EBOM 2009 WEc1: Water Performance Measurement

Rob, Am I missing something here (I probably am) but to get the one point with this credit you only need to submeterSubmetering is used to determine the proportion of energy or water use within a building attributable to specific end uses such as tenant spaces, or subsystems such as the heating component of an HVAC system. ONE subset....so irrigation would cover it. However if you're trying to get extra then you'd need to submeter almost everything else and then subtraction comes into the equation. However I'm personally not happy with that situation because 'you can't manage what you don't measure'. The subtraction method still relies on the fact that the main meter is accurate but you have no backup to prove the number. Can you clarify the question a bit.

You can only get the one point if the one subsystem you are metering covers more than 40% of water use.

In this facility irrigation is less than 40% of water use. So, we would not get the point.

However, all the other potable waterPotable water meets or exceeds EPA's drinking water quality standards and is approved for human consumption by the state or local authorities having jurisdiction; it may be supplied from wells or municipal water systems. is used by indoor plumbing fixtures. So by metering the irrigation we effectively know how much is used by the indoor fixtures. This gets us over the 40% threshold (and the 80% too).

However some of the indoor fixtures deliver water from the DHWDomestic hot water (DHW) is water used for food preparation, cleaning and sanitation and personal hygiene, but not heating. heaters. Which is another sub-system that could be metered.

So the question is can we use the indoor plumbing fixtures as a sub-system without separating out the DHW?

Rob, There may be confusion on my part here as I'm reading the reference guide for LEED EB Version 3 2009 WE Credit 1-Water Performance Measurement as follows:
"Irrigation. Meter water systems serving at least 80% of the irrigated landscape areaThe landscape area is the total site area less the building footprint, paved surfaces, water bodies, and patios. on the grounds. The percentage of irrigated landscape area served must be calculated as the total metered irrigated landscape area divided by the total irrigated landscape area."
This verbiage corresponds to 80% of the area landscaped, not 80% of water use.
Even with the latest addenda, I see no difference in this credit.
For indoor plumbing fixtures and fittings its 80% of the number of fittings in WE p1, not 80% of the amount of water used by these fittings...However...itsn't there always a however....for DHWDomestic hot water (DHW) is water used for food preparation, cleaning and sanitation and personal hygiene, but not heating. and Process it IS 80% of the water used.
So let's go back.....does your irrigation water at least 80% of the total landscaped area in sq ft. If not then move on to the next option.

Hi Barry,

The irrigation meter would cover 100% of area landscaped but that is not relevant to my question.

The reference guide that I am reading says:
"WE Credit 1.2 (1 point)
Demonstrate that system-level metering is in place covering at least 40% of the total expected water consumption of the building."

So in order for irrigation metering alone to qualify for the 1st point it must:
- cover at least 80% of the landscaped area
AND
- cover at least 40% of the TOTAL building water consumption

At least it seems to me that is pretty clear what the reference manual is saying.

Rob, Sounds like you're in version 2, that's indicated by your 'WE Credit 1.2" which doesn't now exist. OK, First step is consult the reviewers if they are still going to review your building under V2. Next just plain ask them if you can use the deduction method. So much has changed since we wrote V2 that I can't answer the question with any certainty.

Hi Barry,
It is actually the Canadian version which I guess is similar to version 2 of the US one.
Thanks for your help.

Hi Geoffrey,

Yes, both boxes must be checked, and documentation for both must be provided.

