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Explore this LEED credit
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Credit language
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Intent
To reduce demand for water through high-efficiency fixtures and efficient landscaping practices.
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 |
gpm = gallons per minute
gpf = gallons per flush
WF = water factor
gpc = gallons per cycle
lpf = liters per flush
lpm = liters per minute
lpc = liters per cycle
The water pressure in single-family buildings must not exceed 60 psi (415 kPa), with no detectable water leaks. Any installed water softeners must be demand initiated.
For outdoor water savings, use the EPA WaterSense Water Budget Tool to calculate the baseline landscape water consumption and the design landscape water consumption.
Implement the following measures to further reduce landscape water consumption. Add the savings associated with each of the following strategies to the reduction from the landscape water requirement, as calculated in the Water Budget Tool:
- 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).
Points are awarded according to Table 2.
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 |
Projects attempting this credit are not eligible to earn points under other Water Efficiency credits.
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.
Intent
To reduce demand for water through high-efficiency fixtures and efficient landscaping practices.
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 |
gpm = gallons per minute
gpf = gallons per flush
WF = water factor
gpc = gallons per cycle
lpf = liters per flush
lpm = liters per minute
lpc = liters per cycle
The water pressure in single-family buildings must not exceed 60 psi (415 kPa), with no detectable water leaks. Any installed water softeners must be demand initiated.
For outdoor water savings, use the EPA WaterSense Water Budget Tool to calculate the baseline landscape water consumption and the design landscape water consumption.
Implement the following measures to further reduce landscape water consumption. Add the savings associated with each of the following strategies to the reduction from the landscape water requirement, as calculated in the Water Budget Tool:
- 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).
Points are awarded according to Table 2.
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 |
Projects attempting this credit are not eligible to earn points under other Water Efficiency credits.
