Green Building and LEED Core Concepts Guide First Edition

Americans' use of the limited public water supply continues
to increase as development expands. Municipally
provided potable water is delivered to users for domestic,
commercial, industrial, and other purposes and
is the primary source of water for most build ings, but
high demand is straining limited supplies. The resulting
wastewater then overwhelms treatment facilities, and
the untreated overflow can contaminat~
rivers, lakes,
and sources of potable water with bacteria, nitrogen,
toxic metals, and other contaminants. Add itional municipal
supply and treatment facilities must then be
built, at public cost.
lEED encourages and recognizes efficiency measures
that significantly reduce the amount of potable water
•
use"d by buildings while still meeting the needs of the
systems and the occupants. These measures involve all
the water usage associated with buildings:
Indoor water for restroomsj
Outdoor water for landscaping; and
Process water for industrial purposes and
buiJding systems.
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