it has been recognized that uniform guidelines for evaluation of innovative systems, based on research findings, are essential for wide acceptance of performance methods, particularly by the regulatory community.