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Water Use Reduction

ShaVon Diaz

U.S. Green Building Council

LEEDuser Premium Member

7 thumbs up

July 21, 2010

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Bill Swanson

Sr. Electrical Engineer

Integrated Design Solutions

LEEDuser Expert

516 thumbs up

Wed, 07/21/2010 - 15:05

I didn't know USGBC was on here. HI. Thanks for the info.

LEEDuser Basic Member

55 thumbs up

Wed, 07/21/2010 - 15:07

I guess that answers it. Thanks for the clarification. Is the language meant to say that the definition of "Design Case" is the flow rates of the fixtures alone before taking deduction for non-potable water sources?

ShaVon Diaz

U.S. Green Building Council

LEEDuser Premium Member

7 thumbs up

Wed, 07/21/2010 - 15:29

Hi Ben, This distinction is not necessary. See page 169 of the BD&C reference guide which states, "Once the design case water use has been determined, compare the volumes of water required for each end use with the volumes of alternative sources of water available on-site." Essentially, the design case water use would be adjusted if non-potable water is used.

Abena Darden

Vice President

Thornton Tomasetti

LEEDuser Premium Member

188 thumbs up

Wed, 07/21/2010 - 18:18

Thanks everyone. As a follow-up, I have a simpleton-type question, so bear with me if this is obvious. What are the mechanics of actually entering the volume of non-potable water onto the template? I am looking at one now and there seems to be no area to enter that figure and hence have the points tally properly.

Shannon Gray

Consultant

YRG sustainability

LEEDuser Basic Member

155 thumbs up

Wed, 07/21/2010 - 19:19

Marian, Unfortunately, you will have to provide additional and separate calculations. So, you can't actually input the information into the credit form. The points will likely be updated and tallied by the review team. Shannon

Abena Darden

Vice President

Thornton Tomasetti

LEEDuser Premium Member

188 thumbs up

Wed, 07/21/2010 - 19:22

Thanks, Shannon.

Andrea Traber

Director, Sustainable Buildings and Operations

KEMA

LEEDuser Basic Member

46 thumbs up

Fri, 07/23/2010 - 00:33

Very glad to hear non-potable water was not eliminated as an option for this credit. I question why non-potable water use was relegated to an alternative compliance path and not included on the template causing an extra piece of documentation to be created by the team. My concern is that since this strategy is an alternative path it will not be used as frequently, and the documentation process got more difficult rather than simpler, which is the goal of LEED streamlining. Do you have any insight as to why this issue went this way or if it will be streamlined again in LEED 2012?

ShaVon Diaz

U.S. Green Building Council

LEEDuser Premium Member

7 thumbs up

Mon, 07/26/2010 - 16:04

The focus of WEp1 is efficiency which is basically why the use of non-potable water is relegated to an alternative compliance path. All sources of water should be used efficiently. We have appropriately and completely addressed this issue in LEED 2012, so please keep an eye out for the public comment period to provide comments/feedback.