New LEED water efficiency goals create big impacts

Alex Spilger

Green building continues to be the fastest-growing sector of the building industry. This growth can be attributed, in part, to third-party certification systems such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which have gained tremendous momentum over the past decade.

As in any rapidly growing market sector, green building certification systems must adapt to meet the needs of the marketplace and to keep pace with new technologies and advancements. LEED, the most widely recognized of these certification systems, is no exception.

With this in mind, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the organization that developed and maintains the LEED standards, recently updated various versions of the LEED rating systems from ‘v2’ to ‘v2009.’

One of the key changes implemented with v2009 was the attempt at “Transparent Environmental & Human Impact Credit Weightings.”  Since LEED is a point-based certification system, this translates to giving more points for credits that have the most environmental impact.

The Indoor Water Efficiency credit is most affected by this point redistribution. In addition to an increase in the number of points available, the Indoor Water Efficiency credit also includes a prerequisite, which mandates that all LEED projects achieve at least 20% water savings compared to a standard baseline.

For example, a LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) v2 project that achieved a 45% reduction in water usage would be awarded up to 3 points, whereas a LEED v2009 project that achieves 45% water savings would be awarded up to 12 points. See the chart below for a comparison of point thresholds:

Based on the chart above, it may appear much easier to obtain points for Indoor Water Efficiency under LEED v2009; however, the details are in the fine print.

In addition to redistributing points, LEED v2009 uses a much more stringent baseline when calculating indoor water savings. This subtle change in the baseline makes it significantly more difficult to achieve points for indoor water savings and has caused headaches for landlords and tenants as they discover they must retrofit plumbing fixtures in order to meet the minimum 20 percent water savings required.

For example, a commercial restroom equipped with high efficiency 1.28 GPM toilets, 1.0 GPM urinals, and high-efficient 0.5 GPM flow restrictors would achieve 39% water savings under v2, yet the same set of fixtures yield only 15% water savings under the v2009 calculations. 

As more state and local governments mandate LEED certification, upgrading to high efficiency plumbing fixtures in order to comply with the 20% water savings required by LEED may be unavoidable. Both landlords and tenants should be aware of the various combinations of high-efficient indoor plumbing fixtures that may or may not help them meet the new LEED requirements for indoor water efficiency and achieve their LEED goals. 

With this in mind, having a highly qualified, LEED-experienced team that can navigate the fine print of LEED v2009 to recommend cost-effective, water-saving strategies is critical to achieving points for indoor water efficiency and to the success of any LEED v2009 project.

For more information on LEED v2009 or for guidance on selecting the appropriate water fixtures, please contact the author, Alex Spilger, LEED- Accredited Professional and sustainability manager at BCCI Construction. BCCI is a leading full-service commercial contractor serving the greater San Francisco Bay area.