Let's talk about watersense and local equivalents.
What makes a local standard equivalent? If we can meet or beat the flow rates, is there another requirement or feature that we need to meet to be deemed equivalent?
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emily reese moody
Sustainability Director, Certifications & ComplianceJacobs
LEEDuser Expert
454 thumbs up
April 19, 2018 - 11:08 pm
Hi Leanne,
In summary, this is what's stated in the Reference Guide:
"For fixtures that require the WaterSense label in countries where the label is unavailable, look up acceptable
WaterSense substitutes at usgbc.org. Projects in unlisted countries must comply with the 20%-below-baseline
requirement but have no additional performance requirements.
For appliances that require the ENERGY STAR label, a project outside the U.S. may install products that are not
labeled under the ENERGY STAR program if they meet the ENERGY STAR product specifications, available on the
ENERGY STAR website. All products must meet the standards of the current version of ENERGY STAR as of the date
of their purchase.
For appliances that require the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) label, a project outside the U.S. may
purchase products that have not been qualified or labeled by CEE if they meet the CEE product criteria for efficiency."
So, I went to the USGBC Credit Library page for the prereq, and there is a download available there that lists only a few equivalents, and provides a video: https://www.usgbc.org/resources/international-water-labeling-programs
Not a ton of help so far; I assume the list will grow as time goes on.
Otherwise, I'm going off of what's on the WaterSense website, itself, and here's what they list as their criteria:
There is also a whole page on their website dedicated to product certification requirements that goes into much more detail: https://www.epa.gov/watersense/certification-systems.
If you're looking for comparable labels outside the US, I would use the guidelines on the WaterSense website as a starting point and see what you can identify that might potentially work. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before I have to do this myself, and really hope some more specific programs are identified by then.
Christine Chow
Project Manager - SustainabilityS+A Footprint
2 thumbs up
April 23, 2018 - 3:08 pm
We are having issues finding WaterSense labeled fixtures in Canada, even though the third party table says Canadian projects are required to follow that path. Seems to be a reoccurring issue with LEED v4, yes there are plenty of fixtures/products/materials that meet the various credit requirements, but they are not available in Canada.
Leanne Conrad
Project ManagerEntuitive
19 thumbs up
April 23, 2018 - 4:19 pm
This is exactly why I started this discussion.
So based on the information Emily posted above, it seems like what WaterSense cares about is the flow rate (water savings when compared to a baseline) and that the flow is checked by a certifying organization. Are there other certifying organizations such as the OWWA that could provide this certification?
Another question is how does one show that the water savings is realized on a National level? Does the fixture have to be available across the Country to show national level water savings?
I wouldn't be pushing this issue so much but it is a prerequisite! We end up with a lot of headache and money spent importing products when there are Canadian made products that match the flow rate and are available nationally.
emily reese moody
Sustainability Director, Certifications & ComplianceJacobs
LEEDuser Expert
454 thumbs up
April 24, 2018 - 5:29 pm
Are y'all coming across any other common certifications at all? If yes, you could contact the organization and maybe get some more info, or maybe call them and discuss.
You may want to email LEED Coach or GBCI and see if they can provide additional guidance. Please continue to post updates here either way. I'm sure there are other users in your same situation, or ones that will be in the future.
Leanne Conrad
Project ManagerEntuitive
19 thumbs up
April 24, 2018 - 6:50 pm
I have not come across another common certification which is why I inquired as to what other features are required to be equivalent. I can prove flow rate and national availability. What else needs to be shown to be equivalent?
The OWWA I referenced is a voluntary, not-for-profit organization of water professionals, dedicated to protecting public health through the delivery of safe, sufficient, and sustainable drinking water in Ontario. So not necessarily into the certification side of fixtures.
emily reese moody
Sustainability Director, Certifications & ComplianceJacobs
LEEDuser Expert
454 thumbs up
April 24, 2018 - 7:18 pm
Do any of these look familiar? I can't sit and mine for info right now, but this is what came up as a starting point when I started searching:
http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/UNAR_-__Unified_North_American...
http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/Non-Residential_Fixtures,_Appl...
http://www.map-testing.com/assets/files/2011-12-18-ecoEnergy-UNAR-qualif...
http://www.iapmort.org/Pages/WaterSystems.aspx
You can poke around within each of these and see additional links/pages that should lead you to products. The one above, for example, has additional info under the Water Systems Certification tab on the left.