Hope that helps!
Brittany

Yes, try Cypress Envirosystems and Bronway. (If you email me direct Jenny I can send number)

It's 80% of ALL the water that is going to process...not each process...HOWEVER I would suggest that you do sub-submeterSubmetering is used to determine the proportion of energy or water use within a building attributable to specific end uses such as tenant spaces, or subsystems such as the heating component of an HVAC system. each individual process waterProcess water is used for industrial processes and building systems such as cooling towers, boilers, and chillers. It can also refer to water used in operational processes, such as dishwashing, clothes washing, and ice making. use as well. There is a long list of options for re-use of process water that can significantly reduce potable waterPotable water meets or exceeds EPA's drinking water quality standards and is approved for human consumption by the state or local authorities having jurisdiction; it may be supplied from wells or municipal water systems. use. (Potable water initial use for cleaning parts, re-used a second time for cooling, reused a third time for flushing or irrigation) By sub-submeteringSubmetering is used to determine the proportion of energy use within a building attributable to specific end uses or subsystems (e.g., the heating subsystem of an HVAC system). the ROI can be clearly explained to the 'boss' .

I might not be reading you question correctly but I'll answer then you come back if needed. All meters and submeters must be read weekly. The sum of all the meter readings must cover ALL the potable waterPotable water meets or exceeds EPA's drinking water quality standards and is approved for human consumption by the state or local authorities having jurisdiction; it may be supplied from wells or municipal water systems. used for that building. If you have submeters behind submeters behind the main meter then no those don't need to be read weekly. However in reality you would be reading these sub-sub meters in an attempt to drill down the potable water usage to a particular segment/tenant/process use within your building, maybe to back charge or pinpoint who is the gross user in the building.
Does that help?

Yes it does thanks. I guess any meter you have should be read weekly. It's just really time consuming. The meters are all over the place; two are above cars in the parking lot, one is under a heavy concrete cover, don't know about the last two. I'll let the client know.

Sharon
Check out Cypress Envirosystems. They seem to be adept at clip on converters to change manual meter readings in wireless digital signals.
Harry Sim is the head guy there

No not really... First, thank you for actually reading them...your problem, should there really be one, is when you post the readings to whatever excel spread sheet you are using. If the meter readings are coming from a manufacturing process (using millions of gallons a day) then the variation between the missing day or the extra day between readings will show up. If you're in a 10,000 sq ft office with 3 occupants then the discrepancy is minimal. I'm sure that you're not considering doing this EVERY 2 weeks, i.e jumping the days about so the whole focus of this credit apart from the act of actually doing the meter readings is to show up any leaks that there may be in the system. (you could overcome this by constructing the math in the excel spread sheet to show actual daily use). From the GBCI's point of view these discrepancies can be answerable however the real point of the credit is to track water usage over a period of time, understand any changes and use the data derived from the readings to make changes to the operations, equipment and occupant training to reduce water consumption

That makes sense. Perhaps we'll just make sure to read it within the first two or three days of each week...and then average out daily usage and we can see any changes pretty quickly.

Thanks for your help!

Andrea. It depends! Ok, here's a question...where is the condensate coming from. If it's out of a 'de-humidification plant (AHU1.Air-handling units (AHUs) are mechanical indirect heating, ventilating, or air-conditioning systems in which the air is treated or handled by equipment located outside the rooms served, usually at a central location, and conveyed to and from the rooms by a fan and a system of distributing ducts. (NEEB, 1997 edition) 2.A type of heating and/or cooling distribution equipment that channels warm or cool air to different parts of a building. This process of channeling the conditioned air often involves drawing air over heating or cooling coils and forcing it from a central location through ducts or air-handling units. Air-handling units are hidden in the walls or ceilings, where they use steam or hot water to heat, or chilled water to cool the air inside the ductwork., cooler, etc) then there is a possibility of using it. (I'd check weather the AHU you're pulling from is using any chemical suppresents for Legionella, etc, will that chemical be compatible with the standard cooling tower chemicals?), but to all intents as the reference guide quotes "...Condensate water" (page 22, option 2). Obviously you must have a lot of condensate to be considering this option as the threshold is 50% of total makeup water.
To successfully meter the condensate you'd have to put a meter in-line and show over the performance period that the condensate was equal to 50% of the total water going to the cooling tower makeup. (compare the two meter reads and subtract)
The problem with NOT metering it is that over the course of a season the amount of top up water used by the cooling tower will vary depending on the cooling demand, therefore it would be a guess as to how much condensate was actually being used.
Lastly, the direct connection of cooling tower makeup water with a condensate water line will probably be illegal without air gaps and backflow preventers in the system.

