 LEED® Green Associate Training

September 2018

DEVANAND RAGBIR
Mech. Eng; LEED AP (O&M)
LEED® 2009
Credit Categories

1 sustainable sites (SS)

2 water efficiency (WE)
3 energy & atmosphere (EA)
4 materials & resources (MR)
5 indoor environmental quality (EQ)
* innovation in design (ID)

* regional priority

110 possible points

LEED® V4
1. Integrative Process (1 pt)
Credit Categories

2. Location and transportation (16 pts)

3. sustainable sites (10 pts)
4. water efficiency (WE) (11 pts)
5. energy & atmosphere (33 points)
6. Material and Resources (13 pts)
7. Indoor Environmental Quality ( 16 pts)
8. Innovation and Design (6pts)
9. Regional Priority (4 pts)

110 possible points

 LEED® Green Associate Training

WATER EFFICIENCY
 70% Of earth surface is covered by water but less than
1% is fresh water
Only 1% of the 1% is accessible for human use

Goals of Water
Management/Efficiency
1. Reduce the quantity of water needed for building and
landscaping
2. Reduce Municipal water use
3. Reduce the need for water treatment
 Pre-requisite
 Outdoor water reduction (landscape)
 Indoor water reduction (fixtures)
 Building Level metering (identify water savings strategies by
tracking consumption)

 Credits
 Outdoor Water reduction – 1 to 2 points
 Indoor water reduction – 1 to 6 points
 Cooling Tower use – 1 to 2 points
 Water Metering – 1 point
o What are the types of water
o Outdoor water use
o Indoor water use
o Process Water use
o Water use reduction strategies
 Potable water – water suitable for human consumption, it is
sourced from wells or municipal water
systems.
 Gray water – Untreated household waste water which has not
contacted waste water from Toilets and Urinals. It doesn’t
include potable water, waste water from kitchen sinks,
dishwaters. It includes bathtubs, showers, bathroom
sinks, washing machines and laundry tubs
 Black water – Waste water from toilets or Urinals. In some
states gray water can be considered black water.
INTENT – Limit or eliminate use of natural or potable water
(lakes, rivers, aquifers) used for landscaping

STRATEGIES:
PROPER LANDSCAPE DESIGN
OUTDOOR WATER REDUCTION PRACTICES
GOOD LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE
USE OF STORM AND/OR GRAYWATER
GOALS
Lower water bills
Limit or eliminate potable water usage
Decrease energy use due to pumping
Little lawn mowing – reduce energy and pollution
More water is available for other uses e.g. showers
Less time dedicated for lawn maintenance
STRATEGY OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Appropriate Plant Selection
Xeriscaping
Mulching
Reduce Turf Grass
Use of Native Plants
Native Plants are plants which grow naturally in areas
for many years. They require less fertilizers, water and pest
control.
Use of Adaptive Plants
Adaptive plants are non-native plants that perform well
in the local climate. Teams will select plants which do well in
local soil conditions and climate.
Avoid invasive plants
These are plants which grow aggressively and displace
other plants.
 Landscaping/gardening that reduces or
eliminates supplemental irrigation. It is based
on proper planning and design, soil analysis,
plant selection, practical turf areas, efficient
irrigation, use of mulches, appropriate maintenance.

 MULCHING
Mulching keep around the roots of plant
moist, retain water and reduce evaporation

 REDUCE TURF GRASS

Beautiful but a water hog. Limit turf grass
and practice other water friendly landscaping
 DRIP IRRIGATION
Water drip slowly close to the root of the plants. Evaporation is reduced.
Drip irrigation is 90% efficient whilst conventional is about 65%. A little
more expensive due to the water distribution network but comparison
has to be made with respect to water consumption
 SCHEDULING
A single deep watering is better than watering many times a day. Irrigate
during the cooler part of the days and avoid the windy hours of the day
 WEATHER BASED IRRIGATION CONTROLLERS
Weather or sensor based irrigation use local weather and landscape
conditions to tailor irrigation schedules
 WATER AUDITS
Overtime plants will grow deeper roots and require less water. New
plants will require more water. Monitor plants and adjust water
accordingly.
MOWING
Single largest factor in the health of the lawn
RAISE MOWERS
The hotter the weather, the higher the lawn should be kept. Longer
grass protects the soil form being scorched by sun and prevents
germination of weeds.
LEAVE CLIPPINGS
40% of nutrients that grass need are lost when clippings are taken
away and not left to compost.
MAINTAIN WATER SYSTEM
Check sprinkler heads periodically to prevent watering of streets and
parking lots.
 Storm water and gray water are alternatives to the municipal
supply for irrigation.

 Storm Water
The process of collecting rainwater or storm water in barrels,
cisterns, storage tanks is called rainwater harvesting. Rooftop rain
water harvesting has the benefit of gravity feed and eliminates the
need for pumps. The harvesting of storm water also assist the
sustainable site category for storm water management as runoff
from site if reduced.
 Gray Water
Gray water is water which can be used twice. Gray water
compromises 50 to 80% if residential wastewater. Gray water can
also be stored for later use. Gray water should be properly filtered
for use in irrigation to ensure safe w.r.t. a health perspective.
 PRESENT FACTS
Toilets account for 25% daily water use
A Leaky faucet can waste over 2000 gallons of water annually
In US, 1.6 billion gallons of water are wasted annually by inefficient toilets
Presently most installed toilets are inefficient

