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Explore this LEED credit
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Credit language
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
Reduce total indoor and outdoor water consumption by at least 10% over standard practices. For indoor water savings, use the Water Reduction Calculator to determine the average flush or flow rate for each fixture type and the estimated daily usage. The baselines for indoor water consumption are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Indoor water baseline consumption (per person per day)
Fixture |
Baseline flush or flow rate |
Estimated fixture usage |
Estimated water usage |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shower (per compartment) |
2.5 gpm |
9.5 lpm |
6.15 minutes |
15.4 gallons |
58.4 liters |
Lavatory, kitchen faucet |
2.2 gpm |
8.3 lpm |
5.0 minutes |
11 gallons |
41.5 liters |
Toilet |
1.6 gpf |
6 lpf |
5.05 flushes |
8 gallons |
30.3 liters |
Clothes washer |
9.5 WF |
9.5 WF |
0.37 cycles @ 3.5 ft3 (@0.1 m3) |
15.1 gallons |
57.1 liters |
Dishwasher |
6.5 gpc |
24 lpc |
0.1 cycles |
0.7 gallons |
2.4 liters |
- Install smart scheduling technology. This strategy counts for a maximum reduction of 30% provided all landscape water use is controlled by a soil moisture sensor control system or a weather-based irrigation control system.
- Use captured rainwater.
- Use reclaimed water.
- Use water treated on site or conveyed by a public agency specifically for nonpotable uses (water from naturally occurring surface water bodies, such as streams and rivers, and groundwater, such as well water, does not count).
Table 2. Points for reducing indoor and outdoor water use
| Percentage reduction | Points |
|---|---|
| 10% | 1 |
| 15% | 2 |
| 20% | 3 |
| 25% | 4 |
| 30% | 5 |
| 35% | 6 |
| 40% | 7 |
| 45% | 8 |
| 50% | 9 |
| 55% | 10 |
| 60% | 11 |
| 65% | 12 |
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.
Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »Frequently asked questions
See all forum discussions about this credit »Addenda
Appliance manufacturers are no longer reporting MEF or WF information and are instead reporting Integrated Modified Energy Factor (IMEF) and Integrated Water Factor (IWF) for any residentially classified washing machines. ENERGY STAR appliances made this change in a recent update.
How should projects apply LEED credits that reference the old MEF and WF use the updated IMEF and IWF?
There is no direct equivalency between MEF and IMEF, nor WF and IWF. Projects should use the ENERGY STAR performance thresholds for IMEF and IWF to meet LEED credit requirements.
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.
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
Reduce total indoor and outdoor water consumption by at least 10% over standard practices. For indoor water savings, use the Water Reduction Calculator to determine the average flush or flow rate for each fixture type and the estimated daily usage. The baselines for indoor water consumption are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Indoor water baseline consumption (per person per day)
Fixture |
Baseline flush or flow rate |
Estimated fixture usage |
Estimated water usage |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shower (per compartment) |
2.5 gpm |
9.5 lpm |
6.15 minutes |
15.4 gallons |
58.4 liters |
Lavatory, kitchen faucet |
2.2 gpm |
8.3 lpm |
5.0 minutes |
11 gallons |
41.5 liters |
Toilet |
1.6 gpf |
6 lpf |
5.05 flushes |
8 gallons |
30.3 liters |
Clothes washer |
9.5 WF |
9.5 WF |
0.37 cycles @ 3.5 ft3 (@0.1 m3) |
15.1 gallons |
57.1 liters |
Dishwasher |
6.5 gpc |
24 lpc |
0.1 cycles |
0.7 gallons |
2.4 liters |
- Install smart scheduling technology. This strategy counts for a maximum reduction of 30% provided all landscape water use is controlled by a soil moisture sensor control system or a weather-based irrigation control system.
- Use captured rainwater.
- Use reclaimed water.
- Use water treated on site or conveyed by a public agency specifically for nonpotable uses (water from naturally occurring surface water bodies, such as streams and rivers, and groundwater, such as well water, does not count).
Table 2. Points for reducing indoor and outdoor water use
| Percentage reduction | Points |
|---|---|
| 10% | 1 |
| 15% | 2 |
| 20% | 3 |
| 25% | 4 |
| 30% | 5 |
| 35% | 6 |
| 40% | 7 |
| 45% | 8 |
| 50% | 9 |
| 55% | 10 |
| 60% | 11 |
| 65% | 12 |
