Do Cooling Towers Count for LEED for Schools WEc4?

Yes, you are correct in assuming that that once-through cooling must also be avoided in cooling towers, as well as with other refrigeration equipment.

I know this response is dated, but as a Cooling Tower manufacturer and the LEED AP on staff here, I need to provide my input. 1) There are no once through cooling tower designs, at least if operated properly. Cooling towers were designed to recycle water, and conserve 95% of the water in an evaporatively cooled system. Cooling towers replace once through systems to conserve this cooling water. 2) Item 8 Examples, in LEEDv3 WE Credit 4, the statement of the closed loop system in a cooling tower is not entirely correct. There are open cooling towers, and closed circuit coolers, open vs. closed systems. Potable water use is based on the amount of evaporation that is taking place in the closed loop cooler or open cooling tower, and evaporation loss is based on the heat load from the building that is sent to the tower. A closed loop cooler or open cooling tower will evaporate the same amount of water with the same heat load. It is true that using a closed loop cooler keeps the system clean, but this just helps with fouling in the system, and does not necessarily save water.

Our local water utility encourages the collection of condensate to make up evaporation loss. It seems we should be able to count that towards the 20% reduction for path 2 above. Has ayone tried this approach?

Alison, though I have not used this path yet, I do think you should give it a shot. Be sure to include documentation to support the quantity of condensate collected, a clear description of how it is recycled and displaces potable water use in the cooling tower, show your calculations in gallons per minute as is standard for cooling towers, and determine percent reduction. The credit requires 20% reduction from standard, so you'll need to do calcs to see if you can meet that benchmark. Good luck!

This project is an elementary school in Matamoras, PA using LEED 2009 for Schools. I could really use your help on LEED Plumbing/HVAC questions MRA is struggling with on a new elementary school project: 1. Question: Under which LEED 2009 credit would the strategy of capturing rainwater, treating and utilizing for cooling tower make-up best fit? This strategy reduces the amount of potable water needed for cooling tower make-up. 2. Please reply with any and all Example LEED Templates (from past jobs which you have access to) that used captured rainwater for cooling tower make-up. I have attached one example, but it is under an older version of LEED and it did not use rainwater for cooling tower make-up (it used AC condensate). See attached template (namely the narrative portion). 3. Also, any advice you have for getting this rainwater for cooling tower make-up to meet the requirements of a LEED design review would be helpful. This project is still in schematic design phase, so if I need to have anything added by the architect or civil engineer, I need to do it soon. Thank you and best regards, -Manish