Include goals for water-use reduction in the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) for EAp1: Fundamental Commissioning. Reduced use of hot water with efficient fixtures can save a lot of energy.
Check for codes that may limit your options or force you to obtain a variance. Plumbing codes often restrict or regulate the following water-saving technologies:
Check with the local municipal wastewater department to see if reclaimed water is available as a source of non-potable water for toilet flushing. If it is available, this will contribute to compliance with Option 1.
Determine if composting toilets or waterless urinals are appropriate for your project. While not common, waterless fixtures can go a long way toward achieving this credit. Composting toilets do affect programming and layout, however, so be sure to consider them early in the planning stages. However, projects often find that installing only a few composting toilets can help them to achieve this credit while offering a great educational asset.
Onsite wastewater treatment costs vary widely. Treating to tertiary standards, as required by this credit, can cost significantly more than treating to secondary standards.
Reusing graywater or rainwater incurs additional costs and requires dual plumbing. If you use an under-sink graywater system that shunts the water directly from the sink to the toilet, this also involves additional cost but may be less expensive than a centralized, dual-plumbed system.
Some municipalities requiring rainwater capture to reduce stormwater runoff; if this is the case in your area, consider reusing the rainwater for toilet flushing.
Consider reducing potable wastewater use by 100%, or treating 100% of your wastewater onsite to tertiary standards, for an Exemplary Performance point.