The wording for non-potable waterPotable water meets or exceeds EPA's drinking water quality standards and is approved for human consumption by the state or local authorities having jurisdiction; it may be supplied from wells or municipal water systems. reclamation is "encouraged" metering -- I think you should be allowed to recover the condensate (I'm assuming from AHU1.Air-handling units (AHUs) are mechanical indirect heating, ventilating, or air-conditioning systems in which the air is treated or handled by equipment located outside the rooms served, usually at a central location, and conveyed to and from the rooms by a fan and a system of distributing ducts. (NEEB, 1997 edition) 2.A type of heating and/or cooling distribution equipment that channels warm or cool air to different parts of a building. This process of channeling the conditioned air often involves drawing air over heating or cooling coils and forcing it from a central location through ducts or air-handling units. Air-handling units are hidden in the walls or ceilings, where they use steam or hot water to heat, or chilled water to cool the air inside the ductwork. cooling coils) and use it to displace potable water used in the cooling tower make-up which would be metered separately.

If you did decide to meter it, you probably would have to use a strategy as Barry alludes to where:

1) The potable and recovered water are combined in a separate tank, and then metered as it is supplied to the tower. But that sounds like a dispropotionate effort to the quantity of water recovered unless you are in a really humid location.

2) The potable water is metered at the collection location and then added to the cooling tower as it is generated through a separate filling process -- after all the tower must be running while the AHUs are dehumidifying -- and then the potable make-up would be used to supplement. (Metered separately.)

You may want to perform some psychrometric calculations before investing in the extra metering, to see what the expected quantity of recovered water will be.

To make a long story short, my answer to Q #2 is that I don't know anyone doing this that meters it.

Chris. You are right that WEc1.1 does cover the 'main meter' for the whole building. By default this usually the utility meter supplied, services and read and 'calibrated' by your local water authority. (I say usually because on a private campus you could have a whole building water meter that is owned by the building owner)
For the second point you are able to bring in any other submeterSubmetering is used to determine the proportion of energy or water use within a building attributable to specific end uses such as tenant spaces, or subsystems such as the heating component of an HVAC system. that you are using. Before you duck out on this one go back to the date that the original CT water submeter was installed...is it still in the original calibration window? If not how does the manufacturer suggest that it is re-calibrated? (Buying a new one sound a bit of a rough sales tactic!)

We also have some issue especially project in asia. Sub meters which is installed by local manufacturer issue a letter declaring that these submeterSubmetering is used to determine the proportion of energy or water use within a building attributable to specific end uses such as tenant spaces, or subsystems such as the heating component of an HVAC system. does not need calibration at all. when we search for a local 3rd party institution to do calibration, it cost more than to purchase a new one. it does not make any business sense if were to calibrate it all these sub meter. is there any other approach we can go for?

Jason, slow up a bit. If you have a letter from the manufacturer of the submeterSubmetering is used to determine the proportion of energy or water use within a building attributable to specific end uses such as tenant spaces, or subsystems such as the heating component of an HVAC system. (on letterheaded paper and signed) that states that the meter needs no calibration, you are good to go, nothing else needs to be done (crazy as it may sound!). If the manufacturer says 'calibrated for life'...who are we to argue with that, you and are aren't manufacturers of submeters...whata we know. Take it !

Hi Barry,
i always assume that, all metering component need to calibrate, therefore i'm worry whether of not gbci reviewer will accept this explanation.

Jason, If the manufacturers 'state' that the meter does not need calibrating the why would the GBCI reject that?

Barry, good catch. i;m thinking too much here.
.

