The latest version of LEED NC & CS v3.0 Addenda incorporates changes and improvements to LEED 2009 resources. However there are some considerations that were not clear. Find bellow some questions:
1 - The latest version of LEED NC & CS v3.0 Addenda, establishes in note with ID number 100000753, the default duration for metering type/autocontrol faucet equal to 15 seconds for the baseline and 12 seconds in design case. However the actual version of WEp1 Template doesn´t consider the duration of those fixtures, only the GPC (gallons per cycle) volume. The Template doesn´t allows two different durations in the same fixture and, when selecting the “metering” type of Public Faucet, the template only uses the GPC field so that the duration field is disregarded. How do I consider this change on template calculations?
2 - The latest version of LEED NC & CS v3.0 Addenda, establishes in note with ID number 100000754 that “kitchen sinks” category encompasses all sinks in public or private buildings that are used with patterns and purposes similar to a sink in a residential sink, including break room sinks. However the default calculation of WEp1, estipulate for kitchen sinks one daily use per FTE, with 15 seconds duration, not being a representative consumption for break rooms in office towers. Those buildings have commonly a small break room for large office areas, moreover, the great part of occupants have lunch outside the building. Usually in C&S projects it is not known the right percentage of occupants which use kitchen sinks in break rooms. In order to have a realistic scenario of water consumption, what is the daily use number that should be considered for kitchen sink use?
3 - The latest version of LEED NC & CS v3.0 Addenda, establishes in note with ID number 100000754 that "kitchen sinks" category encompasses all sinks in public or private buildings that are used with patterns and purposes similar to a sink in a residential kitchen. However professional grade / commercial faucets such as those used in a commercial kitchen would not be included. Based on this consideration, we have some questions:
• In a building with large refectory for the occupants, if there are kitchen sinks in the professional kitchen, how do I consider the water consumption for this type of fixture, since its water consumption in such project is representative?
• Considering that pre-rinse sprays are used only in professional / commercial grade kitchens, in which cases should pre-rinse sprays be considered in the calculations?
Could somebody help me?
Bests regards.
Adriana Hansen
ManagerCTE - Centro de Tecnologia de Edificações
118 thumbs up
July 5, 2011 - 6:57 pm
Below the GBCI response
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Dear Wagner,
Thank you for contacting the Green Building Certification Institute, and my apologies for the severely delayed response. In regards to your questions concerning WEp1 addenda:
1. Unfortunately the form in LEED Online v3 is not set up to receive different faucet durations. In order to accommodate for the design-case duration for fixtures used on your project, you will need to translate the 12 second cycle into GPC (Gallons Per Cycle) by using the actual fixture flow rate (GPM) and the 12 second duration. For the baseline flow rate, your project team should use the metering baseline of 0.25 GPC. It may be useful to reference our WEp1/WEc3 Guidance Document found here: http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=6493, for additional information on the calculations for this credit.
2. Even for a CS project, your project team will need to use the default fixture-use as outlined in the table on pg. 171 in the reference guide for nonresidential kitchen sinks (1 use per FTE for a 15 second duration each) in order to calculate the baseline use for this fixture group within the entire building.
We realize that it may be hard to calculate and accommodate for this credit when occupancy details may be unknown, however, these fixture uses must still be accounted for in the WEp1 calculations. If the project team feels that the default occupancy counts outlined in CS Appendix 1 on page 611 are not accurately representative of their CS project, you may certainly propose an alternative by supplying a detailed narrative describing the basis of your occupancy calculation and ensuring that all occupant types are accounted for (FTE, Transients, etc). However, please also note that the review team still reserves the right to deny this approach if there are any outstanding issues, as Customer Service is not authorized to review or approve alternative compliance approaches outside the LEED certification review process. If you require formal approval outside of the review process, you will need to submit a formal project Credit Interpretation Ruling (CIR) request via LEED Online (http://www.gbci.org/Certification/Resources/cirs.aspx) with additional details requesting advanced permission to use the alternate compliance approach you have suggested. Only a CIR can verify the validity of a particular approach in advance of your certification review.
3. If the same kitchen sink fixtures are applied in a professional/commercial grade kitchen setting, they will be considered process water fixtures and will not need to be included in WEp1 calculations for your project. This would also include pre-rinse spray fixtures. For more information, please reference LI #5291 and #1866 (which may be relevant to your situation) in our LEED Interpretation database found here: https://www.usgbc.org/leedinterpretations/lilanding.aspx.
I hope this information proves helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to use the contact form at http://www.gbci.org/contactus or call us at 1.800.795.1746. Thank you.
Best Regards,
Jarrod
Green Building Certification Institute
2101 L Street NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20037
800-795-1746 (phone)
202 828-5110 (fax)
www.gbci.org/contactus