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LEED v4
Existing Retail
Water Efficiency

Water metering

LEED CREDIT

Retail-EBOM-v4 WEc4: Water metering 1-2 points

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Ben Stanley

WSP - Built Ecology
Senior Sustainability Manager

SPECIAL REPORT

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© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Establishment

Establish permanently installed meters; 1 point for two water subsystems, 2 points for four or more water subsystems:
  • Irrigation. Meter water systems serving at least 80% of the irrigated landscaped area. Calculate the percentage of irrigated landscape area as the total metered irrigated landscape area divided by the total irrigated landscape area. Landscape areas fully covered with xeriscaping or native vegetation that requires no routine irrigation may be excluded from the calculation.
  • Indoor plumbing fixtures and fittings. Meter water systems serving at least 80% of the indoor plumbing fixtures and fittings listed in WE Prerequisite Indoor Water-Use Reduction, either directly or by deducting all other measured water use from the measured total water consumption of the building and grounds,
  • Cooling towers. Meter replacement water use of all cooling towers serving the facility.
  • Domestic hot water. Meter water use of at least 80% of the installed domestic hot water heating capacity (including both tanks and on-demand heaters).
  • Reclaimed water. Meter reclaimed water, regardless of rate. A reclaimed water system with a makeup water connection must also be metered so that the true reclaimed water component can be determined.
  • Other process water. Meter at least 80% of expected daily water consumption for process end uses, such as humidifiers, dishwashers, clothes washers, and pools.

Performance

All meters, including whole-building meter, must be recorded at least weekly and used in a regular analysis of time trends. Meters must be calibrated within the manufacturer’s recommended interval if the building owner, management organization, or tenant owns the meter. Meters owned by third parties (e.g., utilities or governments) are exempt. Commit to sharing with USGBC the resulting water usage data for a five-year period beginning on the date the project accepts LEED certification. See all forum discussions about this credit »

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Cost estimates for this credit

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Frequently asked questions

We currently have metering in place for one water subsystem. We want to install metering for a second subsystem so we can earn this credit. Can we do this during the performance period?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

We cannot get weekly meter data from the utility. Does this mean we cannot achieve this credit because the water is tracked monthly instead of weekly?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)
See all forum discussions about this credit »

Addenda

7/8/2017 – Updated: 7/8/2017
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Under Step-by-Step Guidance, Step 1, in the sentence that reads: “These subsystems may include residential units, irrigation, indoor plumbing fixtures, domestic hot water, process water, reclaimed water, and boiler water. " replace "boiler water" with "cooling towers".

Under Step-by-Step Guidance, Step 1, delete the following sentence: "Cooling tower submeters are addressed separately, under WE Prerequisite Indoor Water Use Reduction.”
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
1/27/2017 – Updated: 1/27/2017
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Revise the Group section to read: "Eligible. Submit separate documentation for each building. Each building in the group must have an individual whole building water meter. Each individual building in the group must meet the credit requirements for submetering of indoor plumbing fixtures and fittings, domestic hot water, and other process water. All buildings in the group can be served by the same submeter for irrigation systems, cooling towers, and reclaimed water, provided all the water used by the group is captured."
Campus Applicable
Yes
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
7/1/2016 – Updated: 7/1/2016
Rating System Correction
Description of change:
Remove "or typical occupancy, whichever comes first” from the Performance requirements.
Campus Applicable
Yes
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
7/2/2018
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:

We are a campus project pursuing LEED v4 O+M certification. Our campus has a limited number of existing irrigation meters, and we are not able to meet the requirement to meter all outdoor water use on a per building basis. One building on campus would require additional funds in order to install a meter for a small patch of grass receiving potable water irrigation; another building receives several sources of potable water for irrigation and installing a meter for each source is cost-prohibitive . Is it possible for us to achieve LEED v4 WE prerequisite Building-Level Water Metering using the campus irrigation data?

Ruling:

The project is requesting clarification as to how to document compliance with LEED v4 WE prerequisite Building-Level Water Metering, given that the project has a limited number of existing irrigation meters, and metering all outdoor water use on a per building basis may be cost prohibitive.

For compliance with LEED v4 WE prerequisite Building Level Water Metering, the campus projects with existing irrigation meter(s) measuring total campus irrigation water use may submit an engineering calculation that accurately reflects the water consumption of the landscaped area for each building within the project boundary, or prorate irrigation data for each building within the project boundary from the campus meter.

If the project chooses to prorate irrigation data from the campus meter in lieu of installing irrigation meter(s) to track landscape water consumption for each building within the project boundary for WE prerequisite Building Level Water Metering, irrigation water systems are excluded from the list of water subsystems eligible for each project pursuing WE credit Water Metering.

Campus projects that use prorated irrigation data for the purposes of compliance with WE prerequisite Building Level Water Metering must; 1) submit campus level metering data and 2) provide engineering calculations for prorating the irrigation within the project boundary. Projects using this compliance path must use Option 2 if pursuing WE credit Outdoor Water Use Reduction.

