Our dairy was built in 2014 with the most water efficient toilets and sinks on the market. (Urinals use no water). Our baseline year was using these fixtures.
Because we used these fixtures for the baseline, I am struggling to understand how to get a 30% increase in efficiency on the most efficient fixtures on the market....
Seems like you get penalized for up to 5 points for starting out with the best... Is there an alternative path for this credit?
Thanks
Trista Brown
Project DirectorWSP USA
449 thumbs up
July 8, 2016 - 11:35 am
The % reduction is calculated against a baseline that's equal to 120% of the water use that would result if all fixtures met the code requirements in Table 1 under WEp1 (if your building's certificate of occupancy dated 1995 or later). Code doesn't represent the most efficient fixtures available, so you should be able to earn points under WEc2. I recommend testing out your building using USGBC's calculator and see where you land. Hope that helps!
Meier Corporate Account
Meijer3 thumbs up
July 20, 2016 - 1:50 pm
We used the calculator and found our existing usage was 37% below the average.
So can I claim 5 points for the credit? Even though I cannot go lower with new fixtures?
Trista Brown
Project DirectorWSP USA
449 thumbs up
July 29, 2016 - 6:34 pm
You don't have to complete any retrofits or upgrades to earn the prerequisite/credit. If your current fixtures are showing a 37% reduction compared to the EBOM baseline, you can go ahead and document it. Let me know if that's not answering your question.