LEED Certified Plumbing Information
How does our industry offer water conserving plumbing products that meet the highest standards in green homebuilding?
In 2009, LEED (standing for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) increased the certification process for energy and water efficiency allowing for plumbing products to help earn LEED certified points.
Did you know that in April 2009, WaterSense certified the first LEED certified home in the Midwest? It is now time to promote other water-efficient, low-flow fixtures. The information below serves as a guide in the LEED certification process and the points earned by installing LEED plumbing products.
Defining LEED:
LEED is a rating system devised by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Its purpose is to create and implement universally understood and accepted criteria for evaluating the environmental performance of a building and encourage global market transformation towards sustainable design.
As of 2009, LEED version 3 is based on a 100-point scale (plus a possible 10 bonus points for the last two metrics) and provides weighted rankings of the following metrics: Sustainable sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation in Design, and Regional Priority.
There are four LEED Certification levels:
- Certified = 40 – 49 Points
- Silver = 50 – 59 Points
- Gold = 60 – 79 Points
- Platinum = 80-110 Points
The following provides ways to increase your LEED points in various categories. The baseline for achieving water efficiency is a minimum of 20% water savings and is a prerequisite for LEED certification.
Fixtures that Promote Water Conservation:
REDUCE BY 30 – 2 points
REDUCE BY 35- 3 points
REDUCE BY 40% – 4 points
LEED certification standard are constantly being updated and upgraded. For more information on how you can receive credits government issued rebate savings for purchasing energy star appliances check the LEED website here: http://www.usgbc.org/leed
