Log in
LEED v4.1
Healthcare
Water Efficiency
Building-Level Water Metering

LEED CREDIT

Healthcare-v4.1 WEp3: Building-level water metering Required

See all forum discussions about this credit »
View the LEED v4 version of this credit »

SPECIAL REPORT

LEEDuser expert

Ben Stanley

WSP - Built Ecology
Senior Sustainability Manager

SPECIAL REPORT

LEEDuser’s viewpoint

Frank advice from LEED experts

LEED is changing all the time, and every project is unique. Even seasoned professionals can miss a critical detail and lose a credit or even a prerequisite at the last minute. Our expert advice guides our LEEDuser Premium members and saves you valuable time.

Credit language

USGBC logo

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

Requirements

Install permanent water meters that measure the total potable water use for the building and associated grounds. Meter data must be compiled into monthly and annual summaries; meter readings can be manual or automated.

Commit to sharing with USGBC the resulting whole-project water usage data for a five-year period beginning on the date the project accepts LEED certification or typical occupancy, whichever comes first.

This commitment must carry forward for five years or until the building changes ownership or lessee.

See all forum discussions about this credit »

What does it cost?

Cost estimates for this credit

On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.

Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.

This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.

Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »

Addenda

4/9/2021Updated: 4/19/2021
Rating System Correction
Description of change:
Revise Intent for WE prerequisite Building-Level Water Metering as follows:
"To conserve low cost potable water resources and support water management and identify opportunities for additional water savings by tracking water consumption."
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
7/2/2018
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:

Our project is pursuing LEED v4 BD+C certification, and we are located on a campus. The landscape within our LEED project boundary is served by an irrigation loop which irrigates land beyond the boundary. The irrigation loop is metered at the campus level, and it is cost-prohibitive for us to install a new irrigation meter for the small patch of grass within our LEED project boundary receiving irrigation. 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 landscape is served by an irrigation loop which is part of a campus system.

For compliance with LEED v4 WE prerequisite Building Level Water Metering, projects whose water use for irrigation is metered at the campus system level may submit an engineering calculation that accurately reflects the water consumption of the landscaped area within the project boundary, or prorate irrigation data for 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 within the project boundary for WE prerequisite Building Level Water Metering, irrigation water systems are excluded from the list of water subsystems eligible for WE credit Water Metering.

**Made applicable to LEED v4.1 on 4/18/2023**

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

Documentation toolkit

The motherlode of cheat sheets

LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit is loaded with calculators to help assess credit compliance, tracking spreadsheets for materials, sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions, and examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects for you to check your work against. To get your plaque, start with the right toolkit.

LEEDuser expert

Ben Stanley

WSP - Built Ecology
Senior Sustainability Manager

Get the inside scoop

Our editors have written a detailed analysis of nearly every LEED credit, and LEEDuser premium members get full access. We’ll tell you whether the credit is easy to accomplish or better left alone, and we provide insider tips on how to document it successfully.

USGBC logo

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

Requirements

Install permanent water meters that measure the total potable water use for the building and associated grounds. Meter data must be compiled into monthly and annual summaries; meter readings can be manual or automated.

Commit to sharing with USGBC the resulting whole-project water usage data for a five-year period beginning on the date the project accepts LEED certification or typical occupancy, whichever comes first.

This commitment must carry forward for five years or until the building changes ownership or lessee.

LEEDuser expert

Ben Stanley

WSP - Built Ecology
Senior Sustainability Manager

See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Subscribe to new discussions about Healthcare-v4.1 WEp3