The Water Use Reduction - Additional Guidance document seems to indicate that although on-site non-potable water sources for flush fixtures and/or flow fixtures (i.e. rainwater harvesting) can be counted in water reduction calculations, this use is limited to "Retail and Healthcare" projects, presumably under their relevant rating systems.
Can anyone confirm that an alternative compliance path including rainwater harvesting in water use calculations has been successfully used for WEp1 and WEc3 for typical projects under LEED NC 2009?
Many thanks in advance!
Michelle Rosenberger
PartnerArchEcology
523 thumbs up
October 24, 2013 - 6:41 pm
Hi Nik,
Why do you have that impression? We are pursuing this on a Core & Shell project currently, though it has not gone through review. I see nothing in the Guidance to suggest that limitation. I can say that we've been doing this for many years, long before Retail and Healthcare existed as rating systems, and this option has always been available.
Michael Maier
Leroy Street StudioOctober 24, 2013 - 6:53 pm
Hi Michelle,
I may be reading this entirely wrong, but under Non-potable Water Use Calculations the first paragraph ends "Retail and Healthcare projects may apply on-site non-potable water sources for fixtures and process water use reduction" -- not sure if this is a restriction or simply an additional clarification to usage on NC 2009 projects.
Anyway, if you've had success in the past using rainwater in the water usage reduction calcs, that about answers my question!
Thanks -- apologies for the name confusion, there was some sign-up confusion within the office.
Michelle Rosenberger
PartnerArchEcology
523 thumbs up
October 24, 2013 - 6:57 pm
Hi Brian,
Ah, I believe they are just trying to say you can do it for those types of projects which involved process water also. Good luck.