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LEED v4.1

Retail – New Construction

Water Efficiency
Building-Level Water Metering

LEED CREDIT

Retail-NC-v4.1 WEp3: Building-level water metering Required

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Requirements

Install permanent water meters that measure the total potable water use for the building and associated grounds. Meter data must be compiled into monthly and annual summaries; meter readings can be manual or automated.

Commit to sharing with USGBC the resulting whole-project water usage data for a five-year period beginning on the date the project accepts LEED certification or typical occupancy, whichever comes first.

This commitment must carry forward for five years or until the building changes ownership or lessee.

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Addenda

4/9/2021Updated: 4/19/2021
Rating System Correction
Description of change:
Revise Intent for WE prerequisite Building-Level Water Metering as follows:
"To conserve low cost potable water resources and support water management and identify opportunities for additional water savings by tracking water consumption."
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
7/2/2018
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:

Our project is pursuing LEED v4 BD+C certification, and we are located on a campus. The landscape within our LEED project boundary is served by an irrigation loop which irrigates land beyond the boundary. The irrigation loop is metered at the campus level, and it is cost-prohibitive for us to install a new irrigation meter for the small patch of grass within our LEED project boundary receiving irrigation. Is it possible for us to achieve LEED v4 WE prerequisite Building-Level Water Metering using the campus irrigation data?

Ruling:

The project is requesting clarification as to how to document compliance with LEED v4 WE prerequisite Building-Level Water Metering, given that the project landscape is served by an irrigation loop which is part of a campus system.

For compliance with LEED v4 WE prerequisite Building Level Water Metering, projects whose water use for irrigation is metered at the campus system level may submit an engineering calculation that accurately reflects the water consumption of the landscaped area within the project boundary, or prorate irrigation data for the project boundary from the campus meter.

If the project chooses to prorate irrigation data from the campus meter in lieu of installing irrigation meter(s) to track landscape water consumption within the project boundary for WE prerequisite Building Level Water Metering, irrigation water systems are excluded from the list of water subsystems eligible for WE credit Water Metering.

**Made applicable to LEED v4.1 on 4/18/2023**

Campus Applicable
Yes
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
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© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Install permanent water meters that measure the total potable water use for the building and associated grounds. Meter data must be compiled into monthly and annual summaries; meter readings can be manual or automated.

Commit to sharing with USGBC the resulting whole-project water usage data for a five-year period beginning on the date the project accepts LEED certification or typical occupancy, whichever comes first.

This commitment must carry forward for five years or until the building changes ownership or lessee.

LEEDuser expert

Ben Stanley

WSP - Built Ecology
Senior Sustainability Manager

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