Jeff. This is actually a little difficult because it is easy to look at this two different ways. First you comment that you are purchasing 'chilled water from a utility'. Well that should already be submetered in some fashion otherwise they would not be able to bill you. (Unless you really are getting it for free!). This would fall under the EA credits as would steam or hotwater supplied from a utility where these 'energy supplies' are metered and used to create your Energy Star number.
Consequently I think that you are talking about a 'private' DES which is onsite of a campus style setup. If this is so then you may have a couple of options. 1. submeter each building and gain the numbers that you need for E* (and therefore fulfill the submeteringSubmetering is used to determine the proportion of energy use within a building attributable to specific end uses or subsystems (e.g., the heating subsystem of an HVAC system). requirement in the WE credit) or, 2. talk with the USGBC/GBCI about E* for the whole campus using the DES numbers only. (This would mean that you wouldn't get the WE credits but would shorten the whole process.

Thanks Barry.... it does serve a campus of buildings, yes we do purchase/meter both buildings separately, and we have included in our Energy Star.
That said, is this scenario considered as an energy source or water source when it comes to measurement and reduction in the WE section? Can we take credit for the submeteringSubmetering is used to determine the proportion of energy use within a building attributable to specific end uses or subsystems (e.g., the heating subsystem of an HVAC system). of the chilled water for this credit? and if we have irrigation and whole building can we take the EP on it too? Thank you

Jeff, Yes take it in Energy (You're supply an 'energy source' to the building just as you would have with steam). In WE c1 take it in Option 2, Other Process waterProcess water is used for industrial processes and building systems such as cooling towers, boilers, and chillers. It can also refer to water used in operational processes, such as dishwashing, clothes washing, and ice making.. Why?, because the intent we wrote says, " To measure building and subsystem water performance over time to understand consumption...." The whole point of this is reduce potable waterPotable water meets or exceeds EPA's drinking water quality standards and is approved for human consumption by the state or local authorities having jurisdiction; it may be supplied from wells or municipal water systems.. I would class this as a synergistic process where the chilled water, (the costs of cooling that are energy related) and metering the potable water content of that chilled water.
As to the EP...well if you're satisfying 2 or more in Option 2, then you stand to get it. (Note as with any EP always check the EP box in EVERY credit that EP complies..regardless of weather you use it or not...that helps that if one credits is denied later it's very simple to slip in another EP in the IO credits halfway through or even at the end)

You can submit a Feedback request through LEED Online and explain the glitch. The helpdesk staff is usually quick to fix bugs in the templates.

Our MR and IAQIndoor air quality: The quality and attributes of indoor air affecting the health and comfort building occupants. IAQ encompasses available fresh air, contaminant levels, acoustics and noise levels, lighting quality, and other factors. credits face the same issues. spend almost 1 months with GBCI Technical team to solve it but at the end we need to check on "alternative compliance" path as our 60 days period coming to the end. Even checked on " Special Circumstances" route also doesn't help.

Cynthia, This is one of our most loved credits (ha Ha) and to answer your question is going to take some space....and at times may ask you questions that may be a little rude...like this one:
-Are you sure than you have the right numbers in 'flush and flow summary statistics". This has to be a positive number...that would be 5%...not a -5%. (Yes I told you this might be rude)
-Next check EVERY SINGLE box has a number in it..even if that is a zero. (Example: in Fixture Group Definition table, every box MUST contain some thing..even a '0'). This goes for EVERY table
-In both Fixture Group tables, make certain that column 1 (Select) is the same verbiage as column 3 (Fixture ID)
-And YES, don't forget to press 'calculate' button

NOTE to GBCI...wouldn't it be nice that when you closed a form that was incomplete that it highlighted those areas that needed attention...like a lot on online forms out there in the 'internet ether?

Hi Jason,
In Portfolio Manager, you can choose to "view" a summary for performance in specific areas. It is a drop down menu that lists a variety of summaries to view. Once you select "Performance - Water Use", you can download that data and upload to LEED Online. Please note that this would take care of your "monthly summaries", but not weekly readings.
I hope that helps!
Natalie

Hi Natalie,

do you mean, all i need to do is to download the excel data from Energy Star for the category of "water use performance " and upload to LEED online?
Yes, thanks for the note, the download is only for monthly summaries.

