Our LEED v4 Homes project is located in Canada. Our local water authority currently uses flat rate water billing, so billing is not based on water consumption. A whole-house water meter does not help meet the intent of Water Efficiency (WE) prerequisite Water Metering unless the homeowner is made aware of consumption habits and charged money for consumption. Installing a meter for compliance with the prerequisite would be a wasted cost; if our authority later changes policy and bills based on usage, the meter installed for our LEED certification will be replaced by a meter approved by the authority.
To encourage market transformation without wasted costs, we propose meeting the prerequisite in the following way: contact the local water authority in writing to formally request an approved water meter, and request billing based on water consumption.
The project is proposing an alternate approach to meet the intent of LEED v4 Homes Water Efficiency prerequisite Water Metering. LEED v4 single-family homes projects located in regions with only flat rate billing may comply with this prerequisite in the following way:
Contact the local water authority (or comparable utility / agency) in writing to formally request an approved water meter, and request billing based on water consumption instead of flat rate billing. The project team should use the letter template provided by USGBC to develop the written communication to the local water authority; the team may make minor adjustments to the template to better reflect local market conditions and environmental priorities.
If the agency is unwilling to provide an approved water meter, this LEED prerequisite is considered satisfied through the delivery of the notice. Project teams must confirm the response received from the local water authority in their LEED submission.
Project teams may consider installing automatic water shut off valves and leak detection systems to support effective water management and reduce consumption waste.