SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS

Asset Classes

Focus Area

Water

Topic

Baseline Practices

Question #

W1.0a — Walkthrough Water Assessment

Question

Has a water assessment been conducted in the past five years?

Applicability

Applicable to Office and Healthcare buildings

Answer

Select one of the following:

– Yes

– Not applicable

Description

A water assessment refers to a simple audit of the building’s configuration and water systems. It focuses on the identification of potential water conserving measures.

Requirements

The water assessment report must contain the following elements:

  1. Analysis of water consumption through monthly utility bill analysis and benchmarking. For benchmarking purposes, utility bills must cover a minimum of 12 months of continuous data
  2. Assessment and list of current performance of water-consuming equipment.
  3. Prioritized list of proposed water conserving measures (WCM’s) to enable greater water efficiency
  4. Provision of estimates of financial savings the building owner will realize as a result of investing in WCMs and the simple payback period

Documentation

  • Water Assessment Report

Adapted BB3 Question

Best Practice 5 — Has a water assessment been conducted in the past five years?

Suggested Lead

In-house, with third-party support

Adapted BB3 Question

Best Practice 5 — Has a water assessment been conducted in the past five years?

Suggested Lead

In-house, with third-party support

References

Crosswalk

N/A

Other Notes

Also applicable in Quebec. More frequently now annual water use is published with annual city-tax bill in several Quebec cities. It is also becoming the norm for building managers to install sub-metering and/or whole-building metering, as investors require water-use oversight.

Scoring

Baseline

Verification