I'd try contacting the manufacturer to see if they have any guidelines for the recommended life of the meter - beyond that I think a reviewer is likely to feel like replacing the meter annually is more than enough. There's no clear guidance on this, but I would think that a water meter wouldn't need to be calibrated more than every 5 years, so replacement could happen on the same timetable. Obviously I'm guesstimating here, but. . .

Paul - I'd touch base with a couple commercial plumbing contractors. I can't recommend any specific meters or tools, but to be honest I'm not confident that there will be much out there for less than the cost you've suggested. To me, thats a fairly reasonable number - metering water use could easily be the difference between discovering a leak that represents thousands in wasted water or not discovering it until the utility bill arrives. . .

Dan - In looking ahead to newer LEED standards, it sounds like remote metering with alerts will be required. We have a BAS system in place for many of our buildings, but would like to find a system that could tie directly into our BAS system allowing us to set set-points/alarms and have real time readings. Have you or anyone seen such a system or have any recommendations?

Paul, Check with Cypress (http://www.cypress.com/). They are starting to build 'clip on' meter reading technology that will convert existing numerical meters into wireless units. These can be connected into existing BMS units without having to run all that awful wiring

That is absolutely acceptable David, in fact its preferred. Electronic meter reading makes it infinitely easier to collect, store and analyze the information - no question that that is the preferred method. Great that the water department provides this to you!

The water from irrigation comes from retention ponds which contain water from runoff or from wells, in achieving option 1 whole building metering, would just building metering be adquate as no potable waterPotable water meets or exceeds EPA's drinking water quality standards and is approved for human consumption by the state or local authorities having jurisdiction; it may be supplied from wells or municipal water systems. is used for the grounds? For option 2, as I said we have submeteringSubmetering is used to determine the proportion of energy use within a building attributable to specific end uses or subsystems (e.g., the heating subsystem of an HVAC system). on the cooling tower but I would also like to obtain the IO credit for having another submeterSubmetering is used to determine the proportion of energy or water use within a building attributable to specific end uses such as tenant spaces, or subsystems such as the heating component of an HVAC system.. If I submeter my irrigation supply (non-potable water) would that count? On page 93 of the Ref. Guide 2nd last paragraph it states "meters must measure potable water use, but gray or reclaimed water use may also be measured to meet the requirements of this credit." If someone could shed some light on this I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Hi Paul,
To achieve option 1, your whole building water meter will suffice. You do not need to include the water used for irrigation (as it is non-potable and is supplied via retention pond). To achieve option 2, metering the replacement water to all cooling towers onsite will satisfy the requirement. Regarding exemplary performanceIn LEED, certain credits have established thresholds beyond basic credit achievement. Meeting these thresholds can earn additional points through Innovation in Design (ID) or Innovation in Operations (IO) points. As a general rule of thumb, ID credits for exemplary performance are awarded for doubling the credit requirements and/or achieving the next incremental percentage threshold. However, this rule varies on a case by case basis, so check the credit requirements., metering at least 80% of the irrigation water supply will qualify. Sounds like the retention pond will help you out in SSc6 and WEc3 too! Good deal!

I just want to verify as the wording is not extremely clear within the reference guide.

I will read/record the building's city potable waterPotable water meets or exceeds EPA's drinking water quality standards and is approved for human consumption by the state or local authorities having jurisdiction; it may be supplied from wells or municipal water systems. supply meter and record our consumption one day per week. This credit at first seems to only be concerned with potable water consumption.

I will also view the building cooler tower submeterSubmetering is used to determine the proportion of energy or water use within a building attributable to specific end uses such as tenant spaces, or subsystems such as the heating component of an HVAC system. and record the number one day per week.