EP Act
Energy Policy Act 1992 established water conservation standards for water
closet, shower heads, faucets.
It is expected to save the US 6.5 billion gallons of water a year.
 DUAL-FLUSH TOILETS
Toilet has two levers. One provides half flush, whilst the other
provides full flush. The option is based on type of waste. Water can be
reduce by 67% when compared to standard toilets.
 HIGH EFFICIENT TOILETS (HETs)
HETs operate at 1.28 gallons and can save up to 16500 gallons per
year.
Note EP Act require maximum 1.6 gallons per flush.
HETs are identified by a Water Sense Label.
Water Sense is a program sponsored by the US Environmental
Protection Agency.
 WATERLESS URINALS
Replacing A standard urinal save average 40,000 gallons of water.
Note the cost of processing black water is reduced also. Maintenance
is lowered as there are no flush valves, no water supply for vandalism,
and no floods.
 COMPOSTING TOILET SYSTEM
Toilets don’t require water and waste is treated via a microbiological
process. Not practical in high rise buildings
LOW-FLOW SHOWERHEADS AND FAUCETS
Changing your standard 2.75 gpm showerhead with a 1.75 gpm saves
about 7700 gallons of water a year.
FAUCETS WITH LOW-FLOW AERATORS AND/OR MOTION SENSORS
Water Sense faucets are 1.5gpm water saving aerators and have a 45%
saving over the standard 2.75gpm faucets
Motion/Automatic control sensors doesn't allow constant flow and
saves water
INSTALL WATER METERS
This helps with the measurement and verification of water use.
USE STORM WATER OR GRAY WATER
Use to flush toilets can provide about 30% savings.
Note The UPC(Universal Plumbing Code) prohibits gray water use
indoors, in some states of the US
WASTE WATER TREATMENT & RE-USE
Reclaimed water – water that has been treated for re-use
Treating storm water and waste water onsite allows the reuse of treated
water for flushing, irrigation and cooling towers. This greatly reduce the
quantity of municipal supply and eliminates the pumps required to pump
to the municipal waste water treatment plant. Some regions offers
incentives for such plants. There are savings from water consumption,
utility bills for processing waste and connection fees. The con to this is
that additional energy is required on site for the operation of the plant.
Significant amount of collaboration is required for proper assessment on
its viability. Whole building approach is required – cost benefit analysis of
design decisions.
Processed water covers fixtures which are not covered by the Energy
Policy act. They include make up water for mechanical systems; systems
which use water in Labs and Hospitals and commercial cooking
application.
Substituting non potable water for processed water is a way to reduce
water use. E.g. in mechanical systems such as cooling towers where
make up water is required due to bleed off and drift.
Chemical treatment of water is necessary to prevent the presence of
legionella (bacteria which lead to diseases in humans) .
Monitoring of the process system can minimize water loss.
Water efficiency has become a prerequisite in LEED. Percent reduction is
calculated using a baseline for conventional buildings against the design of the
actual building
Baseline water usage is based on estimated occupant usage (FTE) and fixture
types. Flow rate are based on EP Act 1992 standard
Commercial Baseline water use
Toilet – 1.6 gallons per flush
Urinal - 1.0 gallons per flush
Lavatory faucet – 0.5 gallons per minute
Residential Baseline water use
Toilet – 1.6 gallons per flush
Lavatory Faucet – 2.2 gallons per minute
Kitchen Faucet – 2.2 gallons per minute
Showerhead – 2.5 gallons per minute

.
 LEED calculations are based on total water consumption by occupants
FTE
 Full Time Equivalents
 FTE of 1.0 is an occupant who work minimum 8 hours a day
 FTE of 0.5 is an occupant who works an 4 hour day( 4/8)

 Transient occupants are those who don’t use the facility consistently
e.g. customer, visitors, students, shoppers etc.
 Residential occupants are referred to in Residential calculations.

 NOTE
 The detailed calculations based on FTE’s are not required for the LEED
GA exam but can be found as reference information.
1) Potable water can also be called ___________.
(A) drinking water
(B) gray water
(C) black water
(D) rainwater
2) The Energy Policy Act 1992 guides you on minimum performance of
(A) Plumbing fixtures
(B) Lighting outputs
(C) Power usage on equipment
(D) Energy requirements in a building
3) Which of the following potable water conserving strategies may help a project
team achieve a LEED point? (Choose two)
(A) collecting black water for landscape irrigation
(B) collecting rainwater for sewage conveyance
(C) installing an on-site septic tank
(D) using cooling condensate for cooling tower make-up
 4) Which of the following could help minimize potable water used for the site
landscaping and contribute toward earning a LEED landscaping credit?
(A) designing the site, to filter runoff
(B) installing invasive plants
(C) installing native or adapted plants
(D) installing turf grass
 5) Water lost through plant transpiration and evaporation from soil is
described by the
term _______________?
(A) evapotranspiration
(B) infiltration
(C) sublimation
(D) surface runoff
 6) Collecting rainwater for sewage conveyance can help a project team
achieve the following credits? (Choose three.)
(A) Heat Island Effect
(B) Innovative Wastewater Technologies
(C) Site Development
(D) Storm water Design
(E) Potable Water Use Reduction
7) Project teams can use which of the following non-potable water source toward
achieving a LEED credit for landscape irrigation. (Choose two.)
(A) collected site rainwater
(B) drip irrigation water
(C) HVAC condensate
(D) water from hose bibs
(E) water used for sewage conveyance
8) All LEED- certified buildings _____________. (Choose two.)
(A) are in the U.S.
(B) conserve water
(C) qualify for tax rebates
(D) minimize greenhouse gas emissions
(E) use renewable energy
1. A
2. A
3. B,D
4. C
5. A
6. B,D,E
7. A,C
8. B,D