Base Building Fixtures

To satisfy the prerequisite you need to demonstrate a 20% water use reduction in your tenant space. However, once you do this you no longer qualify for any of the points available in WEc1 in which you must include all fixtures that the occupants would utilize. The hinge word here is space as opposed to scope. Before the semantic change full floor occupants could claim that the core bathrooms were not in their project scope.

Norma- I have a very similar situation which I am trying to find a solution to. Did you receive a definate answer on this? I have a base building which was originally several historic warehouses and is now a multi-use retail/business building. The owner's of this property would like to encourage new tenants to pursue a LEED CI certification, but they recently replaced the base building fixtures with fixtures which do not produce a water use reduction and they do not want to have to replace the fixtures again. Can a tenant having only a break-room sink achieve the water-use reduction prerequisite by decreasing the flow rate of only that fixture and not addressing the base building fixtures that will be used by the occupants but are not within the tenant space?

Jessica, have you seen the Water Use Reduction Additional Guidance document dated 12/1/09 and updated 11/1/11 (http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=6493)? Your project appears to fall under Case 4. Given that you only have a (presumably low-flow) breakroom sink within your tenant space, prerequisite achievement will be based solely on the water savings of that fixture. However, keep in mind that projects identifying with Case 4 cannot achieve WEc1 points since their water savings will be based on the water savings of the tenant fixture alone and not for all of the fixtures necessary to meet the needs of the tenant occupants.

Karen- Thank you for the help! I had not seen that document. Do the instructions for how to fill out the prerequisite form essentially ensure that if your project falls (as outs does) into case 4 and is documented accordingly, you will achieve the prerequisite with only the reduction of water at the kitchen faucet? We would hate to encourage a client to pursue LEED certification and have them be disqualified due to a misinterpretation. Also, I have not tried to file WEp1 without filling in the flush fixture data. It doesn't seem that it would allow you to mark the form complete. Have you done this yet?

I have read the addenda and am clear on the pathway to document just breakroom sinks where the prerequisite requirements can be met using an Alternative Compliance Path but no points can be earned in WEc1. My project has a full-service kitchen (pre-rinse spray sinks) and is looking to pursue SSc4.2. Do I follow the same case (case #4) since I am still not documenting water use reduction in base building flush fixtures or does the addition of the kitchen and showers change things?