Campus Applicable
Yes
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
See all forum discussions about this credit »

Documentation toolkit

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LEEDuser expert

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Ben Stanley

WSP - Built Ecology
Senior Sustainability Manager

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USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Establishment

Establish permanently installed meters; 1 point for two water subsystems, 2 points for four or more water subsystems:
  • Irrigation. Meter water systems serving at least 80% of the irrigated landscaped area. Calculate the percentage of irrigated landscape area as the total metered irrigated landscape area divided by the total irrigated landscape area. Landscape areas fully covered with xeriscaping or native vegetation that requires no routine irrigation may be excluded from the calculation.
  • Indoor plumbing fixtures and fittings. Meter water systems serving at least 80% of the indoor plumbing fixtures and fittings listed in WE Prerequisite Indoor Water-Use Reduction, either directly or by deducting all other measured water use from the measured total water consumption of the building and grounds,
  • Cooling towers. Meter replacement water use of all cooling towers serving the facility.
  • Domestic hot water. Meter water use of at least 80% of the installed domestic hot water heating capacity (including both tanks and on-demand heaters).
  • Reclaimed water. Meter reclaimed water, regardless of rate. A reclaimed water system with a makeup water connection must also be metered so that the true reclaimed water component can be determined.
  • Other process water. Meter at least 80% of expected daily water consumption for process end uses, such as humidifiers, dishwashers, clothes washers, and pools.

Performance

All meters, including whole-building meter, must be recorded at least weekly and used in a regular analysis of time trends. Meters must be calibrated within the manufacturer’s recommended interval if the building owner, management organization, or tenant owns the meter. Meters owned by third parties (e.g., utilities or governments) are exempt. Commit to sharing with USGBC the resulting water usage data for a five-year period beginning on the date the project accepts LEED certification.

In the end, LEED is all about documentation. LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit, for premium members only, saves you time and helps you avoid mistakes with:

  • Calculators to help assess credit compliance.
  • Tracking spreadsheets for materials purchases.
  • Spreadsheets and forms to give to subs and other team members.
  • Guidance documents on arcane LEED issues.
  • Sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions.
  • Examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects.

We currently have metering in place for one water subsystem. We want to install metering for a second subsystem so we can earn this credit. Can we do this during the performance period?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

We cannot get weekly meter data from the utility. Does this mean we cannot achieve this credit because the water is tracked monthly instead of weekly?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)
7/8/2017 – Updated: 7/8/2017
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Under Step-by-Step Guidance, Step 1, in the sentence that reads: “These subsystems may include residential units, irrigation, indoor plumbing fixtures, domestic hot water, process water, reclaimed water, and boiler water. " replace "boiler water" with "cooling towers".

Under Step-by-Step Guidance, Step 1, delete the following sentence: "Cooling tower submeters are addressed separately, under WE Prerequisite Indoor Water Use Reduction.”
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
1/27/2017 – Updated: 1/27/2017
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Revise the Group section to read: "Eligible. Submit separate documentation for each building. Each building in the group must have an individual whole building water meter. Each individual building in the group must meet the credit requirements for submetering of indoor plumbing fixtures and fittings, domestic hot water, and other process water. All buildings in the group can be served by the same submeter for irrigation systems, cooling towers, and reclaimed water, provided all the water used by the group is captured."
Campus Applicable
Yes
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
7/1/2016 – Updated: 7/1/2016
Rating System Correction
Description of change:
Remove "or typical occupancy, whichever comes first” from the Performance requirements.
Campus Applicable
Yes
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
7/2/2018
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:

We are a campus project pursuing LEED v4 O+M certification. Our campus has a limited number of existing irrigation meters, and we are not able to meet the requirement to meter all outdoor water use on a per building basis. One building on campus would require additional funds in order to install a meter for a small patch of grass receiving potable water irrigation; another building receives several sources of potable water for irrigation and installing a meter for each source is cost-prohibitive . Is it possible for us to achieve LEED v4 WE prerequisite Building-Level Water Metering using the campus irrigation data?

Ruling:

The project is requesting clarification as to how to document compliance with LEED v4 WE prerequisite Building-Level Water Metering, given that the project has a limited number of existing irrigation meters, and metering all outdoor water use on a per building basis may be cost prohibitive.

For compliance with LEED v4 WE prerequisite Building Level Water Metering, the campus projects with existing irrigation meter(s) measuring total campus irrigation water use may submit an engineering calculation that accurately reflects the water consumption of the landscaped area for each building within the project boundary, or prorate irrigation data for each building within the project boundary from the campus meter.

If the project chooses to prorate irrigation data from the campus meter in lieu of installing irrigation meter(s) to track landscape water consumption for each building within the project boundary for WE prerequisite Building Level Water Metering, irrigation water systems are excluded from the list of water subsystems eligible for each project pursuing WE credit Water Metering.

Campus projects that use prorated irrigation data for the purposes of compliance with WE prerequisite Building Level Water Metering must; 1) submit campus level metering data and 2) provide engineering calculations for prorating the irrigation within the project boundary. Projects using this compliance path must use Option 2 if pursuing WE credit Outdoor Water Use Reduction.

Campus Applicable
Yes
Internationally Applicable:
Yes

LEEDuser expert

headshot

Ben Stanley

WSP - Built Ecology
Senior Sustainability Manager

See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Subscribe to new discussions about Retail-EBOM-v4 WEc4