LEEDuser’s viewpoint
Frank advice from LEED experts
LEED is changing all the time, and every project is unique. Even seasoned professionals can miss a critical detail and lose a credit or even a prerequisite at the last minute. Our expert advice guides our LEEDuser Premium members and saves you valuable time.
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LEEDuser tip sheets, written by our team of LEED experts, fill gaps in knowledge we’ve observed between the LEED Reference Guide, LEED Online, and LEED Interpretations. We update them regularly so that our members get the most relevant guidance for current issues on their projects.
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Credit language
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
WE credit 4.1 (1 point): Chemical management
Develop and implement a water management plan for the cooling tower or evaporative condenser that addresses chemical treatment, bleed-off, biological control and staff training as it relates to cooling tower maintenance. Improve water efficiency by installing and/or maintaining a conductivity meter and automatic controls to adjust the bleed rate and maintain proper concentration at all times.AND/OR
WE credit 4.2 (1 point): Nonpotable water source use
Use makeup water that consists of at least 50% nonpotable water, such as harvested rainwater, harvested stormwater, air-conditioner condensate, swimming pool filter backwash water, cooling tower blowdown, pass-through (once-through) cooling water, recycled treated wastewater from toilet and urinal flushing, foundation drain water, municipally reclaimed water or any other appropriate on-site water source that is not naturally occurring groundwater or surface water. Have a measurement program in place that verifies makeup water quantities used from nonpotable sources. Meters must be calibrated within the manufacturer’s recommended interval if the building owner, management organization or tenant owns the meter. Meters owned by third parties (e.g., utilities or governments) are exempt. See all forum discussions about this credit »What does it cost?
Cost estimates for this credit
On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.
Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.
This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.
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LEEDuser tip sheets, written by our team of LEED experts, fill gaps in knowledge we’ve observed between the LEED Reference Guide, LEED Online, and LEED Interpretations. We update them regularly so that our members get the most relevant guidance for current issues on their projects.
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Frequently asked questions
See all forum discussions about this credit »Addenda
Checklists
Step by step to LEED certification
LEEDuser’s checklists walk you through the key action steps you need to earn a credit, including how to avoid common pitfalls and save money.
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LEEDuser tip sheets, written by our team of LEED experts, fill gaps in knowledge we’ve observed between the LEED Reference Guide, LEED Online, and LEED Interpretations. We update them regularly so that our members get the most relevant guidance for current issues on their projects.
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Documentation toolkit
The motherlode of cheat sheets
LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit is loaded with calculators to help assess credit compliance, tracking spreadsheets for materials, sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions, and examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects for you to check your work against. To get your plaque, start with the right toolkit.
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LEEDuser tip sheets, written by our team of LEED experts, fill gaps in knowledge we’ve observed between the LEED Reference Guide, LEED Online, and LEED Interpretations. We update them regularly so that our members get the most relevant guidance for current issues on their projects.
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Get the inside scoop
Our editors have written a detailed analysis of nearly every LEED credit, and LEEDuser premium members get full access. We’ll tell you whether the credit is easy to accomplish or better left alone, and we provide insider tips on how to document it successfully.
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LEEDuser tip sheets, written by our team of LEED experts, fill gaps in knowledge we’ve observed between the LEED Reference Guide, LEED Online, and LEED Interpretations. We update them regularly so that our members get the most relevant guidance for current issues on their projects.
( does not provide premium access to LEEDuser)
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© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
WE credit 4.1 (1 point): Chemical management
Develop and implement a water management plan for the cooling tower or evaporative condenser that addresses chemical treatment, bleed-off, biological control and staff training as it relates to cooling tower maintenance. Improve water efficiency by installing and/or maintaining a conductivity meter and automatic controls to adjust the bleed rate and maintain proper concentration at all times.AND/OR
WE credit 4.2 (1 point): Nonpotable water source use
Use makeup water that consists of at least 50% nonpotable water, such as harvested rainwater, harvested stormwater, air-conditioner condensate, swimming pool filter backwash water, cooling tower blowdown, pass-through (once-through) cooling water, recycled treated wastewater from toilet and urinal flushing, foundation drain water, municipally reclaimed water or any other appropriate on-site water source that is not naturally occurring groundwater or surface water. Have a measurement program in place that verifies makeup water quantities used from nonpotable sources. Meters must be calibrated within the manufacturer’s recommended interval if the building owner, management organization or tenant owns the meter. Meters owned by third parties (e.g., utilities or governments) are exempt.Got the gist of WEc4 but not sure how to actually achieve it? LEEDuser gives step-by-step help. Premium members get:
- Checklists covering all the key action steps you'll need to earn the credit.
- Hot tips to give you shortcuts and avoid pitfalls.
- Cost tips to assess what a credit will actually cost, and how to make it affordable.
- Ideas for going beyond LEED with best practices.
- All checklists organized by project phase.
- On-the-fly suggestions of useful items from the Documentation Toolkit and Credit Language.
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LEEDuser tip sheets, written by our team of LEED experts, fill gaps in knowledge we’ve observed between the LEED Reference Guide, LEED Online, and LEED Interpretations. We update them regularly so that our members get the most relevant guidance for current issues on their projects.
( does not provide premium access to LEEDuser)
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In the end, LEED is all about documentation. LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit, for premium members only, saves you time and helps you avoid mistakes with:
- Calculators to help assess credit compliance.
- Tracking spreadsheets for materials purchases.
- Spreadsheets and forms to give to subs and other team members.
- Guidance documents on arcane LEED issues.
- Sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions.
- Examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects.
This article is BuildingGreen Premium content
Two ways to read the full article and get CEUs:
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Join for just $.../month »Purchase this article to get online access and a printable PDF.
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To read the full article, subscribe now to BuildingGreen Premium
For full access, sign up now for LEEDuser Premium
LEEDuser tip sheets, written by our team of LEED experts, fill gaps in knowledge we’ve observed between the LEED Reference Guide, LEED Online, and LEED Interpretations. We update them regularly so that our members get the most relevant guidance for current issues on their projects.
( does not provide premium access to LEEDuser)
Go premium for just $... » Go premium for just $... » Firm or campus members – click here »Your 15-day free trial expired on
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