We are currently in the stages of installing submeters on our irrigation water which is non-potable but will still give us the one IO point for this credit? For the WHOLE BUILDING metering I will only worry about the potable water consumption and ignore the irrigation water meter, thus the whole building water consumption will exclude irrigation consumption.

Paul, this reads correctly to me.

As long as 80% of the installed domestic hot water heating capacity is metered, you can include the meter. Having a meter on your boiler (that heats 100% of the water demand) meets the requirement for Option 2 of the credit. As long as Option 1 is fulfilled (whole building water meter) and your cooling tower meter meets the Option 2 requirements, the domestic hot water meter will satisfy Exemplary PerformanceIn LEED, certain credits have established thresholds beyond basic credit achievement. Meeting these thresholds can earn additional points through Innovation in Design (ID) or Innovation in Operations (IO) points. As a general rule of thumb, ID credits for exemplary performance are awarded for doubling the credit requirements and/or achieving the next incremental percentage threshold. However, this rule varies on a case by case basis, so check the credit requirements..

Thank You Natalie

We are thinking to install meter for hot water. However we can only put meter for kitchens of two restraunts. There are other places where people use hot water, like small pantry for offices and toilets. We are thinking to calculate the amount they use in kitchen and compare it to the other usage to demonstrate kitchen usage is more than 80 % of all hot water.
Do you think it works all right for the point?
Thank you.

Shoko,
Good question. Yes, I think as long as you can show that the kitchen and 2 restaurants account for at least 80% of the hot water, you are within compliance.
Sorry for the delayed response.
Natalie

Rashid, the LEED requirements for WEc1 specifically define sub-metering at the system-level, not at the space level, so a sub-meter that captures water consumption in your canteen, for instance, would not help you earn this credit, The qualifying types of sub-metering for this credit are: irrigation, indoor plumbing fixtures/fittings, cooling tower water, domestic hot water, or process waterProcess water is used for industrial processes and building systems such as cooling towers, boilers, and chillers. It can also refer to water used in operational processes, such as dishwashing, clothes washing, and ice making. use. You would need to demonstrate, for one or more of these sub-systems, that you are capturing at least 80% of the total water consumption on the entire project site for that sub-system.

Thanks, Jason..i will look in to this...

Hello Corinna, (long time, no talk!)
To follow up with this, the rating system (pg93) states, "meter data must be recorded on a regular basis and compiled into monthly and annual summaries". Then on page 94, under "Implementation", it references your quotation. So if a project team states only monthly reading and did not do weekly readings, the credit is denied?

That's correct John - the requirement is that meters are read (and data recorded) at least once per week.

So, the rating system should read "meter data must be recorded on a weekly basis, at minimum"... That just seems a little misleading for project teams.

This is absolutely correct and a point that should be heavily emphasized. If a project building does not perform manual meter readings at a minimum interval of at least one week, they cannot earn this credit. If they perform the weekly manual readings, or use electronic data loggers to transmit the consumption data on a daily or weekly basis, they will qualify to earn one or more points under WEc1.

Additionally, be sure to include the monthly summary of all weekly readings. I spoke with a project team recently who submitted weekly readings, but did not summarize these readings in a monthly log. The review team asked the project team to submit a monthly log as well.

Brittany, my apologies for the delayed response. To some extent the requirements for re-certification remain in the development stages. The specifics for Re-Certification credit documentation (such as weekly vs monthly water meter readings) are not entirely clear. To be safe, I suggest assuming the Re-Certification requirements will align with the requirements during the Performance Period of the original submittal/certification.
In terms of the value of weekly readings, the intent of this credit to “understand consumption patterns and identify opportunities for additional savings”. By reading meters on a regular basis (weekly in this case) and compiling monthly summaries, the team can identify trends, patterns and anomalies in water use frequently. The weekly frequency provides an opportunity to recognize and correct issues found each week, rather than noticing and repairing an issue (that has been present for weeks) at the end of the month. Some facilities I have worked with take meter readings daily via the “daily rounds sheets” and this data can be entered into monthly summaries.