Six Ways a Rainwater Harvesting System Can Help Your Home or Office Achieve LEED Certification

The severity of the drought in the United States  has spurred interest in water recycling and rainwater harvesting within the building industry. New homeowners and business entrepreneurs alike are more aware than ever of their carbon footprint and want to reduce its impact. As a result, many of them turn to the US Green Building Council, a voluntary consensus-based standard that rewards certification in LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) buildings through innovative, environmentally conscious design. How can an LEED-certification lead to reduced costs and greater value for homeowners and business owners? And what are the objectives for water usage in an LEED-certified building? Here are six parameters that guide certification:

1. Reduction or elimination of storm water runoff. In a rainwater catchment system or rainwater conservation , runoff water from storms is stored in a tank and then commonly used for landscape irrigation. This recycling eliminates the use of municipal, potable water.
2. Reduce or eliminate polluted runoff. Water in rainwater harvesting is run through a filter system that can be as simple as a grit screen or as complicated as a reverse osmosis filter. Either way, it removes pollutants and allows rainwater to be re-used.
3. Increase water efficiency in buildings. Rain harvesting systems can supply treated rainwater for non-potable uses such as flushing toilets, thereby reducing the home or office’s municipal water bill and dependency on the system.
4. Reduce or eliminate use of potable water on landscapes. Rainwater recycling into irrigation systems is a primary function of a rain harvesting system. The extra cost burden on the home or business owner is reduced, and more potable water is available for drinking.
5. Reduce demand on drinking water. Because rain harvesting systems recycle water for non-potable uses, it reduces demand on water production for cities, towns or county systems.
6. Provide architects and construction engineers the opportunity to achieve innovation in building and landscape design. By awarding builders and designers the LEED certification through integration of a rainwater catchment system and other parameters, more and more buildings will become environmentally efficient. Consumers will appreciate the reduced environmental impact and cost efficiency, and begin to demand these standards more frequently. If this type of building becomes the norm, individuals and businesses can finally operate with less waste and greater cost-efficiency.

If you’d like to investigate the possibility of LEED-certification for your new office building or home, and want to incorporate a rainwater catchment system, RainHarvest Systems is a good place to start. Our in-house CAD department, experienced LEED AP design staff, rainwater lab and industry-leading selection of rainwater storage options, filtration, high-capacity pump stations and water treatment systems make any water retention and detention system greatly simplified and achievable.. Contact us via our website  and let us help you. You can ask a question on our Facebook page, Google+ or on Twitter, too.