My project is a commercial building. All the fittings except Kitchen sink have been finalized. by assuming a flowrate of 4.3L/min for sink, I have 36% savings and so have advised the architect to select a model with suggested flowrate.The architect has given a test report with a flow rate at different pressures from 0.05Mpa to 0.5Mpa. Though LEED has not specified the psi for kitchen sinks, i believe it is logical to assume the same for faucets(80 psi). approximately 0.5Mpa=74psi, which is the corresponding flowrate i have to assume. Is my assumption right? At 0.5Mpa, the flowrate translates to 6 to 7L/min, with which i may go below 35% of savings, might loose a point !! Kindly Advice
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Jeremy Cressman
VP GM Commercial Business UnitAmerican Standard Brands
21 thumbs up
March 10, 2011 - 10:47 am
Lowering the standard hand-wash faucets further may be your solution. We calculate 40%+ savings prior to the kitchen faucets and showers in typical commercial by utilizing sensor or metering faucets (10sec/.5gpm or .08gpc), .125gpf urinal, and 1.28gpf water closets. If you need assistance in selecting these products I would be happy to assist. We have even specifed 7 and 3 second durations to help further reduce the gallons per cycle.
Reducing water flow at the showers and kitchen faucets must balance with the user's needs and available product. While 1.5gpm showers are available from all prominent manufacturer's, low-flow kitchen faucets would simply add more time to pot-filling. Consider a metering kitchen faucet if it suits the need.
Erica Downs
LEED ConsultantThe Green Engineer
254 thumbs up
April 1, 2011 - 8:35 am
Changing the flow rate based on pressure may get you into trouble with your submission. The letter template does not give a place to account for pressure -- I would save yourself the headache and leave it alone. Is this a commercial kitchen type setting? Will people really be fililing pots or doing any other serious cooking? Or will the kitchen sinks be used primarily for handwashing? The best thing to do is differentiate between "pot-filling" type faucets (which are considered process water and are not included in the credit) and hand-washing faucets. There is no reason a handwash faucet can't have a 0.5 gpm aerator -- in fact that is baseline. You won't get any savings here, but it won't hurt you either.