Post '93 Construction - Requirements?

Dianne, the approach you've outlined is exactly right and will qualify you to meet the prerequisite for plumbing fixture and fitting efficiency. However, if your building is brand-new and has water-saving features, you may be leaving points on the table by using this streamlined approach. It may be worth the time and effort to do a quick inventory of your building fixtures in order to do a test-run of the performance calculations outlined in Option 4 of WEp1.Once you've registered your project with LEED-Online, you'll be able to get in and download the Credit Form for WEp1 and use the embedded calculators to perform those calculations. Take a minute to also review the guidance documentation located on the WEp1 credit page in LEED-Online titled "LEED 2009 Water Use Reduction: Additional Guidance"; this will help you setup your calculations properly. In LEED-EBOM v2009, there are up to 5 additional points available for plumbing fixture/fitting efficiency under WEc2.If your building is brand-new, chances are good that you'll be able to show that indoor water consumption is at least 10% better than the LEED baseline, which will qualify you for those additional points under WEc2.

Hi, where is it said, that I do only have to show that my building was erected in 1994 or later and prepare the policy to fulfil the prereq requirement ? What about the sentence: "For a plumbing system substantially completed in 1994 or later throughout the building, the baseline is 120% of the water use that would result if all fixtures met the codes cited above."?

Christian, I don't think anyone said that. Where are you reading that?

In the first answer to the original question of Dianne dated March 19th. She asked if for a one year old building it is sufficient just to "1-Verify construction date and fixture types (either through construction docs or inventory) with no calcs required; and 2-Develop a policy for conversion to high-performance fixtures that includes a simple economic/payback assessment?", which Jason affirmed in his answer dated March 24th. Isn't it obligatory to do the calculations with the 120%-baseline for the buildings constructed in 1994 or later? Or do I misinterpret something here?

Christian, it is not required to perform the calculations if your project building was completed after Jan 1, 1994 and is required to adhere to the Energy Policy Act of 1992 as part of the relevant building codes. LEED is basically saying that if your building was completed after that date, you would have had to comply with the federal building codes by installing compliant fixtures and fittings, so you must meet the minimum level of conservation that is targeted in WEp1. However, if your building was built after that date and has lots of high-efficiency fixtures that are better than code, you're probably going to want to document that level of compliance and attempt additional points through WEc2; if that's the case, then you'll need to perform the calculations to document that higher performance level.