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LEED v4
Retail – New Construction
Water Efficiency
Building-level water metering

LEED CREDIT

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

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View the LEED v4.1 version of this credit »

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Credit language

USGBC logo

© 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.

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.

Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »

Addenda

7/29/2022 – Updated: 9/1/2022
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Resources tab Changes:

1. After the sentence "We will update this list as we enable support for additional data sources.". add the following 2 sentences:

"Projects are required to submit energy and water consumption data to USGBC on the date they begin typical, physical occupancy. Alternatively, projects may opt to provide data beginning on the date that the project accepts certification from GBCI. USGBC currently accepts energy and water data in the following ways:"

2. Under the heading "Third Party Data Source", add the following sentence as the first bullet in the list:

"Use Arc to share your data at https://arcskoru.com/ by activating your project, creating a meter and entering your performance data."

3. Under the heading "Third Party Data Source", delete the following bullets from the list:

"Coming Soon: Share data using one of USGBC’s App Lab partners. These apps are created by authorized partners and are designed to automate data submission into LEED Online. This option is not yet available from the partners on the site however please contact us to learn more about connecting with an existing data management system."

" Use Arc to share your data at https://arcskoru.com/"

4. Under the heading "USGBC Approved Data Template", replace the sentence that begins "Projects that choose this option must be prepared.." with the following sentence:

"Projects that choose this option should submit their spreadsheets to USGBC’s Hightail Dropbox at least two times per year."



Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
7/1/2016 – Updated: 7/14/2016
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Delete the "Additions" section.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
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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Documentation toolkit

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LEEDuser expert

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Ben Stanley

WSP - Built Ecology
Senior Sustainability Manager

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USGBC logo

© 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.

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 »

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.

LEEDuser expert

headshot

Ben Stanley

WSP - Built Ecology
Senior Sustainability Manager

See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Subscribe to new discussions about Retail-NC-v4 WEp3 View the LEED v4.1 version of this credit